Hyundai’s next EV is here, and the press release is persistent in its pushing of personalization.
Questionable alliteration aside, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 really does intrigue, at least on paper, and not just because of a bunch of buzzy marketing BS about how owners can use the car in ways that best fit their unique personalities.
Let’s start with some specs. The battery here is a 77.4-kWh unit, and range is promised at over 610 kilometers or about 380 miles.
Hyundai is promising available ultra-fast charging that can take the battery from 10 percent to 80 percent in 18 minutes.
The car has a wheelbase of about 116 inches and a length of about 191 inches and will offer either 18- or 20-inch wheels.
“IONIQ 6 is designed and engineered to seamlessly enhance our daily lives as space to awaken your potential,” said Thomas Schemera, Executive Vice President, Global Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Customer Experience Division, Hyundai Motor Company, in a press release. “The innovative interior is meticulously thought out as a cocoon-like personal space, enhanced with the latest technologies to create a safe, fun, and stress-free driving experience. The spacious interior, with sustainability and usability at its heart, once again represents a step forward for electric vehicles, in line with the values of our customers.”
Inside, available ambient lighting gives the customer 64 colors and six pre-set themes to pick from. The brightness of the lights can even change with the car’s speed. Optional front seats promise to increase comfort via a simple change in seat angle — though Hyundai doesn’t say how. All available seats are thinner, allowing for more space, and the car offers four Type-C ports and one Type-A.
Back to performance — drivers can adjust power, steering effort, accelerator-pedal sensitivity, and driveline mode, all with a few button presses.
“IONIQ 6 connects an emotional convergence of functionality with aesthetics,” said SangYup Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai Design Center, in the release. “The distinctive streamlined design is the result of close cooperation between engineers and designers, with obsessive attention to detail and customer-centric values at the core. We have created the IONIQ 6 as a mindful cocoon that offers [a] personalized place for all.”
The car will be either rear-wheel drive or have a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive setup. The latter version will make about 320 horsepower and 446 lb-ft of torque, with Hyundai claiming a 0-100 km/h (about 0-62 mph) time of 5.1 seconds.
Vehicle-to-load, or V2L, tech allows the owner to use the car to charge other electronic devices.
The dash has a 12-inch gauge cluster and 12-inch infotainment screen, and of course Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are part of the features list. The Bluetooth system allows for the pairing of more than one phone, and there’s a Bose audio system with subwoofer. Hyundai’s BlueLink connected-car service helps keep the navigation system up to date, and over-the-air updates keep the whole system current.
Advanced driver-assist systems include smart cruise control that learns how you drive, highway driving-assist 2 (centers the vehicle, maintains distance from the car ahead), and forward collision-avoidance assist. Upper trims will have junction-crossing assist and systems that help the driver avoid crashes when changing lanes. There will also be available high-beam assist, driver-attention warning, and intelligent speed-limit assist, which matches the car’s speed with that of the limit.
Blind-spot monitoring and collision-avoidance assist systems are also available, as is rear cross-traffic collision-avoidance assist, safe exit warning, and a 360-degree camera.
Production is slated to begin this fall.
Did we mention personalization way up top? We did. Well, Hyundai’s launch materials included a video of three characters working eye-rolling jobs such as metaverse designer, showing how each character can customize the car and driving experience to best fit his or her lifestyle.
Excuse me while I go refund my lunch after that bit of unpleasant marketing babble.
It gets worse — Hyundai is promising virtual test drives in the metaverse.
Back here in the real world, the Ioniq 6 looks intriguing, no matter how cringe the outreach to Millennials and Gen Z the marketing is.
The performance specs alone seem nice and strong. We’ll see where the pricing falls, but Hyundai may just have itself an EV flagship sedan — one that’s very nice but no so nice that it has to get Genesis branding.
The EV future is going to be interesting
[Images: Hyundai]
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