We jump behind the wheel of Hyundai’s sexy new Streamliner EV almost 12 months ahead of its Australian arrival.
- Streamliner shape looks so sleek
- Silent driving has never been quieter
- Efficient and enjoyable to drive
- Rear seat access and headroom
- Not going to be cheap
- The prototype’s ride quality needs work
I’m in Korea standing outside a small building at the end of what looks like a very wide airport runway. Planes don’t use this 65m wide runway. Instead, eight lanes of traffic drive in each direction, U-turning haphazardly at each end of this 1.5km long freeway to nowhere.
At any given time there are 20–30 cars on each side of this 16-lane freeway with no divider and no order to the U-turning. How there are no collisions is beyond me.
Every car here is a Hyundai or a Kia, with a few curious exceptions. Some are familiar, like production-spec Hyundai Tucsons, Kia Picantos and the like. Others are covered in camouflage and cladding typically used to disguise future models.
A few are from rival car companies, including a conspicuous Mercedes-Benz S-Class luxury saloon. And some are electric vehicles, immediately identifiable because the only sound accompanying their rapid acceleration is the soft hum of the tyres on the smooth tarmac.
Welcome to the Namyang Research and Development Centre for Hyundai and Kia in the Hwaseong province just south of Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The runway I’m talking about sits inside a huge high-speed track 2km across at its widest point.
Nestled next to the runway is a many-cornered handling track, a low-grip brake-testing surface and a couple of skidpans, along with a few other specially designed test roads.
All of this sits inside the 3.3 million square metre collection of buildings and purpose-built tracks where future generations of Hyundai and Kia models are born.
Parked in front of me at the end of the runway is a car covered in cladding like taped-on mattresses. But even with all that padding on its front and rear, the Ioniq 6’s seductive curves are clear. The new Hyundai Ioniq 6 is the fourth pure EV based on the Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) from Korea’s largest carmaker. This is the same platform on which the Kia EV6 crossover and Genesis GV60 mid-size SUV is built, and will also go under the forthcoming Hyundai Ioniq 7 SUV, Kia EV7 and EV8 models.
The Ioniq 6 is a close sibling to the Ioniq 5 five-door hatchback-crossover that arrived in Australia in 2021. It is a four-door sedan that Hyundai calls a ‘Streamliner’ because its ultra-aerodynamic shape bears a resemblance to the aerodynamic pioneers of the 1930s and ’40s.
Without the cladding, the Ioniq 6’s dramatically curved silhouette is similar to the original Mercedes-Benz CLS (2004). This, and incredibly sleek front and rear design, endows the Ioniq 6 with a drag coefficient of 0.21, making it one of the most aerodynamic production cars in the world.
This is good for energy efficiency both for fuel-powered cars and electric cars. The more efficiently a car can cleave the air, the better.
As I stand here on the runway apron on July 12, the Ioniq 6 Streamliner’s look was revealed in pictures just a few days earlier and the car will make its public debut at the Busan Motor Show in three days’ time. The world’s journalists will probably drive early production examples in Korea later in 2022, but Australian media will have to wait until the first half of 2023 to test it on Australian roads.
Today, Drive is one of just a handful of media outlets to sample this groundbreaking new car, albeit in prototype form. We will drive it, but we won’t be able to write about it until a global embargo lifts in August, more than a month later.
Our time with this valuable prototype is limited to a 7.5km drive around the streets of Namyang, but that’s enough to check out the interior and discover how this car performs – in suburban traffic at least.
There will be no extended back-country blasts or racetrack laps to evaluate this vehicle’s handling at the extremes of its performance, and any full-throttle acceleration will be in short bursts away from traffic lights, lifting off before we break the 70km/h speed limit.
You could say that type of driving is in keeping with this vehicle’s intentions. The Ioniq 6 is not a performance car claiming 0–100km/h in a Tesla Model 3 Performance-rivalling three seconds – although there is one coming (read more here). The Ioniq 6’s performance is more modest – 0–100km/h in 7.4 seconds in 168kW rear-wheel drive spec – because its ambitions are focused on everyday driving.
The all-wheel-drive prototype we’re driving has 239kW and 605Nm, which shortens the 0–100km/h time to 5.1 seconds. The Korean domestic market is also getting a 125kW version with a small 53kWh battery pack, but Australian versions will all utilise the bigger 77.4kWh battery.
We have been told to expect a greater driving range from the Ioniq 6 than that of the Ioniq 5, thanks in part to its aerodynamic styling, but also because of hardware and software improvements in the drivetrain.
Whereas the Ioniq 5 currently claims 480km from its 72.6kWh battery, the Ioniq 6 is said to achieve 610km of driving between charges from a slightly larger 77.4kWh battery. We suspect some of those hardware and software changes will filter down to the Ioniq 5 in the model-year 2023 update.
The Ioniq 6 is physically larger than a Tesla Model 3 – 160mm longer, 31mm wider, 52mm taller and riding on a 75mm longer wheelbase. Interestingly, the 6’s wheelbase is 50mm shorter than the Ioniq 5 hatchback, which hints at the versatility of E-GMP.
In short, Hyundai/Kia can shorten or lengthen the platform’s wheelbase to fit under cars as small as a Hyundai i30 hatchback and as big as a Santa Fe large SUV.
For proof of this, we need only look at the Ioniq 7 SUV concept revealed in November 2021, which sits on a 3.2m long wheelbase. This vehicle previews the Ioniq brand’s forthcoming three-row large SUV due in early 2024.
| Key details | 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 AWD prototype |
| Engine | Dual permanent magnet synchronous electric |
| Power | 239kW |
| Torque | 605Nm |
| Drive type | All-wheel drive |
| Transmission | Single speed automatic |
| Power to weight ratio | 114kW/t (estimated) |
| Weight | 2100kg (estimated) |
| Price | From $70,000 (estimated) |
| On sale | Quarter two, 2023 |
Back to the Ioniq 6, and the first thing I do is open the back door and slide into the back seat, because this is arguably where the biggest differences will be compared to the Ioniq 5, which I’ve spent a lot of time with back in Australia.
The interior is suitably plush, as befits a car expected to start at $70,000 when it hits Australia in the second quarter of 2023. The roof line is noticeably lower than the Ioniq 5 (110mm lower), as is the rear door opening that I bump my head on sliding in.
The seat itself sits very low in the rear, which means the seat base is quite close to the floor of the footwell. This in turn means my legs don’t rest fully flat on the seat base.
There’s plenty of legroom back here, enough to rival a large sedan and keep even the longest of legs comfy. Headroom is not so generous; it’s okay for my 175cm frame, but anyone over 180cm may rub the roof.
Moving up to the front and the driver’s cockpit is very similar to the Ioniq 5. The steering wheel is the same, but it now has four pinpricks in the central boss that light up when you talk to the car or when you’re charging it.
The dashboard is dominated by two big digital screens built into a single sweeping console that covers two-thirds of its length. A character line running the length of the dashboard underneath the air vents features airplane-style upswept wingtips at each end.
This initially looks like a styling affectation, but once on the move, I learn that these ‘winglets’ also house the screens for the blind-spot monitors, giving them a function beyond form.
The central armrest/console area is unique to the Ioniq 6. Whereas the Ioniq 5’s armrest ended with two cupholders, leaving space in front for occupants to swap seats, the Ioniq 6 blocks this access off with a two-level console that butts into the dashboard below the HVAC and audio controls. Inside this bridge are two cupholders, window controls and a phone pocket.
More thought has also been put into the materials inside. In fact, I counted eight different surface finishes visible from the driver’s seat alone. This could look busy and chaotic, but instead it gives the interior a cohesive and calming vibe overall, especially thanks to the rippled door skins that glow gently with one of 64 different colours, presumably to match your mood.
As for what the Ioniq 6 is like to drive, well, it’s pretty much like the Ioniq 5, which is no surprise. Trying to pick the improvements that Hyundai claims to have made to powertrain tuning is difficult with no detail on what has changed and no ability to test back-to-back with an Ioniq 5.
So instead I focus on trying to drive as economically as possible. I accelerate gently away from stops, but quick enough to keep up with traffic, and drive the car in i-Pedal mode which makes the brake pedal redundant. This also means looking far ahead and preparing early for any necessary stops.
Power is delivered immediately and in great syrupy dollops typical of the EV surge. If anything, the Ioniq 6 feels smoother on the transition from acceleration to deceleration in i-Pedal mode, and not as jerky as I remember from the Ioniq 5.
The Ioniq 6 is incredibly quiet on the go. There’s obviously no engine sound, but there’s also no wind noise penetrating the cabin at 70km/h. None at all – which is clearly a side benefit of the car’s sleek aerodynamic shape. Tyre noise is minimal too, even though the prototype wears 20-inch tyres.
The Ioniq 6 rides quite flat, which is a hallmark of low centre of gravity EVs. But then again, you wouldn’t expect much body roll at the speeds we’re doing in anything but an SUV.
The ride isn’t as smooth as the Ioniq 5’s, however. It feels firmer and more reactive to bumps and creases than the Australian-spec Ioniq 5, though the car we’re driving is running on Korean Domestic Market suspension settings and may not reflect what we get in Australia.
The test car wears big 20-inch Pirelli tyres, which one Hyundai engineer tells me are not as good for energy efficiency as specially developed 18-inch tyres. Despite this, I manage to bring the Ioniq 6 back to base with an efficiency reading of 7km/kWh, which is about 14.3kWh/100km, or just a shade over the company’s claim of 14kWh/100km.
That’s not bad for a car wearing a lot of bulky, flappy cladding and riding on grippy Pirelli tyres. Without those impediments, the Ioniq 6 should do better, which means we might finally have an EV that can rival Tesla for motoring efficiency.
To find out for sure, we’ll have to wait until 2023.
Full pricing and specifications for the Hyundai Ioniq 6 have yet to be locked in for Australia. However, Hyundai Australia has indicated the Ioniq 6 will mirror the Ioniq 5 with two highly specified variants, with rear- and all-wheel-drive layouts.
Despite a larger battery and different body, Ioniq 6 prices are expected to be similar to the Ioniq 5, estimated at between $70,000 and $80,000 plus on-road costs.
If you want to read more about the Hyundai Ioniq 6, or learn about the highly anticipated high-performance Ioniq 6 N, follow the links below.
Hyundai Ioniq 6 Australian details revealed
Hyundai Ioniq 6 N concept revealed
Hyundai Ioniq 5 N confirmed for Australia
The post 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 review: AWD Prototype drive appeared first on Drive.
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