We’ve been talking about the new 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV for months and months now, ever since it was leaked in June, and we’ve written about it a lot since then, because it’s a very exciting-looking new EV from a company that’s been killing it lately, EV-design-wise. We’ve covered the look and the hard numbers and the specs and we’ve heard guesses that it’ll start somewhere in the low-to-mid $40,000 range, but so far we haven’t seen it in person, touched it, smelled it, licked it, communed with it. But now I have and I’m gonna tell you all about it, so prepare yourselves accordingly.
I pushed my way through the crowd of eager journalists, delivering strategically-placed bites to hips and midsections to get people to move, and fought my way to the front row, just in time to see a pair of likely working actors you should IMDB removing the cover.
And the result is great! The Ioniq 6 looks fantastic in person/automobile, I think, and it’s genuinely midsized – think Oldsmobile Aurora sized – and the proportions work well. Both ends feel like they have a lot of unashamed Porsche influences, something perhaps unexpected from a Korean electric sedan, but it works.
The dramatic curve of the roofline that flows into the tail is unusual and thankfully doesn’t feel like every other damn thing on the road today. The full-width, again very 911-style heckblende taillight looks great and the “Parametric Pixel” lighting design language is distinctive and really helps push the unique identity of the car.
The individual pixel elements are these little cubical units I want to grab with my damp fingers, and it’s repeated up front in the DRL/indicators:
Since I actually got to touch the car, I decided to pull levers and push buttons and open some shit up, so let’s check out the trunk:
First, it’s not a true hatch, but it is an absolutely colossal trunk lid, and the actual trunk aperture is nicely sized, too. Plus, that trunk is deep, deep like the poetry I sent my various junior high crushes, just much better finished and less empty:
But if you feel it’s base or vulgar to force your belongings into the rear of a vehicle, like some sort of filthy animal, I’m happy to report that unlike certain other carmakers I could mention, the Ioniq 6 has a small-but-usable-looking frunk:
It’s not big, but it’s big enough to do an EV’s frunk’s basic job: to hold cables and chargers and first aid kits and other random stuff that normally would be banging around in the rear, getting in the way of everything. They took the time to carve out some space and I appreciate the designers and engineers for that.
Another important detail that has become important in Our Modern Age: the glove box opens with a simple, basic latch and not some touchscreen horseshit:
Also, as a bit of public shaming to the autojourno community, I’d like to point out that the car was open to the journalists for all of three minutes before someone dropped some trash in the center console storage bin:
Way to go, jerkos.
The interior looks clean and modern, there’s a floating “bridge” type center console which seems to be popular now, and the wireless charger is the pocket-type, which I think is a wise idea. Interior materials feel pretty good, though I do hope there’s interior color options beyond Ennui Gray.
The rear spoiler incorporates the third brake lamp, and even when off, the dimensional pixel pattern is satisfying:
That photo makes the inset edge of the CHMSL look kinda rough, but I didn’t notice it in person. Hm.
Overall, based on my physical interactions with the Ioniq 6, I think I like what I’m seeing and feeling and smelling and tasting. I’m very curious to drive it, of course, but once again Hyundai seems to be bringing it to the EV space.
Does anyone else see this as being kinda bland? It’s inoffensive, but it puts me to sleep. The new Prius looks better. And that monochromatic interior in all grey is very cheap looking.
That interior is heinous and looks very very cheap indeed.
Again with the glove box thing? I thought I had already debunked this crap when I wrote to you about my 2010 Cadillac CT6. It is totally a non-issue that you are using gleefully to create an issue out of whole cloth. Sorry, but I have to call the baby by it’s name; Torchcrapology!
This is the first EV and first Hyundai that’s given me a genuine sense of want. It looks fantastic.
The sad fact of today’s market is that I am most excited by the fact that this doesn’t have a steering yoke or a flat spot on the bottom of the steering wheel.
I saw an article about an electric Cadillac with comments from tech bros. They thought the physical door handles made it seem cheap, since there are other EVs with electronically opening doors. So I think I understand where the electronically opening glovebox shit comes from. Tech bros think that physical controls seem outdated and cheap, I guess.
Never mind what works, just do what’s cool.
Could they find another shade of grey for the interior ?
I’ve been interested in this since it was announced, but I don’t know if it could possibly be worth dealing with a Hyundai dealership again. I have never purchased a Hyundai, despite putting in an order for one. And that dealership seemed less scummy than the others.
They certainly have a mountain to climb to fix their reputation, but the dealership I deal with has been surprisingly excellent. Decent, nice folks who seem to be working hard and don’t try and upsell me on a thousand random unnecessary items every time I go in for a service. That feels like a pretty low bar but after 20+ years of dealing with Ford, Kia and Toyota places I’m pleasantly surprised.
I tried to order a Tucson PHEV and was jerked around every step of the way, including being quoted msrp and then being told months later that it would be 10k more and that was somehow Hyundai’s fault. And this was exacerbated by their decision to sell the phev only in certain states, so I was looking for the best dealers a few hundred miles away.
I really dig it. Hyundai/Kia have been killing it as of late. However, the rear opening would have been perfect as a liftback.
I feel like this is the android to Tesla’s Apple. I am not sure I am young enough to really dig the camera mirrors, but I can see how some will go ooh and ahh. Weird flex to go with a sedan at all when most tesla are even raised roof models, but it is pretty good as is for $44K
I get weird Audi meets Porsche meets Mercedes CLS (whatever gen the weird swoopy one was). Not a big fan. Weirder yet for me, I fail to see how this fits with their broader design language. Take out the lights and I see nothing that would tie it to Hyundai’s other offerings. Seems odd to me….
You’ve zeroed in there on something I’ve been thinking about for a while, in that building these great EVs that in terms of how they fit into the range visually is not really clear.
Don’t get me wrong, I think this and the Ioniq 5 are much better than the rest of the range (but they’re without their faults) but they have nothing in common with more mundane Hyundais.
That is pretty sharp. I like the shape a lot. Not overly cladded. The only thing I can really pick at is the over-large busy wheels. I could actually see bringing one of these home in a few years
I think if they simplified the wheels and the rear, it would be better. Still very nice over all.
The rear looks sufficiently Porsche-like that I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a flat 6 engine in the trunk.
For me the lack of a hatch is deal killer. Getting stuff into a trunk sucks compared to a hatch. The Lyriq or soon to be released Blazer EV are what I’m looking at next.
I have to fit a mountain bike in to my cars. Take the wheels off and it drops right in through the hatch on my Z4 Coupe, but posting it inside the much larger cargo area of a GT86 (with the rear seats down) is a massive pain because it doesn’t have a hatch, just a tiny trunk lid.
I applaud you for even trying that. I would put groceries in the back seat of my 86 instead of trying to load anything through the worlds smallest trunk opening.
The Hudson Hornet is the Great Grandpa of this sleek looking vehicle.
Seeing rooflines like that with no real hatch bothers the shit out of me. I will die on this hill.
Props to Hyundai for having the guts to ship a badgeless steering wheel. So much cleaner. And it is not like people go “Jeez, I wonder what brand is this car I am driving. I was going to buy another one but I will have to pass”.
Radio DJ voice: “YO WE HEARD YOU LIKED THE SQUARES ON THE IONIQ 5 SO WE’RE DOUBLING DOWN WITH EXTRUUUUUUDED SQUARES!”
Honestly though those lights are cool as hell
At least it won’t have a Theta engine.
Jason, I’m pretty sure that the model name is Ioniq with a Q, not a “C”. Moreover, it looks like Hyundai corporate puts the name IONIQ in all caps, at least on the Hyundai USA website.
I’m waiting for the Covalent 6. However, I have no interest in the Van der Waals 6 as it just won’t hold together. I’ll see myself out.
I believe that would be the Qovalent 6
Why would you say that? *Looks at license plate, then frunk cover*. I think you might be right.
I like the front end looks a lot, in terms of grilles / fake grilles. The rear is kind of a mess, but in general this thing is pretty great!
It might have a frunk but holy shit does the rest of the under hood area look unfinished. They couldn’t spent and extra $10 on a pair of covers for the battery and the fluid reservoirs?
Wouldn’t that hide all the detailed craftsmanship, like the duct tape covering the 12v battery terminals? They may have done that because Torch wouldn’t stop licking them, tho.
My first reaction when seeing the frunk open was “wow, I’m genuinely glad they didn’t cover the various mechanical buts in there with bullshit plastic covers.”
Like, why must everything under the hood have a crappy cover? Cars have fluids and batteries and parts, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of!
Once you introduce a funk into the equation you’re changing the nature of the under hood area from something you only open for service to something customers are going to interact with. So you want to make it approachable and to keep the mechanicals hidden away from prying eyes and fiddling hands.
Actually, if you look carefully at the photo, seems someone ripped off the cover for the battery and left it between the frunk and the windshield wipers.
Isn’t covering the under hood area what the hood is for?
The tape is probably a “quick on, quick off” car show solution.
it looks kinda like an Audi got sandwiched between a 911 in the rear and a 2003 Hyundai Tiburon in the front. But it works. Its a nice looking sedan.
Rear visibility looks like it might be a bit tight given the high wing/CMSL.
I am getting serious Infiniti J30 vibes off the rear. This is not a compliment.
That’s rude to the J30! I thought that was a magnificent looking beast despite having less interior space than its contemporary Sentra.
Did that wadded up napkin have cocktail sauce on it?
He did say he liked what he TASTED, so maybe he can advise based on that?