Hyundai IONIQ 6

Streamlined silhouette

Impressive driving range

Very refined

Boot rather than hatchback

Hyundai IONIQ 6 design & powertrain

The Hyundai IONIQ 6 certainly stands out from the crowd with its curvy aerodynamic body style – and it stands out compared to the IONIQ 5, which has more ‘boxy’ styling.

Another key difference between the two cars is that the IONIQ 5 has a hatchback, whereas the IONIQ 6 has a boot – and, at 401 litres, not a particularly large boot, and access to it is quite tight. At least you can fold down the rear seats. There’s some storage space under the boot floor for charging cables, and there’s also storage space under the bonnet – 45 litres in the rear-wheel drive model, or 14.5 litres in the all-wheel drive variant. Although there’s good rear legroom, rear headroom is tight if you’re six feet or taller.

Looking beyond the body style, the underpinnings are much more familiar: both the IONIQ 5 and 6 share the same bespoke EV platform. This means a 77.4 kWh battery and either an electric motor at the rear giving rear-wheel drive, or electric motors at the front and rear, giving all-wheel drive.

Driving experience

Very comfortable. The IONIQ 6 has excellent ride quality, and although virtually all-electric cars are refined, the Hyundai feels like it has gone one step beyond. Handling is impressive, with a key reason being that this is a low-riding saloon rather than a high-riding SUV. Grip levels in the all-wheel drive model are of course excellent.

And then there’s the performance: 0 to 62 mph takes just 5.1 seconds. This was supercar territory not too long ago – yet the IONIQ 6 is just a humble family saloon. The reason for this is the 325 PS of power from the all-wheel drive set-up – and 605 Nm of torque. All the above combine to make this a very relaxing car in which to cover lots of motorway miles.

The gear selector is positioned on the right-hand side of the steering wheel – which is slightly unusual; the aim is to free up space in the centre console.

There are three drive modes:

Eco
Normal
Sport (and ‘hold’ for snow)

The best thing about the drive modes is that you can change them with just a press of a button on the steering wheel. And you can adjust the level of brake regeneration by using steering wheel-mounted paddles.

Charging the IONIQ 6

The IONIQ 6 has a WLTP combined electric driving range of 322 miles, or 338 miles for the rear-wheel drive model. In the real world, the AWD model is likely to average around 280 miles of range when fully charged.

The IONIQ 6 has a very low drag coefficient of just 0.21, which helps it to cut through the air efficiently. And you should lose minimum range in cold weather thanks to the standard heat pump.

Charging technology based on 800V rather than the standard 400V allows the IONIQ 6 to ultra-rapid charge at up to 233 kW. This means that it is capable of charging from 10% to 80% in as little as 18-36 minutes. The IONIQ 6 also has a 10.5 kWh onboard charger to utilise faster 3-phase workplace charging.

Vehicle to Load is another feature of the IONIQ 6, meaning that the car can power electrical equipment.

The IONIQ 6 price and model range

The Hyundai IONIQ 6 Premium AWD is priced at £50,540. The IONIQ 6 is available with a 77kWh battery, rear or all-wheel drive, and in three trim levels: Premium (with prices starting from £47,040), Ultimate and First Edition.

Conclusion

Hyundai has once again brought us innovation in the form of the IONIQ 6. The whole concept is based on efficiency, and the driving range of up to (WLTP) 338 miles shows that this approach has worked. If you need to charge away from home, the 233 kW maximum ultra-rapid charging rate is one of the fastest of any EVs on sale today.

The low saloon body results in composed handling, the ride quality is extremely comfortable, grip levels are high thanks to all-wheel drive, and there’s lots of performance. The only main thing to be aware of is that the IONIQ 6 has a boot rather than a hatchback; if you can live with that, there’s not very much wrong with it.