Selwyn_Times: December 06, 2023

34 Selwyn Times Wednesday December 6 2023
Smooth, silent, wickedly quick IONIQ 6
WHO WOULD have thought it
was possible to create a model
to upstage the show-stopping
Hyundai IONIQ 5 EV launched
two years ago? Turns out
Hyundai have done just that
with the breathtakingly futuristic
IONIQ 6.
Sleek and distinctive, there is
nothing on the market that looks
like it. Achieving that is a major
feather in Hyundai’s styling cap.
This head-turner extraordinaire
uses the company’s streamliner
design, while its cocoon-like
interior yields a remarkable
amount of usable space. A super
slippery drag coefficient of just
0.21 allows the vehicle to slip
almost unimpeded through the
air. Its cutting-edge electric drive
system can deliver depending
on the model, a driving range of
over 500km.
Earlier this year the IONIQ 6
won the prestigious 2023 World
Car of the Year, World Electric
Vehicle of the Year and for good
measure, World Car Design
of the Year. This is the second
consecutive year Hyundai has
won these three awards, completing
an impressive double for
the company with the IONIQ 5
Motoring with Bob Nettleton
taking out the same categories
last year.
This first ever IONIQ 6 packs
game-changing technologies
into a sleek streamliner body
inspired by the Hyundai prophecy
concept. The product of the
Hyundai brand’s imagination, it’s
the first sedan built on Hyundai’s
Electrified-Global Modular Platform.
This brings 800V architecture
and the ability to rapid
charge from 10 to 80 per cent in
as little as 18 minutes.
The IONIQ 6 is offered in
three variants with two battery
sizes, a 53 and 77.4kW/h, with
rear-wheel drive and all-wheel
drive power trains. The $79,990
Entry model uses a modest
53kW/h battery and makes
111kW of power – not much a
big car, but offers an impressive
driving range of up to 429km.
To calm your EV range anxiety
levels there’s an Extended Range
rear-wheel drive 77.4kW/h
model. This offers more heft at
168kW and has one of the best in
class driving ranges of 614 km.
Both variants are fitted with 18"
wheels and low rolling resistance
tyres.
In Entry guise it retails for
$94,990 with the higher spec
Elite nudging the price up to
$104,990.
The twin motor 230kW
all-wheel drive IONIQ 6 Limited
supplied for this road test
features a HTRAC all-wheel
drive system, a driving range of
up to 519km, and $124,990 asking
price, which will cause few
double gulps among some.
At the time of writing, just under
80 had been sold for the year
to date with the Entry version
accounting for a high proportion
of sales.
The twin electric motor set up
in the test car packs a mighty
230kW of power but the number
that really astounds, is the
whopping 605Nm of instant
torque. This combo enables what
is a sizeable vehicle to high tail
it from 0 to 100km/h in a rapid
5.2 seconds. Smooth, silent and
wickedly quick it makes an
undeniably strong argument to
go EV. I expected wind and road
noise to be amplified at highway
speeds, but the car’s sleek and
slippery shape largely eliminates
unwanted ambient sounds such
as this.
The IONIQ 6 reimagines the
cabin as a spacious and flexible
living space featuring Hyundai
New Zealand firsts – integrated
digital side mirrors, interactive
ambient lighting and eco-friendly
sustainable materials. Many of
the cabin’s touch points – seats,
Ratings out of 10: Performance 7.5; Handling 7; Build
Quality 7; Comfort 6; Passenger and Load Space 8; Avg fuel
consumption on road test 6.2L/100km; Value for money 6;
Safety – Five Star ANCAP crash rating. No clean car fee.
Overall points out of 10: 7.5
headliner, door trim, floor and
armrest – use eco-friendly,
sustainably sourced materials,
such as recycled PET bottles and
natural wool yarns. The car really
does sport a green, eco-friendly
aura.
The IONIQ 6 rides on the
Hyundai dedicated Electric-
Global Modular Platform. Like
its twin, the IONIQ 5, it offers
advanced connectivity and
driver assistance features. A
wide, configurable dual cockpit
features a 12-inch, full-touch infotainment
screen, while a hoodless
12-inch digital gauge cluster
can be customised to suit your
individual requirements. There’s
an Augmented Reality Head-
Up Display that transforms the
windscreen into a mega-size display
screen. The IONIQ 6’s many
features include Vehicle-to-Load
technology, driver assistance
systems and advanced connectivity
with over-the-air software
updates.
Heading the safety charge for
this is the next generation Hyundai
Smart Sense advanced driver
assistance system. This incorporates,
among other things, Forward
Collision-Avoidance Assist,
Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance
Assist, Driver Attention Warning
and auto high beam that
automatically dips the vehicles
headlights when driving at night.
One of the more innovative
pieces of safety tech are the digital
exterior mirrors; in place of
the usual exterior wing mirrors
are cameras. These relay crystal
clear images of what’s happening
behind and to the side of the
vehicle, on to screens integrated
into the left and right internal
‘A’ pillars. Initially I found the
system counter intuitive and kept
looking at where I was expecting
a rear exterior mirror only to
find a camera. Once I broke this
habit, I found this system works
brilliantly. Different coloured
dotted lines show how close
nearby traffic is to your vehicle.
If it’s a red broken line, they’re
too close!
This hefty vehicle with its
wide stance locks assuredly to
the road and body roll, even
during brisk cornering, and is
kept under a tight rein. A wellcushioned
ride does a fine job
of suppressing suspension noise
at lower around-town speeds,
and smoothed and soothed the
test vehicle over even the worst
patchwork and pot holed surfaces
our road networks can dish
up. This is a classy car – delightfully
engaging and responsive to
drive while its super cool looks,
will be a deal clincher for many
wavering would-be buyers.
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