2023 Hyundai Ioniq6 Review – What Range Anxiety?
2023 Hyundai Ioniq Limited AWD Fast Facts
I had two opportunities to drive the 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 last year – one short, one long – and found it charming.
Not only that, but unlike with many EVs, I found myself worrying less about range than I normally would.
If it weren’t for polarizing looks* and a dear price, this might be the perfect EV mid-size sedan.
(*I like the styling. But I know it’s not for everyone.)
This curvy car comes with a few variations on powertrain set up – one motor or two, hmm? – and wheel sizes. This one came with 20-inch wheels and dual electric motors, making it all-wheel drive with 320 horsepower and a range of 270 miles.
That long range came in handy when I needed to make a couple of trips to the suburbs. While I did need to charge near the end of my week-long loan, I simply felt less range anxiety than I do with most EVs currently on the market.
The experience was also a nice blend of fun and comfortable. While the car’s size hampered handling somewhat – there was a little more body roll than I’d like, and even in the sportiest drive mode the 6’s responses weren’t as sharp as I’d like – there’s plenty of power on tap for swift, instant acceleration.
With slightly better-tuned handling and a bit of a firmer ride – the Ioniq 6 was generally comfortable but occasionally erred on the side of soft – you could have a solid EV sport sedan to play with. As it stands, the package makes for one comfortable commuter and highway cruiser.
Fiddling with the drive modes can shorten/lengthen estimated range by 5-10 miles, and steering-wheel-mounted paddles allow you to control the amount of regenerative braking.
The cabin is quiet – obviously EVs don’t have engine noise. That said, Hyundai has done a nice job here of keeping most wind and tire noise out.
It’s also an attractive cabin, with eye-pleasing design, and a generally easy-to-use functionality. Both the gauge screen and infotainment screen measure 12.3 inches, and they combine into a big sweeper across the top of the dash. There are buttons and knobs for the most important controls, though you do need to deal with touch-screen tech sometimes. The flat space around the cupholders and use of a quirky column shifter give you a feel of airy space in the front.
This car didn’t lack for features – a Limited with AWD is tops of the trim-level heap. With a base price of $56,100, my test unit for the longer loan came with DC fast-charging ability, battery pre-conditioning, active grille shutters, sunroof, LED headlights, LED daytime running lights, LED taillights, keyless entry and starting, 360-degree camera, smart cruise control, blind-spot monitor, heated and cooled front seats, heated steering wheel, ambient interior lighting, aluminum pedals, digital key, wireless device charging, rain-sensing wipers, vehicle-to-load second-row outlet, front and rear USB ports, navigation, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, Bose audio, Bluetooth, satellite radio, and Bluelink connected-car services.
Active-driving assist systems include forward collision-avoidance assist, blind-spot collision-avoidance assist, lane-keeping assist, lane-following assist, rear cross-traffic collision-avoidance assist, driver-attention warning, parking collision-avoidance assist, rear occupant alert, and parking distance warning.
The only option here was carpeted floor mats, so the total came to $57,425 with destination.
Charge times for the 697V lithium-ion battery are as follows: Almost seven hours up to 80 percent on a standard AC Level 2, 73 minutes up to 80 percent on a 50 kW fast charger, and 18 minutes up to 80 percent on a 350 kW DC fast charger. I charged for almost eight hours at a Charge Point near my home and snagged 6.6 kW on AC.
Although the estimated range is 270 miles, I was showing 317 miles at 100 percent. Not bad at all. Better than a V8 Mustang.
A lot of EVs are expensive and/or have too-little range and/or are weird for the sake of weird. While the Ioniq 6 has distinctive styling, the actual user experience isn’t weird at all. It’s easy to live with, comfortable, and relatively fun to drive. Not only that, but range was much less of a concern than usual.
It’s too bad that this version of the car is so pricey – to be fair, lower trims are more reasonable in terms of MSRP – because there’s a lot to like here.
The more “normal” EVs feel, the more likely they are to gain acceptance among a sometimes-reluctant consumer base. That’s even more true when the range is higher.
The Hyundai Ioniq 6 comes closer to that truth that many of the other EVs on the road.
[Images © 2024 Tim Healey/TTAC. Exterior images were shot at a Hyundai event and the trim level may not match what I tested.]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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- KOKing I owned a Paul Bracq-penned BMW E24 some time ago, and I recently started considering getting Sacco's contemporary, the W124 coupe.
- Bob The answer is partially that stupid manufacturers stopped producing desirable PHEVs.I bought my older kid a beautiful 2011 Volt, #584 off the assembly line and #000007 for HOV exemption in MD. We love the car. It was clearly an old guy's car, and his kids took away his license.It's a perfect car for a high school kid, really. 35 miles battery range gets her to high school, job, practice, and all her friend's houses with a trickle charge from the 120V outlet. In one year (~7k miles), I have put about 10 gallons of gas in her car, and most of that was for the required VA emissions check minimum engine runtime.But -- most importantly -- that gas tank will let her make the 300-mile trip to college in one shot so that when she is allowed to bring her car on campus, she will actually get there!I'm so impressed with the drivetrain that I have active price alerts for the Cadillac CT6 2.0e PHEV on about 12 different marketplaces to replace my BMW. Would I actually trade in my 3GT for a CT6? Well, it depends on what broke in German that week....
- ToolGuy Different vehicle of mine: A truck. 'Example' driving pattern: 3/3/4 miles. 9/12/12/9 miles. 1/1/3/3 miles. 5/5 miles. Call that a 'typical' week. Would I ever replace the ICE powertrain in that truck? No, not now. Would I ever convert that truck to EV? Yes, very possibly. Would I ever convert it to a hybrid or PHEV? No, that would be goofy and pointless. 🙂
- ChristianWimmer Took my ‘89 500SL R129 out for a spin in his honor (not a recent photo).Other great Mercedes’ designers were Friedrich Geiger, who styled the 1930s 500K/540K Roadsters and my favorite S-Class - the W116 - among others. Paul Bracq is also a legend.RIP, Bruno.
- ToolGuy Currently my drives tend to be either extra short or fairly long. (We'll pick that vehicle over there and figure in the last month, 5 miles round trip 3 times a week, plus 1,000 miles round trip once.) The short trips are torture for the internal combustion powertrain, the long trips are (relative) torture for my wallet. There is no possible way that the math works to justify an 'upgrade' to a more efficient ICE, or an EV, or a hybrid, or a PHEV. Plus my long trips tend to include (very) out of the way places. One day the math will work and the range will work and the infrastructure will work (if the range works) and it will work in favor of a straight EV (purchased used). At that point the short trips won't be torture for the EV components and the long trips shouldn't hurt my wallet. What we will have at that point is the steady drip-drip-drip of long-term battery degradation. (I always pictured myself buying generic modular replacement cells at Harbor Freight or its future equivalent, but who knows if that will be possible). The other option that would almost possibly work math-wise would be to lease a new EV at some future point (but the payment would need to be really right). TL;DR: ICE now, EV later, Hybrid maybe, PHEV probably never.
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Analoggrotto,
WWII is history and you’re living in the past, that’s war. Korea is not entitled to anything in Japan. Like the reparations nonsense going on in the U.S, no Japanese alive is responsible for anything that happened in Korea and China during the War.
Tons of discounts out there on the eGMP's, just pick your style: Ionic 5/6, Kia EV6 and Genesis GV60. Personally, I got $20k off on a $60k MSRP GT-Line EV6 (only $7500 of that was a "rebate" from the state, the rest was Kia and dealer discounts). They are not only the same platform, but nearly identical mechanically other than slightly adjusted wheelbases. Find this one ugly? Look at Ionic 5 or EV6 instead, it's actually pretty cool how they came up with 4 distinct styles with basically the same car to fit many different tastes.