Hyundai reveals new slippery saloon all-electric Ioniq 6

• Published date: 29 June 2022
• Author: Neil Briscoe
• Publication title: Irish Times: Web Edition Articles (Dublin, Ireland)

The Korean giant's follow-up to the massively successful Ioniq 5 electric car, the Ioniq 6 is a low-slung, streamlined four-door saloon that has more than a little of the original 'Ur-Saab' 92001 prototype of 1946

Indeed, Hyundai seems keen to make the link between the Ioniq 6's streamliner styling and the art-deco look of the 1930s and 1940s, even photographing its dramatic new electric model with a propellor-driven Douglas airliner from the 1940s.

The styling does have some modern touches, of course. The wing mirrors can be optionally replaced by slim, wind-cheating cameras, while the brake light bar that runs the full width of the boot uses the same cube-like 'Parametric Pixel' design as the Ioniq 5.

That teardrop shape, in spite of being 150mm taller than the Hyundai Prophecy concept that inspired the Ioniq 6's styling (mostly to make space for the chunky battery back), is very aerodynamically efficient, with a drag coefficient of 0.21Cd — comparable to that of the Mercedes EQE.

Thereis a ducktail-style boot spoiler and some clever aero tweaks around the rear bumper to ensure that the wing-like profile of the car remains stable and secure at higher speeds. The Ioniq 6 is quite a long car — 4.8-metres overall — but it's roughly sized to compete with the Tesla Model 3 and Polestar 2, and should be priced accordingly.

That slippery shape should bring with it range benefits. Hyundai — which was stung into revealing the 6 early thanks to leaked images on the internet — isn't giving away any technical details yet. However, we do know that it uses the same E-GMP platform as the bulkier Ioniq 5.

With the largest 77kWh battery, the Ioniq 5 has a claimed one-charge range of 508km, so it's very likely that with its superior aerodynamics, the Ioniq 6 will do better, maybe as much as 600km. Earlier this week, Volkswagen showed off its similarly-sized ID.Aero concept electric saloon, which has a claimed range of 620km using the same 77kWh battery as the taller, 500km-ranged, ID.4 SUV.

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