Hyundai Ioniq Electric 2020 review

I'm Tom Baker, this is Chasing Cars, and today we're driving the updated Hyundai IONIQ Electric, which sits here behind me. Now, the IONIQ Electric has only been on the market in Australia for 18 months, give or take, but it's already come in for a facelift and a fairly major upgrade under the skin, and it's an upgrade that really matters, because what electric cars actually need is not a more pretty front, it's actually more batteries and therefore more range, but this one gets both. So, battery capacity is up to 38.3 kilowatt hours, which is almost 40% bigger than before, they've made it denser, it's a better battery, it's now liquid cooled, and as a result of all of that, range on the WLTP rating is actually 311 kilometres, so it's broken through the 300k mark, that's getting into really useful territory, I reckon, and this car is still under 50 grand in mid-spec elite form, there isn't really a base model for this car in Australia. So, it's pretty affordable, there's zero tailpipe emissions, and it doesn't look too bad either, but what's the IONIQ like inside? We'll find out in just a second, and if you haven't subscribed, please do so below the video and hit that notification bell. There are also quite a few changes to the interior of the IONIQ, and they're pretty much all for the better. When the IONIQ came out in Australia, I sort of remarked that it wasn't particularly futuristic, in fact, it felt a lot like an Elantra inside, and that has changed, because there's now a sort of a real element of modernity and sort of electric mobility type of feel, if that's even a thing, wow, I'm using a lot of technical language there. Basically, it feels a lot newer. So, that starts with this piano black console here, which now has a much bigger screen, so you've got a 10 and a quarter inch wide screen, it's really high res, so you can do two panes of information, I've got the maps and the battery status here, and it's clever, it tells you where your nearest EV charger is, so that's a lot easier to use than some other electric car infotainment systems. You've got another seven inch screen in front of you with some graphics about your range and consumption and stuff like that, but nothing too complicated. Then there's this centre console here, more piano black, lots of buttons, but you've got your controls for your, not so much gearbox, more like your forward and backward modes. Lots of storage down here, because like all electric cars, there's lots of packaging opened up, because you don't have all the hard bits from a combustion vehicle. Otherwise, there's a lot of standard Hyundai stuff as well, so we've got a normal Hyundai steering wheel, feels good in the hand, the paddle shifters do the regen braking, we've got seats that feel like they're out of an Elantra or something similar, pretty comfortable, pretty supportive, the premium's got electric adjustment with memory, and otherwise material quality's okay. So, soft touch up here on the doors, kind of faux leather pad on the dash, which is not really soft, but it certainly looks good. But the other benefit is there's adequate space in the back, so let's check that out. Adequate space if you're not on the basketball team, that is, because the sloping roofline of the Ioniq means the headroom is limited. I've got maybe just under an inch left, and I'm six foot tall. Legroom's no problem, toe room is a little bit constrained, and that's because like most electric cars, the floor is a bit higher to accommodate a skateboard of batteries underneath, so the gap under the seat is just a bit more compact. But it's really no problem, and you could almost fit three people in here because that floor is nice and low. You also get air vents to keep the air pumping, that's great in a hot country like Australia. You also have an armrest with two and a half cup holders. However, there are a couple of elements of the Stinge. The materials shift hard, you only get one pocket behind the seats, but those are really slim pickings, aren't they? So what is the facelifted Ioniq Electric like to drive? Well, pretty good, actually, because Hyundai have concentrated on improving this car in the areas that really matter to people who are buying an electric vehicle, and that is, of course, battery capacity and range. Battery capacity is up almost 40% to 38.3 kilowatt hours, and range is up a third to 311 kilometres on the WLTP rating cycle, and that's closer to real world driving than the previous emissions standard. So I reckon just over 300 k's is getting into pretty useful territory. For another sort of 10 grand, a little bit more than 10 grand, you can of course step into a Kona Electric, which has over 400 kilometres of range, but you know, not everybody has 60 grand or more to spend on an EV, and I reckon Hyundai are still worthy of congratulations for selling Australia's least expensive electric car, which is the Ioniq Electric Elite. This particular car is a premium, but as I explained inside, that, you know, the premium stuff is really just tinsel on top of the same package. So what are we making under the bonnet? Well, not really under the bonnet, except it is under the bonnet, because that's where the motor is in this car. Well, the Ioniq Electric generates now 100 kilowatts of power and 295 newton meters of torque, so it's not as, you know, rapid as other electric cars out there. Don't go expecting Tesla Model S types of acceleration, but it's definitely decent. It feels to us like sort of a larger capacity four-cylinder engine, maybe a two and a half litre four-cylinder, but without any noise at all, and it's really pleasurable, zero tailpipe emission motoring, because you just sort of glide around with easy, sort of fairly linear torque, basically in silence. The refinement's pretty good too. They've worked hard on getting road noise down, and it's definitely not too noisy in the cabin, though without the sound of a combustion engine, that's kind of all you can hear. The rest of the vehicle is very inoffensive, trending towards good to drive. The handling is very neutral. Because the weight of this car is nice and low, that shelf of batteries sits very, very low in the chassis. It actually doesn't mind going around a corner quickly. You know, it's nice and four-square in the corners. There's definitely some push understeer as you reach for this car's limits, but I don't think anyone will really be doing that. Around town, it's nice and easy to drive. The steering is a little bit meatier than you might expect, maybe a bit heavier than I generally like, but it's nothing to complain about. Visibility out of the thing is generally pretty good, apart from the sort of bar, not spoiler, but that sort of thing in my rear vision mirror. You know, it's very, very nice and easy, and pretty plush to drive. The ride's well sorted too. That's because it goes through Hyundai Australia's local tuning program, so it sort of errs more towards compliance than some other Hyundais that are sold in this country. It's a blend of good, low urban ride, good low-speed urban ride, while still being, you know, firm enough and compliant enough on a country road to know you're not going to get thrown off into the ditch. As for safety stuff, every model in the IONIQ range has a really good suite. If you spend more on a premium like this car, you get sort of more advanced lane trace assist and also adaptive cruise control, but everything else, you know, AEB, blind spot monitoring, reversing camera that's nice and crisp, that's all standard. And of course, I should remind you that the electric is just one of three IONIQs. There's a conventional hybrid, just like a Toyota Prius that achieves mid-threes in terms of fuel economy, and there's also a plug-in hybrid which can do 63km of driving on pure electric range, which I think is pretty good, but this electric really is the standout for me. So that's my opinion of the new facelifted Hyundai IONIQ Electric. This car has had a nice little update that's focused on the things that matter, i.e. battery capacity and range, while also giving it a slightly fresher look outside and better technology inside. If you're looking for zero tailpipe emissions motoring and you've got 50 grand to spend, this thing is not a bad car to look at. Far from it, it's actually a very accomplished urban car that actually can a little bit beyond that with its now enhanced range. If you haven't already subscribed to Chasing Cars, please do so below the video, leave me a comment, let me know what you think about the IONIQ Electric, and as always, thanks for watching.