Hyundai Ioniq Electric 2020 Review

Last updated on April 8th, 2020 at 08:23 pm

Intro, Price, Options and Verdict

Introduction

Hyundai’s Ioniq was supposed to be the vehicle that offered climate-friendly options for every need. There’s a regular hybrid, a plug-in hybrid, and a full-electric version. This was unique when the first version of the Ioniq came out in 2016 – no other manufacturer offered all three types of drivetrain in one body. But other manufacturers have followed suit since then, so Hyundai needed to do more to differentiate itself. Enter the 2020 update of the Ioniq.

Of course, we’re only interested in the new version of the Hyundai Ioniq Electric. The first version had an original LEAF-like range of around 120 miles, but the 2020 edition extends that to a more useful 193 miles (claimed). That’s still not quite Tesla territory but means the Ioniq is now more than just a city runabout. With a charging stop halfway, you could make it from London to Devon. We took a look at the more basic Premium version.

Price and Options

One of the benefits of Hyundai’s “one model, three different drivetrains” approach for a car reviewer is that you can see just how much extra you’re paying for a full electric motor. Compared to the regular hybrid with the same trim level, you're forking out £8,000 more, and the PHEV is still £3,000 cheaper than the all-electric version. Although the hybrid and PHEV have some other trim levels on offer, the Electric is available in just two – Premium or Premium SE, with a £2,000 difference between them.

The SE version adds body-coloured door handles with a chrome insert, ventilated front seats (both versions offer heated front seats), and electric adjustment of the driver’s seat. The rear seats are heated on the SE too, and all seats are leather rather than cloth. You get auto front windscreen defog and rain sensors with the SE, and privacy glass. The SE also has parking sensors at both ends, where the Premium only has rear ones. The sunroof is only an option on the SE, too. You also get some extra safety features including Blind Spot Detection, Lane Follow Assist and Rear Cross Traffic Alert. A heated steering wheel is standard on both models.

That’s not to say that the vanilla Premium isn’t well specified. In fact, the standard kit is one of the key selling points of the Ioniq. However, this is still a £33,000 car, or £35,000 in SE guise. When you consider that you can get a Tesla Model 3 for seven grand more, and the MG ZS EV for ten grand less, the Ioniq’s price looks a little steep.

The basic colour is Polar White, but for an extra £565 you can choose Fiery Red, Intense Blue, Phantom Black, Fluidic Metal, Typhoon Silver or Electric Shadow. There is only one interior option (Dark Grey) with the Premium, but if you go for the SE, Shale Grey and Electric Shadow are also available for no extra charge. Whichever version you choose, you get 16in alloy wheels with 205/60 R16 tyres.

Design, Comfort and Storage

Exterior Design

Hyundai doesn’t take many risks with its styling, but at least none of its models make you glad you’re inside rather than outside. The Ioniq carries on that tradition of safe appearances. A layman could be forgiven for thinking this was a Prius. It has the same wedge-like look from the side, although the front is more stubby, due to the need for this chassis to support models with internal combustion engines. On the Electric, a slightly odd silvered panel surrounds the Hyundai logo, but on the Hybrid and PHEV models this becomes a grille for the radiator.

The Prius isn’t a bad look to emulate for an EV, but it’s kind of the future as imagined a couple of decades ago. So the Ioniq won’t be wowing your friends by shouting “I’m an EV, I’m so advanced”. Instead, the design says exactly what this car is – an unassuming eco-friendly family car meant for competent everyday duties, rather than showing off. However, there is one external design feature that we question – the way the rear spoiler blocks your view out the back window. This is clearly part of the wedge design but is hardly ideal for visibility.

Interior Comfort

Long gone are the days when cars from the Far East felt cheap inside. The Ioniq’s interior is futuristic, and there is a lot of plastic involved. But the faux leather stitching on the dashboard still adds a quality feel even though you know it’s not real. You do get leather seats with the Premium SE spec, whilst the regular Premium spec is cloth.

The seats are comfortable enough, including the three passenger positions in the rear. These are a little cramped, but fine for a family rather than three sizeable adults. Overall, the cabin feels quite spacious. The central armrest is a bit minimal, but you get not one but two central cupholders with sprung clips to keep your beverages stable. A nice touch is the support for Qi charging in one of the central cubbies, so you can simply sling your phone in there when driving and have it charge en route.

Storage and Load Carrying

Considering that the Ioniq is essentially a hatchback, load capacity is respectable. It has a basic boot capacity of 357 litres, but this goes up to 1,417 litres with the rear seats down. This is decent compared to a PHEV, with (for example) Mercedes new C300de estate offering less from a car that is ostensibly bigger on the outside. However, the Nissan LEAF offers more basic boot space (435 litres), although not so much when you put the seats down (1,176 litres). Unfortunately, the Ioniq suffers from not being a purely EV design by the absence of a front compartment like you get on some competitors, such as Teslas. Instead, the electric engine and other electronic components are located under the bonnet.

In-Car Entertainment and Controls

The driver’s display is simple, with the central area showing the current speed numerically. A bar on the left illustrates whether you are using up power or regaining it via regenerative braking. Relevant safety alerts and the temperature are shown nearby, whilst on the right you can see the available range.

Although electric vehicles, hybrids and PHEVs do tend to offer a variety of unusual control systems, the pushbuttons employed by the Ioniq to switch between drive, reverse and park aren’t very satisfying. You will find you have to look at them to choose the right one, whereas a trusty gearstick or steering wheel-located system can be used without a glance.

The menu system for the 10.25in touchscreen in the centre of the dashboard is well organised and quite easy to navigate. By default, you can have the weather, satnav and range/charge information all visible at once, and it’s possible to drag and drop to customise this display. Customising your drive modes takes just a few screen presses. Only the volume control has a physical knob; everything else uses touch, although the screen mode buttons are dedicated and permanent rather than changing with context. The Smart Cruise Control with Stop and Go Functionality will adapt to the speed of the car in front, which is handy in heavy traffic.

That satnav itself, when taking up the entire screen, shows a clear and colourful display, with your next three turns on the right, plus estimated arrival time, distance to destination and time to destination along the bottom. There’s live traffic and speed camera alerts, although this appears to require your smartphone to be connected via Bluetooth to supply the necessary data connection. Camera alerts are not enabled by default, requiring a trip to the menu to turn them on. It’s not clear from Hyundai whose live traffic system is being used, however.

Speaking of smartphone connectivity, like any self-respecting EV there’s an app available that lets you control many features of your Ioniq remotely, in this case called BlueLink. You can send destinations to the satnav, enable climate control so the car is toasty (or frosty) in advance of when you get into it, monitor charge level and estimated range, and track your vehicle’s current location as well as immobilise it if you think it has been stolen. You can see a report of your driving behaviour and monitor the health of your Ioniq.

Performance, Running Costs, Range, and Safety

Performance

The sense that this is a sensible family saloon is sealed when you get behind the wheel of the Ioniq. It does have three modes to suit different driving moods – Eco, Normal and Sport. Hyundai claims a 0-62mph time of 9.9 seconds in Sport mode, which isn’t exactly hot-hatch-quick, but acceptable. This drops a little to 10.3 seconds in Normal mode, and presumably a bit further in Eco mode, although Hyundai doesn’t say by how much. In practice, you can sense quite a bit more acceleration urgency with Sport compared to Eco, but this is more from the immediacy of action when you hit the accelerator. In practice, this isn’t a particularly quick EV, although the top speed is a reasonable 103mph.

Overall, the driving experience is pleasant enough, with relatively precise steering and the smooth response that is characteristic of a pure EV. The response does feel a bit muted in Eco and Normal modes. The regenerative braking makes the brake pedal feel a bit soft. You can choose three different levels of this, but whichever you select you will need to stamp hard to stop, although you can alter the regenerative braking on the fly with the steering wheel paddles, which is a bit odd if you’re used to using these for gear changes.

Running Costs

We’ve already mentioned that this car is a bit more expensive than you would expect for its specification, and it’s more expensive to insure than previous versions too. The Premium and Premium SE are insurance groups 21 and 22 respectively, similar to the entry-level LEAF. However, these are considerably higher than the Hybrid or Plug-In Ioniq versions, and notably higher than the previous generation, which was 16 and 17 for the two trim levels respectively. The five-year unlimited mileage warranty is on par with other EVs, with a service interval of one year or 10,000 miles. However, the battery has an eight-year warranty with a 125,000-mile limit.

However, compared to fossil-fuel vehicle, the Ioniq still benefits from zero benifit-in-kind (BiK) as a company car like any EV. Over a three-year period of having the Ioniq Premium as a company car, a 40 per cent taxpayer would only be looking at a tax bill of £395.40 in total for a car registered in 2020-21, compared to over £10K for a fossil-fuel equivalent, and a 20 per cent taxpayer would be charged half that.

Range

Hyundai claims the 38KW battery gives a range of 194 miles, but during testing we discovered that 160-170 miles is more realistic for everyday driving. That will be a bit more in practice than the latest Nissan LEAF. However, that’s the basic LEAF, which is around £6,000 cheaper than the Ioniq Electric. The LEAF e+ is similarly priced and has both a longer range and greater performance, making the Ioniq look expensive in comparison.

Using a 7kW charger, which includes the plug-in home unit, you can fill the battery up in six hours and five minutes. However, the Ioniq also supports 50kW fast chargers, which will supply 80 per cent capacity in just 57 minutes. The basic LEAF is a little faster for the latter, and the e+ supports 100kW chargers as well, although good luck finding one at the moment.

Safety

You get a decent level of safety features as standard with the Premium, including front, front side, curtain and driver’s knee airbags. The E-call system calls emergency services automatically if the airbags have been deployed. The ABS has autonomous emergency braking, there’s electronic stability control as standard and Hill-start Assist Control. When motorway driving, Lane Departure Warning will tell you when you're straying from your course, whilst Lane Keep Assist will help you stay on it. There’s tyre pressure monitoring with individual tyre pressure displays. This is a five star NCAP-rated vehicle for crash safety, too. The SE adds a Blind Spot Detection system, Lane Follow Assist, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert.

Key Specifications

*based on electricity costs of 14p per kWh