Hyundai offers an early look at its upcoming all-electric sedan, the Ioniq 6† It comes as Bloomberg reports that the company’s EV market share is quietly coming in Europe and The United Statesmaking even Tesla’s Elon Musk to watch out for†
If last year’s all-electric Ioniq 5 crossover SUV took inspiration from 1970s designs, then Top Gear says: that the 6 takes inspiration from sleek vehicles of the 1920s and 1930s such as the Naughty Scarab† If you liked the look of Hyundai’s 2020 Prophecy concept car, the Ioniq 6 is the vehicle it’s turned into.
The South Korean automaker is currently focused on showing off the Ioniq 6’s design rather than its tech specs, so there are no definitive details on battery size or range. But the car uses the same Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) as the Ioniq 5, which could travel up to 315 miles on a single charge. The range should benefit from the streamlined design of the Ioniq 6, resulting in one of the lowest drag coefficients on the market at just 0.21.
Internally, the Ioniq 6 has a number of different touchscreens: a 12-inch infotainment display and a 12-inch digital cluster. But when it comes to the kinds of controls you regularly need while driving, such as audio or climate control, Hyundai has opted for physical buttons. “The touchscreen is great when this car is [in] when stationary, but when you’re on the move, touchscreens can be dangerous,” said Hyundai design chief Sangyup Lee tells Ars Technica† “For us, everything that has to do with security, we use hardware. Anything not related to security will use a touch interface.”
Other interior features include lights on the steering wheel that indicate when the car is charging or listen to voice commands, the ability to illuminate the interior with a choice of 64 colors, a completely flat floor and a stretched interior for “optimized legroom.” is also the possibility to have door mirrors for cameras instead of regular door mirrors in markets where they are legal, which Ars notes currently does not include the US.
There are no definitive details on how much the Ioniq 6 will cost, but Ars Technica reports that it is expected to be cheaper than the Ioniq 5, which starts at $46,650. It is expected to go into production next month and go on sale in the US in model year 2023. It’ll get its full public launch on July 14, when we’ll hopefully get firmer details about the release date. For a hint at what might follow, check out the Hyundai Seven, a hulking concept SUV the company showcased last year.