The all-electric Hyundai Ioniq Family, with the Ioniq 5 CUV, Ioniq 6 sedan and Ioniq 7 SUV.
From the get-go, Hyundai knew the Ioniq was all about variety. Until today, the Ioniq was known as the compact sedan that had three available powertrains: all-electric, plug-in hybrid and standard hybrid. After today, the Ioniq name will expand to become Hyundai's dedicated EV brand with three new models hitting dealerships in the next four years.
Hyundai has announced that the Ioniq brand will enter its new phase in early 2021 with the launch of the Ioniq 5, a midsize all-electric CUV that will be based on the 45 concept from the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show (remember those?). This will be followed in 2022 by the Ioniq 6 sedan (based on the Prophecy concept) and then the Ioniq 7 in 2024. There's no current concept that will lend itself to the Ioniq 7, but Hyundai has at least provided a bit of a hint in the teaser image you can see above.
In case your home quarantine provides you with a view of the London Eye, you may have seen Hyundai work its promotional magic to light the wheel up as a giant Q to celebrate the launch of the new brand. Hyundai says there's more to the new Ioniq name than the vehicles themselves. The brand symbolizes "Hyundai's plan to lead the global EV market" and there's talk of "connected lifestyle solutions" and an ability to "integrate in-car and out-of-car experiences for a seamless journey." We'll have to be patient for more details about those last two items, but the EV leadership goal was explained in Hyundai's recent Strategy 2025 announcement. As part of this plan, Hyundai Motor Group (which includes the Kia and Genesis brands) wants to one million battery electric vehicles and gain a 10-percent market share of EVs around the world by 2025.
The names used in the Ioniq brand line-up should be easy to parse, since even numbers will be used for sedans and odd numbers will be used to designate the all-electric SUVs.
The new Ioniq family will ride on Hyundai's dedicated electric global modular (E-GMP) platform, which means they will all have fast charging capability and "plentiful driving range." As with EVs from other automakers, the E-GMP platform will allow Hyundai designers to play around with the vehicle interior, including "highly adjustable seats, wireless connectivity and unique features such as a glove box designed as drawers."
The 2020 Hyundai Ioniq EV - can we call it the Ioniq 0, as in Patient Zero, or the one that started it all? - has a range of 170 miles, which was a big improvement over the 124 miles that the 2019 model got. It also managed 133 MPGe, a metric that Hyundai has long said should be used more often to understand just how efficient an electric vehicle actually is. We agree, and would like MPGe number for the Ioniq 5 as soon as possible.
