Hyundai reveals Ioniq 3 small electric car with 309-mile range
Make no mistake: this is the time of the small electric car.
Car makers including Renault, BYD and Citroen have invested heavily in smaller, battery-powered models, and now Hyundai wants to get in on the action.
The Korean car maker has revealed the Ioniq 3: a new electric hatchback that will arrive this summer with an attractive price of around £25,000 (€28,785 / $30,865).
The Hyundai Ioniq 3 is positioned as a rival to both small electric cars, such as the Renault 5 and larger alternatives, including the Volkswagen ID 3.
Hyundai describes the car as an ‘aerohatch’ – a sleek new form conceived with the goal of maximising aerodynamic efficiency.
To achieve that description, Hyundai has styled the car with a raked roofline, similar to that employed by the old Hyundai Veloster, ending with a prominent duck-tail rear spoiler.
Meanwhile, the front end is sculpted to have the smallest frontal area possible. Its efforts have yielded a drag coefficient of 0.26, which is better than the smaller but chunkier Renault 5 (0.29).
The Ioniq 3 is powered by a 42.2kWh battery as standard, offering 334km (208 miles) of range. The car will also be offered with a larger, 61kWh battery producing 497km (309 miles) of range.
Standard Range cars will use a 145bhp motor, for a 0-100kph (0-62mph) time of 9.0 seconds, while Long Range cars will get a more efficient 132bhp variant.
Hyundai has not yet disclosed a peak charging rate but has confirmed the 10-80% refill time will be 29 minutes for the Standard Range car and 30 minutes for the Long Range car.
Lead exterior designer Manuel Schöttle said Hyundai began with the most efficient shape in aerodynamic terms for the Ioniq 3, but added it was “important to make sure it didn’t look like a soap bar”.
Shöttle added that the Ioniq 3 is Hyundai’s first electric car designed in Europe, and noted that it uses Hyundai’s new Art of Steel design language. Its unique design is not without compromise, though. The sloping roofline has affected boot space, and there’s no room for a front trunk due to the car’s front-mounted electric motor.
To get around this, Hyundai has added a large cargo space beneath the floor, similar to the ‘Gigabox’ in the Ford Pume Gen-E. Just using the boot, there’s 322 litres of cargo space, which rises to 411 litres when including the underfloor storage area.
The Ioniq 3’s cabin was designed to minimise the driver's distractions. Lead interior designer Victor Andrean said the “hands on the wheel, eyes on the road” philosophy brought a rethink of the dashboard’s layout.
That resulted in a thin new digital instrument panel that is set notably higher than in existing Hyundais; it is paired with a smaller steering wheel, resulting in a similar set-up to Peugeot’s i-Cockpit.
“We place it above the steering wheel, not inside the steering wheel, as in a conventional car,” said Andrean. “That is a huge statement on lifting your eyes and your head up; you are looking a couple of degrees higher [when looking at the panel]. This is way closer to the road.”
The Ioniq 3’s 12.9in infotainment screen is also the first to use Hyundai’s new, Android Auto-based Pleos operating system. This will allow new functionality, such as installing apps natively in the car rather than using smartphone mirroring – although that is still included. Below the screen is an array of physical climate-control and media switches. “The tactile feel of buttons is very important, and I think [the European] market really needs that,” said Andrean.
Hyundai has a history of building performance N versions of its electric cars, but the company hasn’t confirmed whether it will produce a hot version of the Ioniq 3. If the carmaker chooses to, it could rival the Alpine A290 and Volkswagen ID Polo GTI. Lead design director Manuel Shöttle said he “always sees potential for something more sporty”, so the optics are positive.
