New Hyundai IONIQ electric: more range for the electric saloon!

With a new higher-capacity battery, the Hyundai IONIQ electric gets close to 300 km of range. It also gains in performance and equipment

The Hyundai IONIQ electric needed a battery with more capacity, allowing greater range. With the arrival of the latest electric cars such as the Kia e-Niro, the Hyundai Kona EV or the Nissan Leaf and Renault ZOE, and those about to arrive such as the Peugeot e-208, the IONIQ electric presented in 2017 was starting to fall a little short when it came to making us forget about a charging plug.

Higher-capacity battery: almost 300 km of range

Now, Hyundai introduces improvements across the entire IONIQ range, which in the case of the electric version include important mechanical novelties. To begin with, the most important update affects the new battery, which increases from 28 kWh to 38.3 kWh of capacity.

This 36% increase in battery capacity allows the IONIQ electric to homologate a range of nearly 300 km under the WLTP cycle.

Another important change is the new more powerful on-board charger, with 7.2 kW. The practical advantage it brings is the ability to charge the battery to 80% of its capacity in less than an hour, if we use a 100 kW fast-charging point. On a standard plug, a full charge will take a little over six hours.

And that’s not all. The motor goes from 88 kW (120 CV) to 100 kW (136 CV), with a maximum torque of 295 Nm, and the resulting improvement in performance. The top speed, however, remains limited to 165 km/h.

Hyundai also adds One-Pedal functionality, which we were able to test during the road test of the Kia e-Niro, which allows the driver to use the regenerative braking system to bring the vehicle practically to a stop using the left paddle on the steering wheel, without having to resort to the brakes. Likewise, a new Eco+ mode is added, joining the Eco, Comfort and Sport modes, to reduce energy consumption and increase range.

Exterior and interior styling changes

Taking advantage of the mechanical update, Hyundai also introduces some styling changes to the IONIQ electric. The bumpers and grille are new, as are the light clusters and the alloy wheel design.

Inside, the most significant change is the arrival of the new infotainment system, controlled through a 10.2-inch touchscreen. Connectivity improves with Hyundai’s Blue Link online services, and with the adoption of all the elements integrated in the SmartSense driver assistance systems package.

Hyundai has also carried out a styling update for the rest of the IONIQ range, the hybrid versions with and without a plug. In the case of the IONIQ Hybrid, the 1.6 GDI petrol engine delivers 105 CV and 147 Nm of torque, and is coupled to a 32 kW electric motor with 170 Nm, with a lithium polymer battery of 1.56 kWh located behind the seats.

In the plug-in hybrid version, the electric motor reaches 44.5 kW, and the battery reaches 8.9 kWh of capacity. The total system output reaches 141 CV, and the electric range under the WLTP cycle reaches 52 km, with a top speed on electric power alone of up to 120 km/h.

The new Hyundai IONIQ range will go on sale in our market from the summer.

Image gallery of the new Hyundai IONIQ EV