Featured Hyundai IONIQ - Prius competitor?

Something that could attract people to the Ioniq vs. the Prius is that it probably will be considerably faster than the gen. 4 Prius .
According to Hyundai it has 152 hp combined system power which undoubtedly will lead to a way faster 0-60 time than Prius is capable of !
Sadly Toyota once again didn't really give us a real Power-Mode which differentiates to Eco and Normal Mode in performance output and 0-60 !
I am sure they could have done that and still easily could do it via software update !

 

The Sonata hybrid already has electric A/C. Is there any full hybrid that doesn't?
Most cars already use electric power steering now; not just hybrids. It saves weight and improves efficiency.
It isn't readily advertised, so knowing how common electric accumulators are on brake systems is hard to pare. I do know the Chevy Sonic has such. So it should be in most hybrids if in an econo box ICE.

 

Thanks you austingreen. As I said, that would have been a deal breaker.
Yes, I know the Prius ICE will come on when the SOC get's too low, but that was a rare experience in my G3 except when it was exceptionally hot or cold. As a layman, I always marveled at Toyota's power management system. I still feel the same way in my TAH. I just hope that Hyundai can resolve all the unknowns in a compatable system without infringing on patents and other restrictions. I think they have a winning exterior (from pictures I've seen). I really like that 3/4 rear view. Far superior to the G4 IMHO.

A little off topic, but my comment re the Ioniq's 3/4 exterior view. The tail lights are so reasonable. On the BMW Z3 forum, the discussion has been about replacing the head lights. I upgraded mine for a tad over $200 total cost, and installed them myself. Can you imagine what the Prius head and tail light assembly will cost, and I'd imagine it will require a body shop to install.

Merged.

An interesting comment. 0-60 is not that important to me as passing power, and contributors to this thread seem to agree the Ioniq will hold an advantage at higher speeds. We have been told that Toyota wanted to appeal to the younger driver. You would think they would have given it an edge in the 0-60 range, and area where you would think the younger folks would appreciate.

Way back in 1955, I am sure that I remember the auto magazines touting that the new 55 Chevy (first modern Chevy V-8) will accelerate from 0 to 60 in 10 seconds flat. Much later, those same magazines reported that the 2010 Prius would do the same thing in something like 10.6 seconds. For an old timer, I have no complaints about Toyota's hybrid performance.

 

Wards Auto reported yesterday that the PHEV and EV versions of the Ioniq will be for sale in all 50 states:

 

if prius has more power, and they made it available, there would just be more whining about low mpg's.

 

Yes you're probably right,but if you put your foot down In gen.3,no matter in what mode you are,it allways results I the same 0-60 time .
Something like this would have been nice :

Eco : 12.0 sec. 0-62
Normal : 10.6 sec. 0-62
Power : 9.0 sec. 0-62

 

It's fine as it is in power department. I don't know what kind of races you guys are doing on your highways, but if you can't wait 10 seconds to get to 60mph then you must be running between your house and your car too - to save time. A one or two second better 0-60 time will not get you anywhere much faster, and what Prius has is enough to get it uphill without on highway without any slowing down (as had to be done in my previous 90hp 1996 Passat Variant 1.9TDI).

If it had 200hp and 43mpg, it would be a major market miss for this type of the car. I mean, look at Ford C-Max, they went for more hp and less mpg and it turned out meh. People that want to save on gas will want a car that saves on gas, if you want something else from Toyota that has more hp, there are numerous options available (Lexus too) - and even quite powerful hybrid options.

I would take 100hp with 65mpg any day on Gen III or IV.

 

i suppose they could slow down normal and eco.

 

It would probably require a more powerful and expensive electric motor to make the Prius faster, and that wouldn't make sense to include it standard when most of your buyers want high MPG's. Would be nice to have it as an optional model, like a "Prius Sport" version, with the capability of 0-60 in 7-8 secs range at a push of a button.

 

Lexus IS300h?

 

exactly. thats why i didn't buy a ct200h. faster? sure. lower mpg's and smallerif hyundai allows for faster acceleration, they'll wind up with lower numbers on fully and another mpg scandal.

 

If they keep the same 1.8L gas engine, but make the electric motor more powerful, I assume the MPG's would be similar for Eco mode, but then the electric motor can be programmed for faster 0-60 acceleration for power mode.

 

If Ioniq can do 0-60 in less than 10 sec and also 53mpg combined (obviously not both at the same time), that will take a good chunk of the Gen 4 market. Read Ioniq specs and it is clear that Hyundai has given a lot of thought into identifying Prius Gen 3 weaknesses and improving on each of them. We are yet to hear real world results but my opinion is it is a pretty good achievement for them for a Gen 1 hybrid. I wouldn't go out and get a Hyundai right away but it is very clear that Toyota hybrid tech now has proper competition. Ioniq is a wake up call for Toyota. I am still clinging to the hope that an NS4 inspired Toyota plug-in is in the works but if that proves not to be the case it will be very difficult to imagine Toyota remaining at the forefront of Hybrid Tech longer term.

 

Seems like people are whining about the prius being too fast.

If gen IV prius added power the way the ioniq does, why would it reduce mpg? How does it do it? VOLUME, VOLUME, VOLUME. jk

Hyundai gets 10 more hp out of the engine by further downsizing it and adding di and a higher max rpm for hp. Drop that engine in a prius, and ... you probably get 10 more hp without doing any work but remapping power curve. It could even boost mpg.

The second thing they do is have a more powerful battery and electronics. Does it add weight? Well yes probably compared to the lithium in the prius, but its probably the same or less as the nimh in the base Prius 2 trim.

But you heard from the choir. Some existing prius chatters seem angry at any suggestion that anyone would want to accelarate any faster than the prius. Hell compared to the 1997 models acceleration and handling it is positively a sport car.

But some, well most american consumers want more acceleration in a commuter car. Its good hyundai is giving them a choice here. Hell toyota is even giving them a choice with the camry hybrid. which is faster than all its mid sized hybrid competition.

NOt shipped to the US. The camry hybrid here is around 7 seconds to 60, the ISh has the camry system but di added to the engine, and more weight added because its a lexus. I'm guessing ISh is more luxurious but similar in acceleration, and superior in handling.

 

Sorry if I insulted anyone by saying Prius has enough horsepower, but also consider that I'm saying that from the European (and partially Japanese) perspective.

With engine power cost of yearly registration and insurance goes up quite rapidly. Here are few examples (this is even a bit cheaper then EU average, and Japan is even more expensive in that regard):

Cost of registration and compulsory insurance for a hybrid car with engine power in Europe:
Prius: 138hp: 780 $/year
C-Max: 205hp: 1,125 $/year

That's a 3,795$ difference over the average car lifetime of 11 years.

And for comparison's sake :
340hp non-hybrid: 1880 $/year

Also to note:
Prius 3rd gen = 134hp = 99kW (class 90-100kW, if it had one kW more it would be more expensive to insure in some countries)
Prius 4th gen = 121hp = 89kW (same story, class 80-90)

 

if you're saying ionique accelerates faster, you're making stuff up.

 

If there is a power component to the insurance rates in the US, it isn't obvious. A sports car will tend to have higher rates, but it can have less power than a family sedan. So it seems we have cheap insurance in addition to cheap gas. Which is why the Fusion and the upcoming Malibu not having a V6 option is a news worthy item here.

 

Right. Seeing a V6 car is a rarity here. Maybe in major cities in posh neighbourhoods. Actually, seeing a V8 car is a reason enough for some people to take pictures. 4 cylinder, 1.4-1.6L gas and up to 2L for diesel, and 3 cylinder 0.9-1.2L gas are most common in Europe. For smaller cars it's 60hp, for larger 120-130hp. 200hp is considered either luxury or sports car in most cases (Golf GTI is probably one of the most powerful relatively common sports cars around).

Typical parking lot, note the size and power of the cars (link)

 

Great link (picture) arescec.

How is that for a one liner bisco?