Featured Hyundai IONIQ - Prius competitor?

they'll start a new one.

 

It is on sale, if not now, then soon in Korea. With spottings of camoed up test cars in North America, no one would believe them if they claimed it wasn't coming to the US anyway.

 

Sorry, meant 9 month before start of us sales.

 

True, but there are a few articles made you think they are directly comparing against the Prius, without saying it out loud. What I would like to see is why not stay away from attacking and comparing? Just stand on your own two feet and let the specs and real world experience do the talking?

If you do the attacking ads, you are risking alienating the existing group from buying. VW did that, and with some bad experiences from a few friends who now swear they will never own a VW again, I will never buy their products ever... for as long as I own a Prius

They also brought the Jazz/Fit hybrid over here too, but discontinued it as of last year due to low sales. The Prius family sale figure is already quite low relatively speaking, Honda's is even lower. Jazz/Fit hybrid was cheaper than the c as well, but got outsold by a huge margin.

The only alternative to Toyota's offering is Honda Accord hybrid... But with a price almost double that of the base hyCam, they are really not serious about selling any. So Hyundai's offering will be a welcome addition to the local market.

SM-G900I ?

 

Also remember, we have been anxiously anticipating the G4 for a year. Originally, we thought it would be released in mid 2015, then word came that management had sent it back for additional work which resulting in a 6 month delay.

Re "attack ads," several GM ads pivot on criticizing the competitor. And do not forget Ford's ads that inflated their fuel efficiency. The worst, however, are Subway ads. They show a sandwich so filled with meat the bun cannot contain it all. Order one and compare the actual to the picture.

 

Were the articles written by someone at Hyundai? The Prius has been the hybrid king for awhile know. Regardless of how a company offering something that might compete directly with it goes about advertising it, the press is going to compare the new car to the Prius.

Ford knew the C-max, as a hybrid conversion of and ICE car, wasn't going to compare well to the Prius. Which is why they were stressing a comparison to the Prius v here.

I know friends and family with Hondas, and they are good cars for the most part, but they always seem to have some kind of mark up compared to the competition when you get out of the compacts.

 

Point taken. I still hope they don't follow Ford/VW/GM path. If the car is good enough, it will sell. Just like the Prius, there were so many negative reviews, but the car still sells in good numbers... As someone said, the Prius is review-proof!

We had Honda's before, generally nicer interior compared to Toyota's. Always have to cop higher maintenance and servicing costs, although not as bad as the Europeans.

Just for comparison, base hyCam retails for $32k, with a fully loaded one for $41k. The Accord hybrid retails for $63k! For that, I might as well get myself a BMW series 3.

SM-G900I ?

 

ford had a few funny cmax tv ads early on, comparing to prius. they gave it up after awhile, and now i don't see any ads at all.

 

That reminds me...
Ford had to revise their EPA ratings.

Hyundai we don't know yet if their estimates are accurate. IMPOV, not all 40% efficient engines are equal (BSFC sweet spot area), and a step gear is tricky to focus on that sweet area...

Well just have to wait.

 

bisco - you have achieved the ultimate one line response.

 

Just came across some info about the range of the EV version, i'm sure is the first mention, from Hyundai senior vice-president:

New Hyundai Ioniq 2016: engines, tech and full details | Auto Express


Merged.

Where did you found Prius 4 test results under the korean testing rules? Thans for the info.

 

The Ioniq hybrid fuel economy numbers may have been leaked and published by that blogger first but they are now also listed on Hyundai's Korean website.

There are no Toyota gen 4 Prius mileage estimates under the Korean rules yet because gen 4 is not yet for sale in Korea. You can find the gen 3 Prius numbers on Toyota's Korean website.

However, .... Korean test rules use the EPA test cycles and the Toyota Korean website numbers for gen 3 Prius and Prius v are the same or fractionally lower than the US EPA numbers.

There is every reason to believe the eventual gen 4 Korean mileage estimates will similarly match the already known US estimates. In other words, the gen 4 Korean combined estimate will likely be 51 or 52 mpg (US gallons, not UK) and the US EPA will likely be 53 mpg combined for the Ioniq models with 15" wheels and so will come out slightly ahead of the mainstream gen 4 Prius estimate of 52 mpg combined.

That article is from the UK so the estimated EV range is likely based on NEDC. To convert the range to US EPA miles you can roughly multiply by 0.68. If the Ioniq EV had a NEDC range of 160 miles that would be around 105 miles US EPA or about half of the expected range of the Chevy Bolt coming out at the end of this year.

 

It's still impossible to make a cheap EV vehicle that does 200 miles. Most of the car manufacturers use LG or Panasonic batteries and they are close in price. So battery price is not a variable, only the rest of the vehicle. That means that for a vehicle to have a significantly higher battery range for the same price of the competitors it would need to cut costs on the rest of the car.

That is probably the reason why Toyota is not a big fan of the large capacity batteries. As it is (and especially now with the cheap fuel in US), cost of the eventual battery replacement, charging and the cost of the battery outweight practicality. ATM, vehicle with the smallest possible battery is the best choice if manufacturers can get away with it AND good mpg. That's why I consider Prius a very fit vehicle for the current moment in time, and for some years to come.

 

I have a hunch, no, I'll call it a prediction: gasoline prices will have increased back close to $80/barrel by the 3rd quarter. I am not an economist, but big business wants higher prices, the market wants higher price, and the public does not seem to be spending the savings. I'm loving the lower cost, but I don't think it will last.

 

what about iran?

 

This video clearly shows that the Prius has definitely more headroom in the back .
A guy 1.77 cm big guy gets in the car at 6.48 of the video and nearly touches the roof .
I am 186 and i don't touch the roof in my gen. 3 although I have the solar roof version .

 

Let's just wait and see. I hope I am wrong.

Regarding interior rear headroom, I agree the Ioniq headroom is less than the G3. Prius.
But ..... the roof line on the Prius G4 APPEARS (in photos) to be lower as well. Again, we'll have to wait until dimensions are revealed, and/or we actually get to see one in the showroom.

The back seat of my 2010 Prius was spacious. Plenty of leg room, and head room. Very comfortable, not that I ever rode in the rear. But passengers never ask me to move the seat forward.

 

I just went to see something on the Hyundai Worldwide site and after clicking "More country" button i got this map. Spot what's wrong
(I guess I didn't know we were bordering Japan)

I also had to notice that their English is awful, they could have at least hired a translator