Featured Hyundai IONIQ - Prius competitor?

If you lived in hilly San Francisco, then this wouldn't be cherry picking. This could happen quite often. Then again, if you lived there, you'd know to curb your wheel--turn it into the curb so that it holds the car if the brake gives out (it is a legal requirement). This makes backing up pretty simple. You don't even have to put your foot on the brake because the front wheel is being held on the curb.

 

That would only work with a square kerb - with most of our streets, they're layback kerbs:


But it might work where Mum's Aged Care is - it's an old suburb with square kerbs. But doesn't that damage your steering alignment if you do it regularly?

 

Every San Francisco driver knows this. (My first car was a VW Beetle -- stick shift -- and I was going to school at Berkeley). The problem comes when you are stopped by a red light on a hill, and you are pointing uphill. There it's not feasible to curb your wheel. When the light turns green, your car will slip backward as you apply the clutch preparatory to hitting the accelerator, and you might hit the car stopped behind you. I would put on the hand parking brake, and gradually release it as the car started to move.

 

I believe with the foot operated brake is the same procedure. When the sign turns green, take off foot from brake (D selected) and apply throttle, front starts to lift, release foot brake. Training is required to do smoothly, as well as with hand parking brake.

 

I would always say go sit in one and confirm the journalist observation for yourself,

visibility as with so many things are dependant on seating position,

I find visibility fine out the front and sides, but I am 6 foot and have my seat right back and set high, but due to this I do find the view in the rear mirror limited, but I have done a lot of van / lorry driving over the years and am happy to use the side / wing mirrors

 

the foot operated parking brake tends not to be used at junctions / lights, as it is a bit of a pain, so I tend to pull up and if going to be stationary more than a few seconds put the car into neutral so it don't try and creep forward with only a light pressure on the brake, then as the lights change put the car in drive and pull off

 

the new Kona CUV EV has liquid cooling of the battery and the battery is more compact and less room for efficient airflow, so question at the moment is will the Ioniq get the same battery pack (with increased range) in the next 2-3 years?

 

Don't forget that in N, you have no charging of the Hybrid Battery - P would be better if the ICE is running.

 

Yes, I've driven a Manual for most of my almost 50 years driving, handbrake-starts on hills - going up or down, forward or reverse are "automatic", they just happen.

Before Gen 4, it was 12 years since my previous Auto. I've had 5 Autos in my life, each with handbrakes, and they worked perfectly in the same way.

 

Really, a lot of this is... foot parking brakes are far much more of a thing in American-influenced cars that either have very wide footwells (and are primarily automatic transmission), or are exclusively automatic transmission. Hand parking brakes are more of a thing in European-influenced cars, where manuals are far more common.

Japan followed America's preference for automatic transmissions, and the Prius is exclusively automatic, so they felt that a handbrake wasn't necessary. You can balance a Prius on the throttle if push comes to shove, and it won't be as harmful as balancing a manual on the clutch (which many American drivers do, as we're never formally taught how to drive a manual - in fact, even on steep hills I tend to momentarily hold a manual on the clutch (I move from the brake to the accelerator while releasing the clutch in one motion) rather than use the handbrake).

 

That explains a lot. Back in the '70s when I learned to drive, a hill-start was one of the first things on the driving test. It had to be with a handbrake, because, if you rolled back, it was immediate FAIL, go back to the testing office, do not collect licence. It became second nature, as natural as brushing teeth.

When I taught my children learned to drive (on a Manual) in the '90s, a hill start was still a major part of the test. 2 of my children's cars are still Manual, and I had a Manual till PRIUS. I'd have got a Manual hybrid, but that's not going to happen (Honda ditched their manual Civic hybrid 15 yrs ago).

 

hmm, could be a software difference. I have a gen III (2010, built in 2009). Its the first car I've had with a hill holder, which is a nice feature, but yes, absolutely it doesn't work in the situation you applied. I can go into reverse with the parking brake (aka handbrake, emergency brake) on, using what would be my clutch foot on the parking brake, and it operates fine. That definitely wouldn't work in a manual, but the prius is not manual.

Definitely apologize I wasn't thinking they made the thing less usable in hilly places between gen III to gen IV.

mine releases in one motion, perhaps they screwed this up going from gen III to gen IV. Language is a funny thing, ofcourse a handbrake shouldn't be foot operated, but I learned the name as parking brake ;-)

 

I've never dealt with a foot-operated parking brake that could be smoothly used to hold a car while starting off - push-on/push-off style like Toyota uses is nearly impossible to release smoothly in motion, and push-on/pull-lever-off style like most American carmakers use is usually incredibly awkward to reach the lever in motion (it's usually mounted low on the dashboard, just above the pedal).

As far as the accelerator and brake pedal being pressed together, I think that was an intentional change for the Gen 4, to avoid the problems with unintended acceleration that Toyota got so much flak for. Try releasing and reapplying the accelerator and seeing if it lets you get some power, though (I haven't tried that - usually when I'm doing both pedal application it's a quick stab of the accelerator to fire the ICE on a cold start, and it'll do that.)

My Mk4 Golf TDI had brake+accelerator protection, but if you released and reapplied the accelerator, it would be disabled. And, even when it activated, it would give you 1100 RPM (903 RPM being the idle speed), I think partially as a limp home mode in case of a faulty brake light switch.

 

Guess I should've mentioned they were the hybrid version, not the plug-in ones. Apparently Hyundai and Kia both don't have them in my area, and the closest one was about 80 miles away, which for a test drive I'm not going to drive that far for.

I know it's anecdotal, but a lot of drivers seem a little on the aggressive side where I live. Meaning if you're at the front of a stoplight and slow on the acceleration, you get honked at, or at least angry cars behind you swerving around you if they can and then accelerating very quickly and sometimes cutting you off. Though with gas prices going back up they're not doing it as much.

But you still find those occasional drivers, and they're kind of intimidating when they're driving a giant Ford F-150 or Chevy Silverado. Thankfully I haven't been coal-rolled yet, but I'm sure they'd do it if they knew about it and thought they could get away with it.

Plus I was just sharing my opinion and thoughts. Not like I'm some car review journalist trying to bash other cars. Though I drive a Chevy Volt, I still like seeing what other automakers are doing with hybrids and plug-ins. The more of those on the roads, the better, and less gouging OPEC and Big Oil can do to us. Should be interesting to see what happens when Ford and GM start releasing plug-in hybrid trucks.

 

Now granted I drive a v and I have been driving for 60 (gasp) years. I learned to drive driving up a steep driveway in a 3 on the floor. In 46k miles in the v I haven't had an issue with starting up on a hill and I live where the Piedmont (NC flat coastal plain mostly sandy soil) starts into rolling hills. To get out of my driveway it is up about 8 feet in 30. I just time the two pedals (brake and accelerator). When an obvious stick shift car is in front of me, I just allow more room in front of me on a hill and never a problem. Parking even in a golf car (a cart is a push or pull cart) I use the wheels to the curb trick.

 

Right! In UK the examiner put a Matchbox behind the back wheel and if it was deformed after you'd pulled away...
.. FAILED.

 

It's interesting to me that Hyundai advertises on this site -- at least I get Hyundai ads, probably because I've been on their site - but the ads are never for the Ioniq. One would think they'd want to attract people on this site to the Ioniq.

 

I think the adverts are through some central agency (AdChoices et al) - mine are often local Aussie adverts, mostly car based. They often (though not always) track what you've been GOOGLING, F/B-ing etc and reflect that. I'd been searching for BMW/Merc/Jaguar because a friend was looking at getting one. My webmail started advertising VOLVO to me.

They're not real bright though - before I bought my PRIUS, I did a lot of on-line searching for PRIUS information - and for many months after, I was still getting adverts suggesting I buy ANOTHER PRIUS.

 

The Ioniq is supply constrained in the US. Hyundai wasn't expecting such demand. No sense advertising for a car that likely isn't on the dealer lot.

 

So interesting to know that! Thanks!!