Featured Hyundai IONIQ - Prius competitor?

Would love to hear what you like and don't so much after a few weeks of ownership.

 

Nice! Just remember, that doesn't mean you can't hang around here anymore.

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I'm living proof.

 

Thanks! I will certainly be around here from time to time.

Yesterday I made three relatively short trips with speeds from 50 km/h to (mainly) 70 km/h (44 mi/h). My scores were around 13 kWh/100km (which is 7.7 km/kWh or 4.8 mi/kWh); this would correspond to a range of about 215 km (120 mile). This is not bad for winter circumstances (the EPA score is 124 mile). Temperatures were just below the freezing point between -2 and -1 °C, and I used the heatpump-based heater in the car to keep the interior at room temperature (19 to 20 °C). It has an active Battery Conditioning system to at least partly avoid the winterdip in the range.

Later I will do more tests.

By the way, for me an important requirement was that my 29-er mountainbike would fit in the car. It indeed fits quite easily (without adapting the bike) as you can see in the picture below. My first trip was to go for a training on one of the nicest and most challenging mountainbike tracks in the Netherlands (in the dunes near Bergen and Schoorl).

 

Pretty roomy looking! Dang - W/out pulling handlebar & seat - my bicycle wouldn't fit in the back of our GenII to save my life. Even our hybrid Lexus SUV takes a bit of maneuvering to get the bike in there.
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Yes, not any adaptation of the bike. And my own size is not small (180 cm long), so also the bike is not small. The bike is a Specialized; it has 29 inch wheels and a very wide steer.

 

EPA numbers
Ioniq and Niro up at Fueleconomy.gov | PriusChat

 

I sat in the Ioniq at CES. I was absolutely blown away. This car is amazing. Besides Model S, it's the coolest and nicest car available (that doesn't cost a fortune in gas+maintenance).

I was previously looking to get a used CT 200h to hold me over until Model 3. I think I am just going to buy Ioniq and drive it until I can afford Model S instead. The PHEV is perfect for my needs, I would only use gasoline when leaving town. and unlike i3-REX you can actually leave town with it.

Can't wait to drive it.

 

Rumor has it the Ioniq BEV is coming in at $35000 CAD on up, made into US dollars it's priced above a 30kwhr leaf.

Hope that's not the case and hope is more competitive in hybrid trim

 

it's likely the Ioniq and Niro will be the most economical cars of the year.

2017 Kia Niro To Start Below $23,000

 

Please describe what blew you away. Just sitting in it and the instrumentation? Price? You mention PHEV but I'm itching to see any information on that version...

 

will the phev be here before the model 3?

 

I formed an opinion too:


A bird in hand is worth more than two in the bush.

Bob Wilson

 

ugh, i just took a look. they put a shift lever right where toyota gives you a nice tray. rest of the cockpit looks like nothing special.

 

but that is part of the appeal to some people

it is ordinary and don't stand out or make a statement, but they are driving a economical hybrid that looks like a normal car

personally it is the styling of the new prius (inside and out) that put me off the prius, I wanted something that looked more main stream / ordinary and drove like a normal car with gears

if the Ioniq wasn't around I would have looked more closely at the prius / auris, but still not sure I would have chosen either of them

 

i'm sure it is. probably why the new camry will have simulated gear sounds or something stupid like that. i'd rather have the space.

 

Any automatic car can have a shifter like the Prius now. Some Rams have a push button one.
But people are use to the traditional shifter.

 

Interestingly, Lexus seems to be standardizing on the Prius shift pattern even for ICE-only vehicles - the LC 500 (as well as the LC 500h) and upcoming LS 500 both use it. (They do make one change - instead of the B position, they have a M position, which will be used with the shift paddles behind the steering wheel.)

 

Every inch of it had a purpose. Visibility was excellent, trunk was huge, interior was higher quality than CT 200h. Seats were comfy and supportive, leather (fake leather? I'm honestly not sure) was superb, and soooo many premium features that aren't typically available on compact cars. All that fancy tech usually requires you to move up in class size, weight, and price. I don't mind paying for luxury, but I like small cars.

Looking purely at specs numbers I wanted a Prius. As soon as I sat in one I hated it. The crappy interior turned me off immediately. I appreciate the engineering and wanted to learn more about it, but it's not the car for me.

The Ioniq was the opposite. It's a premium vehicle, should probably be in their Genesis line... and then to top it off it destroys the competition in miles per unit of energy. And there's a plug-in version, which is perfect for my needs.

I'm sold.

If both manufacturers keep their current projections, yes. Model 3 is slated for fall 2018. Ioniq PHEV is slated for fall of this year. But this is a very big IF.






@bwilson4web did you purchase one?

 

It is worth noting that I found that the interior materials in the Ioniq - at least the hybrid and PHEV at the Detroit Auto Show - somehow felt a bit cheap. But, I don't think most people will care - it's a fairly normal-looking car, and the PHEV is well-packaged.

Meanwhile, the Niro felt nice enough on the inside, so it almost feels like that's the more premium product in the model line.