This week we have the 2019 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid in Essential trim, our vehicle was assembled at the Ulsan plant in South Korea. The model we were driving has a PDSF $24523.
Fun Factor: 7
Can it Family: 7
Fuel-Friendly: 9
HWY-warrior: 7
Karaoke Friendly: 6
Baby friendly: 8
City Cruising: 10
As you can notice we gave the Ioniq a Fun Factor grade of 7! No, we haven’t lost our minds. Let us explain; this car is the perfect example of a car playing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Once you start the engine, yes in our base trim you still need to turn on the engine by key and then nothing seems to occur as the electric engine turns on, you’ll drive away unimpressed in your economy box, getting excellent fuel economy and working your way up to fill the battery. This changes when the Sport mode is engaged you get the full power of your electric engine that has 43hp and the 1.6L gas engine producing 105hp, both of these engines produce 195 lb-ft of torque that’s a lot for a car of its size. Unfortunately, this is not represented in our 0-100km/h result, we’ve achieved a 9-second flat result, the impressive results were when accelarting from 0-50km/h with eco tires in 3.3 seconds. The handling in sport mode is fun and well balanced.
Now can the Ioniq be a family car? For a family of 5, the Ioniq has enough space, we would suggest a maximum of 2 adults in the back row or a maximum of 2 car seats. With 2 cars seats in the back of the car, a smaller child still has enough space in the middle. With the IONIQ being a hatch, the trunk easily fits 2 strollers and also space for groceries or shopping bags. As for the front passenger, they come with heated seats in the base trim, that’s really impressive! The cloth seats are comfortable enough for long distance, upgrading to the leather seats wouldn’t be needed to find additional comfort.
The result we had with the Ioniq as for fuel consumption is an impressive 5.4L per 100km, for winter results these are amazing, even while driving in sport mode it is almost impossible to get a higher consumption. On the HWY we averaged 5.5L per 100km as for the city we averaged 5.2L per 100km we would expect even lower results in warmer condition.
As for HWY driving the Ioniq does let in some road noise, however, at this price point, we can easily forgive it. The eco tires that do come with the Ioniq do give it excellent fuel mileage, and better tires would be suggested with more grip would be welcome if you’re going to use the Ioniq mainly on the HWY.
For $24532 we wouldn’t have expected to have an infotainment, Apple Car play and a decent sound system at this price point. Most cars, especially at the entry level spectrum, they tend to come with the bare minimum, the Ioniq on the other side comes nicely equipped at this price.
How baby friendly is the Ioniq? The ISOFIX points are sticking out of the seat and not hidden, making installation of car seats fast and straightforward, the door opens wide, so even car seats that are bigger can easily fit. The door handles are comfortable to open. Even a toddler can open them from the outside quickly.
The Ioniq is perfect for the city. Its size makes it great for the city. It also has excellent visibility, besides the split rear window that need getting used to. It offers excellent gas mileage in heavy traffic, in specific cases we were able to achieve under 4L per 100km while being in traffic as the Ioniq would do most of the job in EV mode. The car easily parks in tighter spots as the during radius is small and the rearview camera is of decent quality. In general, the Ioniq shines in the city for how it drives and stress-free the driving experience is.
What we've like with the Ioniq is the almost 1000km range per tank, heated seat with the base model, Apple car play in all models, amazing gas mileage in the city, simple to use controls & infotainment.
What we've liked less, the split rear hatch window, eco tires can sometimes make the driving experience bland, higher loading lip meaning that you have to bring items higher to get them into the car.
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