We all make mistakes. I wish I could say I’ve only accidentally eaten dog food one time or had never mistakenly knocked myself out by taking the wrong pills or moisturized with what turned out to be depilatory, but the truth is I’ve made many, many mistakes. Sometimes, though, mistakes can have exciting side effects, like today, when our pals at Motor Trend apparently accidentally published their story about the new 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 a day before its planned reveal tomorrow. The publication took it down almost immediately, but, you know, this is the internet. Nothing is ever truly gone from this place. The upside of all of this is that Hyundai seems to have another design triumph on its hands, so why not give the world an extra day to enjoy it? Let’s take a look.
One odd thing: the Motor Trend story refers to the car as a 2024 model, but notes it’ll be on sale early 2023. Other outlets have been talking about it as a 2023 car. This feels like odd think for Motor Trend to get wrong, which makes me think that for whatever reason, Hyundai wants to call it a 2024. I guess we’ll know for sure tomorrow.
The Design
First off, the thing just looks fantastic. There’s an awful lot of Porsche 911 design influence going on here, which is a pretty good place to start when considering a grille-less front end. The rear also has a lot of 911-ish style, too:
The full-width taillight that tapers to points as it wraps around the corners of the car, the slope of the rear, the spoiler, the arc of the shoulder line — these all feel remarkably Porsche-like, but it never falls into feeling like a Porsche knockoff, because there’s plenty of other influences going on, as well as the overall proportional differences.
The pixel-like lighting design details we saw on the Hyundai Ioniq 5 are present here, too, and work very well, both in the wide heckblende light and the vertical lower lamps that seem to house the reverse lights as well, sandwiched between some hopefully functional vertical bumper guard-like details on the rear lower valence.
The twin, double-decker spoiler/wings are a little strange on second viewing, though. I wonder if there will be an option for one without the black upper one?
The profile is very crisp and clean, with a nice inset arc making the sides look lean, and some well-considered cutlines of the body panels. Yes, the fastback C-pillar has a cutline for the trunklid, but I actually don’t mind it, and I respect the time taken to have the cutline between the rear fender skin and the rear bumper cover follow the shape of the taillight. That, along with flush door handles and a charge port that is so well hidden I absolutely have no idea where it is combine to make a lovely, unified whole.
The fact it’s not a hatch is a bit disappointing, and I wonder if it’s the result of the same structural issues that kept the Tesla Model 3 from being a hatchback, too. I still feel like they could have figured that out, though. I mean, a 1990 Merkur Scorpio did.
The hoodline feels low, an achievement in our era of pedestrian impact protection, and the graphic of the side windows flows wonderfully to that tapered point at the rear, as all the main lines of the body – roof, beltline, window line – converge at the rear.
It’s sleek! And not just visually; according to the disappeared article, the Ioniq 6’s drag coefficient is only 0.21, same as a Tesla Model 3, and close to the Mercedes-Benz EQS’s Cf of 0.20.
Under The Skin
Per the Motor Trend article, the Ioniq 6 — whose wheelbase sits between that of the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 —will use the 800-volt fast-charging architecture of those two sibling cars, and while motor/battery specs don’t seem to be out yet, it’s safe to assume that they’ll match or beat the Ioniq 5’s specs of a 225 hp/258 lb-ft rear-mounted motor for single-motor applications, with an additional 99 hp/188 lb-ft front mounted motor for AWD setups. Range is over 300 miles on the Ioniq 5, and I’d bet Hyundai will be shooting for that or better on the Ioniq 6.
The interior looks pretty swank, with a large LCD instrument cluster and an equal sized (12 inch) center stack screen. Especially notable are the rear view camera screens at the sides of the dashboard, and while this feels like very cool tech and undoubtedly helps the car achieve those impressive aero numbers, I suspect I’d have the same problem with those that I have with other screen-based rear view mirror replacement systems.
They do look cool from the outside, though. I think those little blocks inside there are LEDs for the indicator repeaters, by the way.
Hyundai seems to be playing a lot with ambient lighting for the interior, and I get that. It’s a fun and relatively inexpensive way to dress up an interior space, especially at night. Those four little blocks on the steering wheel are LEDs that, it seems, glow to indicate charging level or are used for visual feedback when giving voice commands.
So far no pricing information has been released, though the Motor Trend has a pretty good guess. From the now-removed story:
Hyundai sources say the Ioniq 6 will be priced under the smaller Tesla Model 3 when it goes on sale next year, which suggests a starting price of less than $48,000 for the entry-level rear-drive model.
Overall, I think Hyundai is continuing its streak of wonderfully and strikingly-designed cars, and I hope they don’t feel too bad about this leak, because, as I said, there’s no good reason to keep something like this hidden.
(all images Hyundai)
The spoiler treatment is beautifully ’90s.
Hmm. I see a cross between a Citroen C6 (one of my favourites) a Porsche 911 (ditto) and a Mercedes CLA (not so much) and a Tatra (as another correspondent suggested) and they do not come together in a particularly good way. In fact, it looks like something the AI engine the JT was using yesterday might draw.
It looks a lot better than I thought it might based on the camouflaged test cars. I think the droopy look is overdone, but I like the rear 3/4 view of this car. The front, and the headlights especially, are uninspiring, but perhaps they look better in person.
Nope, don’t care for it at all. The rear end somehow dips down lower than the front end. It looks like it’s squatting to take a shit.
Holy crap, I thought it was an Autopian design exercise imagining a modern-day Tatra T77. In fact, looks like this thing is to the T77 what the 911 is to the original Beetle.
I like it, they took a bold approach, and I hope it pays off.
It looks like they put the front end of a Sonata on a Mercedes CLS
It’s OK I guess. I don’t really care for the rear end. The dropping line of the trunk lid doesn’t do anything for me and I tend to agree that the twin spoilers make it overly fussy, I would probably loose the lower one. I also don’t understand why we feel the need to replace mirrors, which have a proven record of working, with cameras and screens, which have problems as Torch has noted and will cost a lot when they break. It will be great for everyone in ten years or so when there are a bunch of people driving around with no rear view because their cameras or screens have crapped out and they can’t afford to fix them. It just seems dumb to me.
The side silhouette is the best angle of the car, I think. The various diagonal views give me Tatra vibes more than 911, though. It is curious that they don’t seem to be doing a corporate style, or at least not one I can pick up on organically. Part of me likes that, but it’s a curious branding exercise
Let’s not overlook the single biggest improvement this has over the Ionic 5, which is that this has actual buttons on the steering wheel instead of touch-buttons.
I love it. The double rear spoiler is Merkur XR4Ti territory and I’m down for that. Definitely wish they went for a liftback though. Also love the pixel lights they have been showcasing lately on various cars and concepts
This is very much a modern-day Infiniti J30 as far as design.
YES! I saw and thought the same thing.
Always loved the J30’s read end and was hoping for some manufacturer to do a modern interpretation of it. Hyundai is knocking it out of the park lately. I really, REALLY want a Staria.
I saw a Staria the other day, all black. Very striking design.
However, it needs to be white with a Star Trek shuttle livery!
Ditto, J30 all day, and that’s not a bad thing.
“Starting at $48k”. I guess I’ll wait for the Ioniq 4.
I’m thinking I’m in the Ioniq 1-2 pricing category. Basically looking for Bolt alternatives in the next few years.
Intriguing design. The droopy rear defines the car for sure, and the front gives it an even more pronounced upside-down banana vibe.
What are Hyundai’s design elements? Do they have any? They’re doing some great designs, but I have trouble picking them out for their Hyundai-ishness They’re just good, well thought-out designs. But nothing I’d see in my rearview and say “there comes a Hyundai!”. Maybe that’s just what they’re looking for.
I like the fact there aren’t Hyundai design elements, that all their EVs don’t have to look the same. The German brands are especially bad fur this, and their model ranges are so boring and predictable, you can predict what a new model will look like before it’s revealed.
I’d think strongly styled distinctive models that make people go ‘what IS that?’ then finding out its a Hyundai creates a far stronger identity than ‘is that the new Polo, or a five year old Golf, or is it Taigo, or perhaps its a three year old T-cross etc
I’m with you there! I was thinking about this just today during my 4.5 hours of highway time. Hyundai makes a lot of great-looking cars (not this one imo but whatevs) but they don’t seem to share a common design *language*. I love the lighting on the Sonata, I like everything about the Ioniq 5, the Elantra is at least distinctive and I can see the appeal even if I don’t personally like it… but they’re all quite different-looking cars.
I’m OK with it though, I mean Cadillac has been flogging the Art & Science design language forever and I still hate it. Mazda’s Kodo language is frankly gorgeous, but all their crossovers and SUVs look exactly the same other than the scale—you can’t tell which one you’re looking at until you see the badge, and even then the badges don’t tell you much other than that bigger numbers (usually, but not always) mean bigger crossovers.
Hyundai is still figuring out what they want to do, it seems. They have their hits and misses, but to their credit they have a *lot* of hits. I will say though that this Ioniq 6 takes a whole lot from the lovely Prophecy concept, even if I don’t love the look of the actual car.
I do find the Ioniq 6 slightly disappointing, because the Prophecy was so stunning and the Ioniq 5 transitioned from concept to reality virtually unchanged so I’d hoped the prophecy would do the same.
It looks like one of those Chinese Beetle clones stretched out and married to a Panamera, and something French thrown in the mix
There are elements I like, but altogether, I am kind of “meh” on it.
I will reserve judgement until I see it in person. There’s an Ioniq5 near us, and I didn’t like it on screen, but like it in the flesh.
Someone on the Hyundai design team got high and spent too much time looking at their Apple mouse
Nobody with the Xzibit, “we heard you like spoilers” line yet?
What I don’t really like is the departure from the Ioniq 5 styling which I think is great. This is like a car from a different brand but around the same time kind of thing. Like how 80s cars all had sealed beam but some were round, some square, some quad. So the 5 is like an Aston, the 6 is like a Porsche?
I guess it’s cool they’re experimenting but thought they’d have like 1 ‘style’.
The headlights are a major miss. Generic, awkwardly-shaped, don’t fit with the rest of the car or even the front end. Other than that quibble, I see this as another great mainstream EV from Hyundai. They keep the hits coming!
Without that upper spoiler the design is pretty meh.
Front fascia seems like a refreshed EV6.
It’s sleek but normal overall, which is fine.
From the side, all I see is a giant frown. I hate this new design trend that makes the front and back look so droopy.
I don’t mind the low front, but the drooping lines in the rear is giving some “dog dragging its butt across the carpet” vibe. Other than that, I love it.
Yeah, you’re right, it’s the droop in the rear that’s the bad part.
I felt compelled to return to this comment section in order to recant.
I think I just wasn’t ready for it. I’m still not 100% *comfortable* with the droop in the rear, but I no longer feel certain that it’s a flaw in the design, and I admire the boldness with which it is executed.
I like the idea of cameras for side view mirrors but once you go camera, why put the view from the passenger side on the far passenger side dash? You have to rotate your head much farther to look that far away which takes your eyes away from looking forward. Why not put the images on the center of the dash or near where the dash meets the front windshield? Also why have the external camera mounts so big and out that far? It would seem like a good opportunity to make the camera more flush mounted to reduced the chance of the mount being knocked off like mine was by a falling branch on a windy day.
I suspect the idea is for it to be less jarring for people used to the traditional arrangement. We learned to drive with mirrors, and most people will expect them to be there. Also, maybe this is also a way to avoid the drastic focus change that Torch wrote about a while ago?
I find this idea of a side mirror mount.. being knocked off by a branch on a windy day to be fucked up and a tad funny.
Why? The side doors of my 05 Honda are about 6″ in depth. Thats not to say my door is 6″ thick and stuffed to the brim with shit. I think ya can add another 4″ = + for my mirrors. Which leads me to my next thought. Recently… and I do this every so often for fun, I was coming down the road to make a left turn and I slipped into the Left turning lane.. with about 4″ of room between my car door and anyone elses.. including my mirror. I went down the road at about 5-15mph. As I went down the road, I clipped a few side mirrors as I went.. and just kept on going. I giggled.. and drove home after my turn to make the left.
When I got home.. I did my usual Post-trip, and looked at my mirror and it had popped off its spring mount forward. I just had to nudge it back into its usual groove. — Thats one of those things, I loved about my Honda’s. The side mirrors you could walk into and theyd pop back. Spring loaded on mounts.
Im very sure the owners of the vehicles I tapped ever so lightly.. were miffed that they had to look up from their idiot devices and notice Id bashed their mirror to pieces (when In fact mine just tipped forward).
Sorry, I’m no longer into the indented creased door lines anymore
The black color from in front of the rear tires to the back need to be body color instead
Getting some Audi TT vibes from that profile.
The first image made me think TT right away.
The dual spoilers on the rear feel too busy to me, or maybe incongruous is the word I’m looking for. They don’t match, it feels like two different committees came up with proposals for the rear and neither could make their case so they decided to do both.
yea both of them on there add a complexity that just feels really awkward.
I’d definitely prefer just the upper spoiler, but it’s still looks good. I’d drive it, assuming the price is right.
Getting Creature From the Black Lagoon vibes from that double spoiler.
Still like the car though.
I’m not so much bothered by the trunk lid cutline, but that it’s a trunk lid at all when this shape screams for a liftback.