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Everything I Loved and Hated About the Hyundai Ioniq 6

The Ioniq 6 is a good car. In fact, I wrote an entire review of it very recently. But here's some inside baseball: Not every good and bad aspect of a car makes it into a review. Sometimes, to keep the attention of my lovely reader, I've got to cut some things out.
Hyundai Ioniq 6 25 photos
Photo: Chase Bierenkoven/autoevolution
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In light of that, it's always fun to go back and revisit a car, discussing things that either permeated throughout my experience with a car or lamenting things I hated that just didn't make it into the review. So, as such, this is everything I loved and hated about the Hyundai Ioniq 6.

Love: Look at this thing

Now, I understand the 6's design is not for everyone. I would’ve spent more time on this in my review if it merited it. But it didn't, so here we are. Frankly, it's a knockout, and while I touched on it, Hyundai deserves some praise for bringing something aesthetically interesting into the world.

I wasn’t able to discuss lights in the review. They're a favorite part of mine, next to the whale tail spoiler. These feature what Hyundai calls "parametric pixels." Those are the little dots scattered throughout the car’s design. They help to break up the car’s swoopiness, which would otherwise dominate the visual experience. It's also a slightly different take on the ever-present lightbar at the back, a feature which I think has worn out its welcome.

Hyundai Ioniq 6
Photo: Chase Bierenkoven/autoevolution

Hate: No frunk

Now, I understand some important mechanical bits have to be kept up front. A/C condensers, cooling, and the lot still needs to be at the front of the car. That, after all, is why the 6 has what may be the most comical bit of storage space imaginable. Calling it a front trunk is an injustice when the Tesla Model 3 and the Polestar 2 both have one. To be fair, Polestar’s is almost as sad, but you can fit a bag in it.

Honestly, I fail to see why anyone would use the frunk in the 6. It's a lot of extra steps to get up front for a very small item. Yes, a charging cable could fit in the "frunk." But that'll also fit anywhere else in the car. So will any other item you put in there. It's honestly quite useless.

Love: Driving position

This doesn't often get mentioned in reviews of more "pedestrian cars." Talk of driving position is normally reserved for sportier cars. Which is funny, because we were told by Hyundai in Georgia that the Ioniq 6 is a sedan (and built the way it is) because it is more of a "driver's car" than the brand's other electrified offerings.

At least in this small way, the Ioniq 6 is. The seating is genuinely sporty- or at least the seats are maneuverable enough to be. No, the seats aren't particularly bolstered, but the H-Point (point at which your torso and hip meet) can be made to be very low- a hallmark of sporty-driving cars. The wheel can be placed well, too, offering many drivers a snug, comfortable feeling in the cockpit. I like it a lot and vastly prefer it to driving in an SUV.

Hyundai Ioniq 6
Photo: Chase Bierenkoven/autoevolution

Hate: Infrastructure isn't ready for 800v

This one, obviously, is not on Hyundai. The pace at which brands were able to introduce the ability to charge with great speed was, well, greater than charging companies. Brands like Chargepoint and Electrify America aren't spreading reliable, fast-charging tech at the same rate folks are acquiring fast-charging EVs. Thankfully, Hyundai eliminated a variable. Public charging can be unreliable, and knowing your car can pull the charging speeds you need in a pinch can help take some of the burden.

For now, this issue will be remedied as networks grow and people move to adopt EVs. Still, I've had my share of struggles finding reliable charging at the speeds Hyundai models are capable of (10-80% in 15ish minutes). Ideally, infrastructure does catch up, and we can all fast charge our EVs at home, reliably, and for cheap.

Love: Someone still makes a sedan

It would’ve been really easy to make the Ioniq 6 a tall, lifted crossover, thereby making the Ioniq 5 the sporty, low one. Instead, Hyundai chose to enter a segment which has seen some fresh blood of late (Tesla, Polestar). I applaud that. Frankly, people ought to be told they don't need a big SUV. They’re wasteful, and while Hyundai's lineup is also as full of them as the next brand’s, choice is king.

Besides, I frankly do not think the world needs another coupe-shaped SUV, which, when you extrapolate the Ioniq 6's design to something taller, is what you get. The 6 looks good as it is and hits its mark with an intended group of buyers. So, let's keep making sedans for people, shall we?

Hyundai Ioniq 6
Photo: Chase Bierenkoven/autoevolution
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About the author: Chase Bierenkoven
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Chase's first word was "truck," so it's no wonder he's been getting paid to write about cars for several years now. In his free time, Chase enjoys Colorado's great outdoors in a broken German sports car of some variety.
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