Being anticipated by a striking concept car can be a blessing or a curse. The blessing comes when the production car respects what the concept presented or even perfects it. That was the case with the Hyundai 45 Concept and the IONIQ 5. Curiously, Hyundai also has the curse example: the Prophecy and the IONIQ 6.
When people compared the production car to the concept, they realized the pixel design language on the IONIQ 5 did not fit it well. While the front of the vehicle is ok (the Prophecy is better), there is just too much information on the rear end. Some even called the new sedan a bloated Porsche Panamera.
The rendering artist Theottle heard that and thought about creating a coupe with the IONIQ 6 lines. Porsche’s most iconic coupe is the 911. Those elements were enough for the rendering artist to put an IONIQ 6 skin on a Porsche 911. He even came up with a cool name for his idea: IONIQ 116, which is 911 upside down – in more than one sense.
While Porsche fans cannot imagine a 911 without a six-cylinder boxer engine behind the rear axle, the 116 is electric: there is no reason to put the motor in that position. In fact, it may have one motor per axle or even one motor per wheel, something the 911 could not dream of. Its 800V system can rival that of the Porsche Taycan, which was also compared to the IONIQ 6 to make the Korean EV look bad.
It is not very likely that Hyundai will ever sell an electric coupe. Despite that, we will undoubtedly see an IONIQ 6 N, a car that may receive aesthetical updates. It would not be the first time for Hyundai.
The company bet on a controversial styling for the Hyundai Creta in India and Brazil and was forced to update it sooner than expected. The same happened with the HB20 in the South American country. That shows that Hyundai tried to be bold, which did not work as well as it did with the IONIQ 5.
It is a pity that Theottle did not feel more at ease correcting the IONIQ 6 rear end through the IONIQ 116 he invented. A more elegant and minimalist bumper would give this car the styling it deserved from the very beginning. Hyundai knew how to do it, and it showed that with the Prophecy. Too bad the EV lost it somewhere toward production lines.
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