Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid Acceleration and Fuel Consumption Tests Come from Korea

Every fan of the Korean brand has heard something about the Ioniq. It's designed to rival the Toyota Prius in theory, but it's an entirely different type of vehicle, less complicated and smaller.

The quick and dirty version of what we've been reading about the Ioniq is that it's not bad, yet also not amazing in any way. For example, the powertrain consists of a 1.6-liter GDI engine matched to a small electric engine. Independent tests found it takes 9.85 seconds to reach 100 km/h, which is about the same as a VW Golf with a regular 1.2-liter engine or a Toyota Prius from 2005.

Another interesting test video (second clip) we found reveals the fuel consumption at a set speed. The Ioniq has a little boost gage that shows instantaneous fuel consumption. When the cruise control is set to run at 90 km/h, that reads 25 kilometers per liter, which is 4 l/100km. At 110 km/h, the figure is increased to 20 kilometers per liter or 5 l/100km.

Once again, the Achilles heel of the hybrid engine is highway speeds. A Polo 1.0 TSI Bluemotion will achieve those kinds of numbers while small diesel cars will do much better.

While there are several hybrid cars out there, the Ioniq is special because it's the first Hyundai built on a bespoke platform for green vehicles. Several exterior body parts and part of the suspension is made from aluminum. But the interior is entirely ordinary, unlike the crazy designs some Japanese automakers promote. That's what we took away from the third and final video, which is a 30-minute walk around. The odd thing is that it's not as well sound proofed as some other hybrids, and you can hear plenty of tire road. Overall, we don't see the Ioniq selling well outside of its Korean domestic market.