Photo credit: Hyundai

The new Hyundai Ioniq family of cars is so green, they’ve made the interior panels with powdered wood and volcanic rock. They whipped out the crunchiest of the Rothschilds to introduce it and presumably lend it some environmentalist cred. Today, they unveiled an all-electric model with a range of over 100 miles.




Photo credit: Mike Ballaban

The new Ioniq comes as a plug-in hybrid, a regular hybrid, and an all-electric version. Hyundai claims the Ioniq is the first eco-focused car to have three electric drivetrains on one platform. We nabbed the full specs of the hybrids as soon as they were out, but the big news today is the all-electric car.


That all-electric car comes with a fairly standard range of 110 miles. Nothing too revolutionary. Nothing really pushing the boundaries. But for some, this will be a solid commuter car in an attractive, albeit slightly vanilla little package. I guess now that the Prius looks like a visually offensive robot poop, this is your normal looking option.



Photo credit: Mike Ballaban

The interior looks nice as well, more like a regular car than something that wants to pound you over the heads with its ability to save the baby seals.

The all-electric engine is good for 120 horsepower and 215 lb.-ft of torque, and is fed by a 28 kWh lithium-ion polymer battery. That power gets fed through a single-speed reduction gear transmission.




The Ioniq also has a coefficient of drag of only 0.24, meaning that it can glide through the air considerably more efficiently than that Edsel project car that’s been rotting in your backyard ever could. Less drag means less fuel used. Hyundai says that placing the batteries low under the rear seats and using lightweight materials such as aluminum for the hood and tailgate will also help the Ioniq cars be miserly on fuel but still decent to drive.



The electric model has a closed contrasting panel in place of the hybrid model’s grille up front, adding a smooth, futuristic touch to its front fascia.




If you need to go more than 110 miles at a time, the plug-in hybrid will do more than 25 miles on all electric without ever having to fire up the gas motor to charge it. That’s three miles more than Toyota’s “best ever” Prius.



The gasoline-hybrid models will also get a six-speed dual-clutch gearbox to put that delicious electric-assisted power to the ground. Hyundai hopes it will also make the driving experience more engaging for hybrid owners, and even saw fit to add a “Sport” driving mode to the hybrids.




Photo credit: Mike Ballaban

Hyundai said that they want to “win hearts and minds” with the Ioniq, but with yet another vaguely Prius-shaped kammback car, I’m not sold. There’s only so many people who want a compact hatchback, and that’s not exactly revolutionary range out of an electric or electric hybrid car. At least Hyundai can claim that it’s one of the prettiest.