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NEW YORK — Instead of dishing out a hybrid, plug-in hybrid or a electric vehicle, Hyundai did all three — in a single car.
It’s the new Ioniq — pronounced “Ionic” — that will come to showrooms later this year and early next year in its various iterations. In unveiling the car at the New York Auto Show, Hyundai promised it’s not going to be just another small, fuel-efficient, high-tech car, but rather one that should post some astounding gas-mileage and range numbers:
•The hybrid version is expected to be rated at 91.2km or 92.8km per gallon in combined city and highway driving. That would be better than the Toyota’s Prius, the leading hybrid.
•The plug-in version is expected to have an electric-only range of 40km before the gas engine kicks in, which would higher than the Prius’ plug-in version. It will have a range of about 900km between its battery and gas engine.
•The full electric will have a range of 176km between charges, which is towards the top of the range of cars that aren’t Teslas or Chevy Bolts.
Selling hybrids or electrics becomes more difficult in an era of low gas prices, but Ioniq has the advantage of being sporty behind the wheel, says Mike O’Brien, Hyundai Motor America’s planning chief. “Certainly the price of gas isn’t going to help us,” he says. But designers and engineers approached Ioniq from a unique standpoint: “How do we make a hybrid that’s more fun to drive than a gas car?”
He calls it a “no-compromises hybrid”.