Hyundai has long been considered by EV fans and followers to be one of leading EV developers. It has produced some of the most efficient, most attractive, and most desired electric cars on the global market — popular in the US, Europe, and elsewhere. One downside is that the company has not worked to produced and push out a lot of them, but that should be changing. Everyone wants to be an EV leader now and every automaker knows the brightness of their future depends on the brightness of their electric future.
But as much as Hyundai’s previous electric vehicles were cool, or at least decent and practical, the Hyundai IONIQ 6 is a stunner. It doesn’t look like a Hyundai — it looks too cool. It seems Car and Driver agrees, and agrees the car doesn’t just look great, but is great. As you can see in the headline, the IONIQ 6 won Car and Driver‘s “2023 EV of the Year” award. It beat out 13 contenders for the title.
Like the Hyundai IONIQ 5 — which won the “2022 EV of the Year” award from Car and Driver — the IONIQ 6 raises Hyundai to another level.
Power, range, charging speed, and pricing were key factors that logged Hyundai the win. The 4 key areas Car and Driver considers when testing the cars include:
- Value
- Mission Fulfillment
- Technology Advancement
- Fun to Drive
“The IONIQ 6 lineup has available power and range that puts Tesla on notice,” said Tony Quiroga, editor-in-chief at Car and Driver. “An 800-volt architecture reduces DC-charging times, but best of all, the Ioniq 6 is a car that we love to drive.” Something about value for money was in there as well, but not highlighted as much. The electric car has a starting MSRP of $41,600, so it’s not cheap (like the Chevy Bolt) but not expensive. It’s right in the “average new car price” range, and comparable to a low-end Tesla (except that Tesla EVs qualify for the full $7,500 US EV tax credit and Hyundai EVs don’t).
Image courtesy of Hyundai.
Image courtesy of Hyundai.
Hyundai IONIQ 6 front interior, front dash. Image courtesy of Hyundai.
Hyundai IONIQ 6 and an airplane. Image courtesy of Hyundai.
Hyundai IONIQ 6 interior fancy lights. Image courtesy of Hyundai.
Hyundai IONIQ 6 at an Electrify America charging station. Image courtesy of Hyundai.
Hyundai IONIQ 6. Image courtesy of Hyundai.
Hyundai IONIQ 6 on a wall. Image courtesy of Hyundai.
How can you not love that car, even on the side of a wall?
Other contenders for the 2023 EV of the Year award were:
- Audi Q4 E-tron
- BMW i7
- Cadillac Lyric AWD
- GMC Hummer EV
- Genesis Electrified GV70
- Kia EV6 GT
- Kia Niro EV
- Lexus RZ450e
- Lucid Air Pure
- Mercedes-Benz EQE350
- Nissan Ariya e-4orce
- Toyota bZ4X AWD
- VinFast VF8
“Car and Driver employed instrumented testing, subjective evaluation, and side-by-side comparison in both practicality and entertainment value,” Hyundai writes.
As far as a few more words of praise from Car and Driver, here’s the brief summary of their results: “After gathering the year’s new EV offerings for a week of intense back-to-back scrutiny, rigorous driving, and long hours of charging, a Hyundai has come out on top. Following last year’s win by the Ioniq 5, that model’s new sedan sibling, the Ioniq 6, motors away with the top prize this year. Add strong showings by the Genesis Electrified GV70 and the Kia EV6 GT, and a picture starts to form: When it comes to EVs playing in the broad main swath of the market, the Hyundai-Kia-Genesis group is clearly out in front.”
Good looks were a big reason right of the bat for the team picking the IONIQ 6. (Just look at those pictures above.) Aerodynamics and the class of car it is were additional highlights. “Regardless of whether the shape came to Hyundai designers by way of a turn-of-the-millennium four-door ‘coupe,’ a Streamline Moderne–era proto-minivan, or some kind of fever dream, its aerodynamics give the Ioniq 6 a slip-through-the-air drag coefficient as low as 0.22. We also like it because it’s good to see an automaker introduce a dedicated EV that’s a sedan (the Polestar 2 and Tesla Model 3 are two others) rather than another mid-size crossover.”
But there’s much more to the award than that, so go ahead and read the full Car and Driver story if you’re interested.
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