SEATTLE — As gasoline-electric hybrids go, the market hardly received to know the Ioniq, launched in 2017, earlier than Hyundai determined to drag the plug on the Toyota Prius rival.
Blame the market rush to full EVs, the pandemic and even the chip scarcity that has left showrooms naked, however the Ioniq — a intelligent portmanteau that marries “ion” with “unique” — by no means severely challenged the Prius.
With some success, I not too long ago spent some high quality seat time in a single and got here away with lots of respect for one of many auto business’s shortest-lived fashions.
Late final month, my spouse and I flew to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport as a place to begin to discover Washington’s three nationwide parks.
When making the rental-car reservation months in the past, I chosen the choice that allowed us to choose from an aisle of automobiles. It was a little bit of a raffle, however the final time we scored a Hyundai Venue and loved it.
We knew the journey would require lots of driving from one park to the following. We hoped to get one thing with respectable gasoline financial system like a Venue however because the journey drew close to, and gasoline costs climbed increased, my pockets actually hoped for one thing inexperienced.
We have been considerably dissatisfied once we have been greeted with a collection of simply Chevrolet Malibus. Eleven days behind the wheel of a midsize sedan not identified for stellar gasoline financial system was not our first alternative.
I managed to discover a Malibu with simply 4 miles on the odometer. Our suitcases with tenting gear have been jam packed within the second row and trunk after I heard a door shut throughout the best way and seemed up.
There it was: a freshly washed Ioniq hybrid.
I ran, not walked, to the hatchback to say it. The odometer learn 27,475, however I did not thoughts. I suppose it might have been a lot increased.
Perhaps by dumb luck or simply good timing, we exited the storage in a black 2020 Ioniq Hybrid and headed towards Port Angeles, one of many entrances to Olympic National Park.
Source: www.autonews.com