In 2020, Hyundai Motor Group unveiled the Prophecy idea EV which everybody instantly seen had embraced an alternate, nearly reverse, design language from the angular 45 idea. The latter mannequin went on to function the blueprint for the Ioniq 5, whereas the Prophecy has morphed into the Ioniq 6 you see earlier than you.
While a lot of the unique design has been retained, numerous the very best stuff went out the window as a result of that is to be a mainstream automotive. The Prophecy was a easy and curvaceous vehicle that rightfully gained a great deal of design awards. It jogged my memory of the Phantom Corsair, Jaguar D-Type, or Porsche 356 Speedster — traditional sporting designs with a novel aptitude that even individuals who don’t give a whiff about vehicles can recognize. But the ensuing manufacturing mannequin from Hyundai Motor Group appears to be missing these qualities. Despite Hyundai Motor Group delivering a number of the business’s best-looking vehicles over the previous couple of years, the Ioniq 6 could also be a slim miss.
You can nonetheless see the affect of the Prophecy idea (pictured under), it’s simply that the execution doesn’t appear to have gone precisely to plan. Rather than harkening again to the basics of automotive design, the Ioniq 6 seems to have embraced the egg-shaped fad that reared its head in the course of the late Nineteen Nineties. It’s much less 1954 Maserati A6GCS Berlinetta and extra 2003 Citroën C3 Pluriel. Though that comparability is likely to be a little bit too merciless contemplating the Korean Ioniq is far nicer to behold than the French Pluriel.
Riding on the E-GMP devoted electrical platform used for the present roster of Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis EVs, the Ioniq 6 has numerous fascinating touches. While the corporate claimed it’s imagined to harken again to automobiles from the Nineteen Thirties (one thing the Prophecy completed completely), the manufacturing mannequin seems to be a weird marriage of the Porsche and Tesla design languages after they’ve been pushed out of a fowl’s cloaca. But the person parts are fairly fascinating and completely inoffensive when seen singularly. It’s solely when seen as a complete and in contrast towards the Prophecy that the Ioniq 6 begins to allow you to down. Sadly, the phenomenally excessive bar set by the idea appears to have been undermined by all of the concessions made to ship a production-ready vehicle.
That stated, the inside seems to be easy and stylish with out going overboard. We at all times favor switches and knobs, that are simpler to make use of whereas driving. But Hyundai stated it tried to search out an applicable steadiness on the 6. The business needs to maneuver towards contact screens as a result of they’re changing into cheaper to put in and encourage motorists to spend time interfacing with the automotive. That means extra alternatives for knowledge harvesting and doable avenues for brand spanking new options. But vehicles which have deserted bodily controls completely haven’t gotten favorable critiques from journalists and it’s good to see the corporate taking that into consideration. The automaker likewise stated that the sloped roofline gained’t intrude into the headspace of rear occupants — one other development the place model has usually trumped practicality.
Apparently specializing in the basics can also be what gave the Ioniq 6 its egg-like form. The automotive’s drag coefficient is a stunningly lean 0.21 and one thing the corporate ought to completely be bragging about to assist rationalize the bodywork. As an all-electric car, effectivity must be on the forefront of everybody’s thoughts and the form will doubtless go a great distance when it’s slicing by way of the air higher than a Toyota Prius.
Another side you not often see is the cooperate badging being faraway from the steering wheel to make room for helpful indicator lights. This is a transfer so elegant that I nearly need to advocate the automotive on precept. Throwing some model identification on the steering wheel is one thing we’ve accepted as a result of it’s turn out to be commonplace. But, once you truly give it some thought, it’s form of insane to proceed promoting to the motive force after they’ve presumably seen all of the figuring out marks on the outside, dancing throughout the infotainment display, and hovering over the dealership the place they purchased it.
The inside temper lighting can also be an enormous deal for Hyundai and clearly one thing they’ve clearly put numerous thought into. Ditto for the running-lamp LEDs that sit under the headlamps and the paired elongated lightbars alongside the again. Real effort seems to have been made to craft one thing distinctive and lovely.
It simply wasn’t doable to do the low-slung Prophecy idea justice when the top product needed to be a flexible and sensible electrical sedan targeted closely on maximizing effectivity. The Ioniq 6 might find yourself being Hyundai Motor Group’s greatest EV on paper, even when it doesn’t look almost pretty much as good as these preliminary design drafts urged — and the producer appears to be completely conscious of this based mostly on a number of the statements made throughout its debut.
“IONIQ 6 connects an emotional convergence of functionality with aesthetics,” stated SangYup Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai Design Center. “The distinctive streamlined design is the result of close cooperation between engineers and designers, with obsessive attention to detail and customer-centric values at the core. We have created the IONIQ 6 as a mindful cocoon that offers personalized place for all.”
Production will begin in 2023 for the United States, and the Ioniq 6 can be a 2024 model-year car right here — doubtless with out the camera-based facet mirrors. It’ll be fascinating to see the way it performs available on the market and to study extra about its mechanical make-up.
The mannequin seems to take its position as an environment friendly, all-electric car critically (particularly in comparison with one thing like GMC’s upcoming Hummer EV) whereas additionally making an attempt to steadiness modern-day tendencies with the form of issues shoppers truly need on their vehicles. But that styling is probably not for everybody, particularly in the event that they had been already conscious of the idea car it was based mostly upon. Then once more, sensible buyers know that appears aren’t every little thing. The Toyota Prius has not often been what we’d take into account a pretty vehicle, although this by no means appeared to negatively affect its gross sales (perhaps on Gen 4) or the truth that it was usually a strong automotive that delivered on its promise of maximizing effectivity.
[Images: Hyundai]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the newest information, options, TTAC takes, and every little thing else that will get to the reality about vehicles first by subscribing to our e-newsletter.
Related
Source: www.thetruthaboutcars.com
