I wouldn't want to be all prosaic when assessing the technological triumph that the Hyundai Ioniq Electric is, but I have to tell you from the outset that it has the best auxiliary controls that I've experienced in any new car. By auxiliary I mean the ability to switch radio channel, alter the temperature in the cabin and set the sat nav, as well as the more advanced stuff like talking to it and using the car as a phone.
You see, most manufacturers get it wrong. Either they go all absolutists and basically ban buttons and have just one dial for everything (Renault did this a few years ago). They can then boast about a "clutter-free" dash, but it'll take you too long to switch over from Radio 5 Live when "Thought for the Day" comes on the BBC's Today programme.
Alternately they blind you with buttons, like Lexus used to, and you're left with scores to choose from when you're just desperate to demist the windscreen. BMW, Audi and Mercedes have experimented with big control wheels between the front seats, which are an unhappy compromise. Hyundai, though, have cracked it, with a few piano-style buttons under the main iPad-style touch screen that get you to the basics (radio, sat nav, heating) immediately. It's an ergonomic breakthrough.
Piano-key buttons under the display screen are far more intuitive than in other cars
As I say, though I wouldn't want to detract from the significant step forward for an electrified car future that we have here. The Hyundai Ioniq is available in three electrified or semi-electrified forms; a petrol/electric hybrid, a plug-in petrol/electric hybrid (the same, but you can top up the batteries from the mains too), and a pure electric version. This is the one I chose to test out, and is the one that matters. It matters, that is, because it'll do more than 100mph, and it also makes few concessions to its new propulsion in terms of styling and equipment. Whatever temptation the engineers had to strip weight and extras out of the car to promote fuel efficiency and range have been resisted. So the compromise here is an overall range of about 130 miles-plus, which covers the majority of journeys of course, and always "range anxiety", but you can still have electric seats and four electric windows and climate control and all the usual stuff.
Sport mode is very responsive indeed, and keeps going right up to the national speed limit
I can bear witness to the car's smoothness, quietude and comfort, and that it will take you about 130 to 150 miles on a fully charged battery in cold weather and, like all electric cars, do so for very little money – a couple of pounds, depending on your electricity tariff. If your electricity firm favours green energy (like, say, Ecotricity, who I have used to "fill up" electric cars) then you have personal transportation that will make virtually no impact on the environment in operational use.
I concede that it isn't perfect; like all consumer goods, it will take vital irreplaceable elements from the planet such as cobalt and lithium – the so-called "white petrol" of the future – and it consumes the usual quota of plastics, steel and aluminium to build it, just the same as most conventional cars. It will also cost time and money to recycle its batteries when then they get to the end of their lives. There is also, as with any "normal" new car, plenty of energy that is used up, green or otherwise, in the welding and assembly and marketing and head offices required to turn a car from a collection of minerals and componentry into a branded marketable object of desire. So "green car" is relative; it's less green than a Welsh cob, I suppose.
Hyundai Ioniq Electric
Price: £28,995 (incl £5,000 govt grant)
Motor: 88Kw Electric; 1-sp auto
Power output (PS): 119.7
Battery capacity: 28kWh
Top speed (mph): 103
0-60mph (seconds): 10.2
Fuel economy (mpg): n/a
Range: 130 miles+
CO2 emissions (g/km): 0
BIK (%): 7
Unlike some of its rivals (such as the Nissan Leaf) the Ioniq doesn't yet feature the CHAdeMO system of ultra-fast charging, so you either plug it into the domestic mains or, more likely, a "Type 2" charging unit that runs about twice as fast, which you can either find at commercial charging points (supermarket car parks, motorways, for example) or you'll have fitted to the side of your home (say) with a government grant. It is perfectly practical, and I especially appreciated the design of the domestic charger, which makes it impossible for the careless user to blow the house fuses – something many householders will be understandably concerned about. It is fool proof, unlike some rivals. It still took about six hours, though.
Like many cars nowadays the driver gets a choice as to driving style, with a button that will make your Ioniq "Sport" or "Eco"-oriented. Obviously there are more compromises there – more Sport means less range, but it's useful nonetheless. Sport mode is very responsive indeed, and keeps going right up to the national speed limit.
Electric means high initial price tag tempered by very low running costs
So the Ioniq is a contender, though there's a new Nissan Leaf coming soon which will move the benchmark up a little further – more range, superior performance, faster charging, equal economy (one hopes). The pure electric car segment is much the most exciting, if still small (about 2 per cent of sales) pocket of the industry. It is growing extremely fast, and we've all seen the headlines about the Government's targets for electrification. The Ioniq, like most of its peers, is also an economic compromise; high purchase price tempered by very low running costs, fine reliability but also restively rapid obsolescence as the technology moves on. It still won't suit many, but the Ioniq, like its peers, is edging into the mainstream.
Search for used cars
Reuse content Source: Car Review: Hyundai Ioniq Electric
No comments:
Post a Comment