Hyundai Ioniq
Plug-in hatch still ticks all the right boxes
ELECTRIFIED vehicles have been known to come with the odd compromise over the years, but our Hyundai Ioniq PHEV is acquitting itself really well in everyday use.
The Ioniq is an unashamed rival for the Toyota Prius, and it has a similar profile – a result, no doubt, of prioritising aerodynamic efficiency over pretty much everything else.
However, it still works in everyday use; our picture editor Dawn Grant thought she was about to be caught out when her daughter needed a lift with her bicycle recently. But she found the Hyundai’s boot more than big enough to accommodate the two-wheeled transport. And that was even with the various charging cables still strewn over the boot floor.
I’ve also been putting the Ioniq’s capacity to the test, but on cabin space instead of boot capacity. I’ve recently hopped out of a VW e-golf and the Ioniq’s lengthy wheelbase means it matches that car for rear accommodation. My young son is able to stretch his legs without doing too much damage to the rear of the front passenger seat – and you can’t say that about every family hatchback currently on sale.
Of course, the Ioniq is still fundamentally about fuel efficiency, and so it is with some regret that we must report that our car did go through a period without regular charging. But now we’re back into the swing of things, thanks to a cheap adaptor that allows us to connect to some of the ‘commando’ sockets that are still in use in London. The Ioniq gets more than enough juice during a few hours at 13 amps. And the fuel economy figure is heading up as a result; we’re way beyond 60mpg now, and still climbing.