ASSAULT ON BATTERY

The aircon did struggle a little getting the whole cabin cool, though, despite the rear air vents. We had to turn it to full blast for a while before everybody was happy.

Once on the road you are struck by just how normal the Ioniq feels. Some hybrids and EVs have a wooden feel to the brake pedal but the Ioniq’s feels more natural and progressive. Not that you need to use it very often in stop-start traffic as the regenerative engine braking function will slow the car down when you lift off the accelerator.

For the EV uninitiated, regenerative braking uses the electric motor rather than the brake pads and discs to slow the car when you lift off the accelerator. It works the same as picking a lower gear in a conventional car. The motor switches into generator mode and — an added bonus — feeds charge back into the battery.

Steering, cornering and ride comfort are all typical Hyundai, which is a good thing. The car soaks up bumps well and while it’s no sports car, it feels composed through the bends. As for the range, it was showing 165km after only 15 kilometres, but by the time we’d completed our return journey of roughly 55km, we still had 145km range. Not bad with devices charging, stereo blaring and aircon pumping.