Hyundai Previews The New Ioniq 6 And The New Kona Hybrid

You may have already seen the Ioniq 6 on trade plates being test driven around Leng Kee, and your eyes aren’t fooling you.

Hyundai is already taking in orders and offering drives of the Ioniq 6 to its customers. We had the chance to take a sneak peek at the car in the showroom, and first impressions are fabulous.

Interior space is surprisingly generous despite the car’s seemingly petite proportions. Its slippery body shape is both functional as well as distinct - for me it is almost cute. There is also a frunk for added practicality, and as usual you get Hyundai’s very high build quality standards in the interior. For the full technical details, head on to our detailed summary here. At press time, the Ioniq 6 with a 77.4 kWh battery and dual motor AWD setup is going for $257,888.

At the same event we also had the chance to look at the Kona Hybrid, which unlike the Ioniq 6 is not yet homologated and thus not officially for sale yet.

It is designed from the beginning as an EV, although hybrid and ICE versions are available. Hyundai has confirmed that the EV version will arrive later in the year, while it has no indication on whether the pure ICE version will be offered here.

The most distinct change to the Kona’s looks are its Seamless Horizon Lamps in the front and rear, which give the car a modern touch. The rugged wheel cladding carries over from the last model.

The Kona has a lengthened wheelbase (+60 mm) which gives 77 mm more rear legroom and 11 mm more headroom. Seats have been intentionally made only to be 85 mm in width to allow more interior room. The gear selector is now column-mounted to free up space in the centre console.

There is a 12.3-inch dual screen display that dominates the view in front of the driver, while there are plenty of USB-C ports for both front and rear passengers. Funky interior colours have been deliberately chosen to match the car’s exterior palette.

Under the bonnet, there is a specially calibrated 1.6-L GDi direct injection engine paired with an electric motor that has a combined output of 141 PS and up to 265 Nm of torque. The closely related Kia Niro Hybrid with the same drivetrain was our Hybrid Car of the Year last year, so we’re keen to see where the Kona sits competitively.

Hyundai will reveal official pricing of the Kona soon at its official launch.

Photos by James Wong

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