The upcoming Hyundai Ioniq 6 has reportedly been delayed to make it longer in terms of both body and driving range.
The Korea Economic Daily, citing industry sources, reports the shapely sedan is still on track for a 2022 introduction, but the start of production has been delayed by 2-3 months to either May or June 2022.
The changes are said to make it more appealing to young, trendy drivers.
Pictured: Hyundai Prophecy concept
It’ll reportedly gain the 77.4kWh battery found in up-level Kia EV6 variants instead of the 72.6kWh battery found in the related Hyundai Ioniq 5.
That means it should boast electric range of up to 500km, while the Ioniq 5 tops out at 480km in long-range, single-motor guise.
The EV6 offers up to 510km of range with the same size battery, however the Ioniq 6 will be lower and slinkier and therefore may boast a superior drag coefficient.
It’s unclear whether it’ll top out at 225kW of power and 605Nm of torque, or if it’ll get the even more powerful 430kW and 740Nm dual-motor powertrain found in the EV6 GT and expected to be used in the upcoming Ioniq 5 N.
Single-motor rear-wheel drive set-ups may also be available as more affordable options. The least powerful Ioniq 5 puts out 125kW of power and 350Nm of torque
The Ioniq 6 is still expected to closely resemble the Hyundai Prophecy concept, though the body will be extended by 20mm.
That’ll make it almost as long as the Grandeur sedan, which measures 4990mm. The Sonata, in contrast, is 4900mm long.
Though Ioniq 6 models have already been spied testing, the car will receive redesigned bumpers and lighting front and rear.
The Korea Economic Daily reports the Ioniq 6 will come with a “lighting grille”, an automotive-first that will allow drivers to use the grille as a LED lighting device.
Developed by its parts arm Hyundai Mobis, the grille can change colour to indicate it’s charging, there’s an emergency, or the vehicle is in autonomous driving mode, among other scenarios.
Hyundai Mobis finished development of the technology earlier this year and announced in June it was “verifying its reliability for commercialization purposes”, pointing to mass production in 2023.
The Ioniq 6 will be manufactured at the Asan plant that currently produces the Sonata, which has had a lukewarm reception in Korea on account of its curvaceous styling.
Like the Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, the Ioniq 6 will use the new all-electric E-GMP architecture that’ll also be found under the 2024 Ioniq 7 large crossover plus the 2022 Genesis GV60.
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