Hyundai IONIQ 6 revealed with 0.21Cd aero

The camouflage has finally come off the Hyundai IONIQ 6 electric car, revealing a controversially styled but extremely dynamic flagship sedan that will be officially launched in Korea on July 14.

Intensively teased since June 22 in a strategy long used to soften design criticisms, the Hyundai IONIQ 6 will be on sale in Australia in around six months, and is expected to slot in at a price point around the low end of the BMW i4 and Tesla Model 3 ranges.

The second dedicated EV from Hyundai, the IONIQ 6 follows the critical acclaim of the bravely styled IONIQ 5 fastback SUV that was named the 2021 carsales Car of the Year and is the reigning World Car of the Year.

However, there are no obvious visual connections between the crisply folded IONIQ 5 and the overtly soft IIONIQ 6, with its headlight treatment and drooping rear-end hinting at everything from the Porsche Taycan to the Mercedes-Benz CLS and EQXX Concept and even the Volkswagen New Beetle.

The back-end uses two spoilers to keep the rear wheels on the ground at speed and convert the designers’ ideas into a slippery shape with a claimed drag coefficient of just 0.21Cd – or 0.02 better than Volkswagen’s flagship ID. AERO electric sedan, which the German company showed on Monday.

Hyundai has used trick after trick to pull the aerodynamic drag down, including active air flaps in the low nose, wheel-gap reducers and “separation traps” in the rear bumper. The entire underfloor of the car is covered and has integrated air deflectors.

Quietly, it also debuts Hyundai’s new ‘H’ badge, which only appears on the rear bootlid.

Hyundai has yet to reveal technical details of the IONIQ 6, but it’s understood to ride on a version of the IONIQ 5’s Electric Global Modular Platform (e-GMP) chassis architecture, but delivers a very different optic thanks to its ‘Ethical Uniqueness’ design philosophy.

Its front-end has clear Porsche hallmarks, including the headlights providing the starting point for the raised front quarter panels that surround a lower bonnet line.

Hyundai calls the rear bumper “aerodynamically optimized”, despite needing to use spoilers – one on the rear glass and one integrated into the boot lid.

The intentionally sagging rear-end is clearly a design risk, and one that has had a damaging impact on cars like Ford’s AU Falcon, but worked well with the original Mercedes-Benz CLS.

Both the roof and the glasshouse begin to slope downwards from the middle of the rear door, before accelerating southwards at the C-pillar, giving the impression of a tiny rear wheel compared to the front, even though they are likely to be the same size.

Hyundai insists the look was driven by aerodynamics, though Mercedes-Benz’s designers show no need to drop the EQXX Concept’s rear-end so close to the ground, despite achieving an aero benchmark of 0.17Cd.

Hyundai calls its rear lighting set-up a ‘Parametric Pixel’ system, but there are other details in the images of the new car that give strong hints about the production realities.

For starters, the first IONIQ 6 uses the production car’s optional rear-facing cameras instead of mirrors, and pairs them with digital displays inside the cabin, creating display wings at the corners of the dashboard.

Neither will there be conventional door-handles, with Hyundai using flush-fitting handles that appear to pop out when needed.

The framed doors fold high into the roofline, too, while the high-mounted tail-light is a full-width unit integrated into the higher of the two rear spoilers.

“IONIQ 6 connects an emotional convergence of functionality with aesthetics,” said the Executive Vice President and Head of the Hyundai Design Center, SangYup Lee.

“The distinctive streamlined design is the result of close cooperation between engineers and designers, with obsessive attention to detail and customer-centric values at the core.

“We have created the IONIQ 6 as a mindful cocoon that offers personalized place for all.”

The cocoon layout is being pushed heavily by Hyundai, which is also insisting it is using a raft of sustainable materials in the interior construction, to reflect EV customer values.

The interior was designed to be stretched out inside the design at both the front and the rear, though the sloping roofline doubtless created design headaches around the rear seat.

Its lighting is a breakthrough for Hyundai as well, with more than 700 Parametric Pixels scattered through the headlights and tail-lights, the front lower sensors, the air vent trims and the centre-console indicator.

The interior sees a single raised screen covering both the 12-inch instrument cluster and the similarly sized multimedia screen.

There is a raised centre console and a two-spoke steering wheel, complete with multifunction buttons, all sitting high above the flat cabin floor.

Hyundai claims the IONIQ 6 has 64 single-colour ambient lighting schemes and six dual-colour options, while the clean inner door skins contain no buttons whatsoever.

The IONIQ 6 claims the environmental high ground by using recycled paint pigment from old tyres for the plastic cladding, and also employs bamboo charcoal pigments in its body paint.

Drivers will have a choice between ‘eco-process’ leather seat trims, recycled PET fabrics, a PET fabric headliner and a bio paint from vegetable oils in the doors. It also uses recycled fishing net from the Seaqual initiative, which is also seen in the Cupra Born EV.

Stand by for more tech details, many of which are expected to be shared with the IONIQ 5, on July 14.

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