Hyundai IONIQ Electric Premium 2020 Review

Electric vehicles are known for being expensive. Even a car like the Hyundai IONIQ Electric Premium seems to mock the Korean manufacturer’s own value-buy brand image.

At $53,010 plus on-road costs – and with $495 added for the test vehicle’s metallic paint – the IONIQ is up around the same price as a BMW 220i Gran Coupe.

Now, how hard do you reckon it would be to convince someone the IONIQ is actually worth the money? And how much more challenging still when that someone is married to you, and her last new car cost $25,000 on the road back in 2005...

That was the task I set myself, convincing my wife Jenni that we could justify the cost of the IONIQ, to replace old faithful, which isn’t quite ready for the knackery just yet. Jenni is not a car person by her own admission, and is loath to spend any money on a new car – which is why the average age of cars in our family is literally over 13 years.

Jenni noted that the IONIQ in plug-in hybrid form (from $42,410 plus ORCs) is markedly cheaper than the battery-electric models; and from her perspective the plug-in model makes much more sense. It can easily get her to work and back on electric power alone, but for the rare occasions we travel further afield the plug-in IONIQ can accomplish that with zero inconvenience.

I acknowledge all that, but having an internal combustion engine as well as an electric motor and battery just seems a clumsy solution to me. Yes, it’s cheaper to purchase, but you’re paying more for servicing, and if the owner/driver gets a bit lazy, it’s only a matter of time before you become reliant on the petrol engine to keep the battery charged.

And at that point you might as well own a hybrid Toyota.

Jenni did find recharging the IONIQ from the power outlet in the garage to be quite simple, however, and said that “it’s not going to be an issue”.

“When you buy an electric vehicle, you want to save [running] costs, don’t you?” Jenni asked, fully on board with the idea of saving money by plugging a car into a household electrical outlet rather than filling up at the servo.

Having gone through the various arguments for and against battery-electric and plug-in, however, Jenni was rapidly becoming convinced by her argument that a plug-in model makes more sense – from the Hyundai stable at least.

Starting at $48,970 for the IONIQ Electric Elite, Hyundai’s full-electric small car is a reasonably compelling proposition in terms of its equipment. It comes with 16-inch alloy wheels, an eight-speaker audio system with digital radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, a 10.25-inch infotainment touch-screen, wireless phone charging, climate control, power fold-in mirrors, electrically-adjustable driver’s seat with memory function, a sunroof and heated/cooled front seats with all seats upholstered in leather.

On top of all that, the IONIQ Electric Premium, which is the flagship of the IONIQ range, does offer a large basket of safety equipment...

The Hyundai IONIQ Electric Premium is packed full of features to protect you, your passengers and other road users.

As standard, the IONIQ comes with blind spot monitoring, driver fatigue monitoring, forward collision warning, all-speed autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go functionality, lane keep assist, high beam assist, lane following assist, rear cross traffic alert, a reversing camera and front and rear parking sensors.

In addition, there are seven airbags on board, plus tyre pressure monitoring.

Euro NCAP tested the IONIQ for crash safety in 2016 and awarded the EV a maximum five stars. According to the safety testing authority’s report, the IONIQ rated 90 per cent for adult occupant safety, 80 per cent for child safety and 70 per cent for both pedestrian safety and safety assist.

One significant failing noted in the technical report was the tendency of rear seat passenger dummies to submarine under the seatbelt. And for six-year-olds in the rear, the chest protection was deemed ‘weak’.

My wife acknowledged that the IONIQ came across as a very safe car. Jenni especially appreciated its exploitable performance (see below).

“We’re not buying a luxury car,” she observed. “We’re just buying a car that is safe and comfortable, but [the IONIQ] is more than just a basic car.”

Jenni drove the Hyundai IONIQ Electric Premium on a 60km drive in the country and some shorter trips around town and on the freeway, providing her ample opportunity to assess the IONIQ for ease of use and performance, as well as other purchasing criteria.

Initially, she found the brake energy recovery system to be disconcerting.

“I checked that I didn’t have the handbrake on, because that’s how it felt,” she said. “The second or third time I was driving the car I got used to the brakes.

“I like the sport mode,” she added, “but economy [Eco] was easy to use too, so it gives you some flexibility if you’re in the country and you can use the sport mode.”

After it was explained to her how the energy recovery could be adjusted using the paddles either side of the steering column, she became a convert. While Jenni noted that the IONIQ’s Eco mode was likely to be pretty handy when you weren’t demanding performance, the sport mode was potentially the tipping point for her.

“I felt very comfortable that I could get out of trouble,” she noted. “[From a standing start] you don't feel like anyone will slam into the back of you.

“I like the fact that the car tells you how much charge there is [remaining in the battery],” she also remarked.

It was an important element of the car’s design that Jenni could hear the motor working under load, but the car was also very quiet at cruising speeds. About the only thing to detract from the IONIQ’s noise suppression and refinement was an occasional rattle from the boot.

The Hyundai IONIQ Electric Premium delivers everything that Jenni would want in a car. She found it rode well and didn’t pitch over bumps.

The steering assistance is about the same weight as the old Mitsubishi Lancer she has been driving in recent times, but the IONIQ turns in much more directly. This took some acclimatisation, she said.

“I have to learn how to be a bit more in tune with the car,” she explained, recognising the need for gentler input rather than just hauling on the wheel. She was surprised to learn that the IONIQ is just 60mm wider than her old Lancer. It felt significantly wider, she said, yet it wasn’t difficult to drive.

The steering feels even more responsive through the small-diameter steering wheel. At lower speeds the level of power assistance was lightly weighted for parking manoeuvres, but Jenni quickly became familiar with the IONIQ’s reasonable steering feel and chassis feedback at higher speeds.

“I could feel the car [turning],” she explained.

But the multifunction steering wheel took some adjustment, as it were. Jenni found “all those things on the steering wheel were quite distracting”, but she did become accustomed to the various functions after they were explained to her.

Remaining on the subject of ergonomics, she really appreciated the placement of the speedo – directly ahead in line of sight and providing very clear, legible calibrations – plus the parking aids, including the reversing camera, the guidelines in the display and the acoustic guidance.

She found it odd viewing the vehicles following behind through the split tailgate glass, but otherwise reported the IONIQ was “a very easy car to drive”.

Where comfort was concerned, the position memory for the electrically-adjustable driver’s seat was a feature that Jenni welcomed, as we adopt very different driving positions and we’re constantly changing the seat settings when one of us drives the family car after the other has been driving it.

Overall, the driving position of the IONIQ met with her approval, although the low, curving slope of the A-pillars up into the roofline was distracting, she said – but once again, something that would no doubt become familiar after a while.

“It doesn't feel like a can of soup,” Jenni concluded, meaning that it wasn’t tinny, delivered an appropriate measure of driveability and practicality – and wasn’t just another ‘supermarket’ commodity.

“I’d buy one.”

But that was before Jenni drove the Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander the same week.

Ultimately, the Kona impressed her more. Granted, the electric SUV costs significantly more again than the IONIQ – starting from around $60,000 plus ORCs – but it’s also slightly more refined, has a better hip point to suit people of my wife’s age (and mine), and that extra range won’t go astray either.

But the IONIQ does remain a very good solution if your budget just won’t stretch as far as the Kona.

How much does the 2020 Hyundai IONIQ Electric Premium cost?
Price: $53,010 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Drivetrain: Permanent magnet synchronous AC motor
Output: 100kW/295Nm
Transmission: Reduction gear
Range: 311km (WLTP)
Battery: 38.3kWh lithium-ion polymer
Safety rating: Five-star (2016 ANCAP)