Electric vehicles (EVs) are quickly moving from early adopter toys to mass-market essentials. 

What’s New

The 2017 Hyundai Ioniq is a completely new model from the Korean automaker. Though the Ioniq shares its platform with sister-brand Kia’s Nero, the body, powertrain combinations, and several interior components are fresh elements. Notably, the Ioniq Electric is the automaker’s first battery-electric model.

Trim Levels and Features

The 2017 Ioniq Electric keeps things simple when it comes to trims and packages. Highlights of the base trim include LED daytime running lights, proximity door locks, push-button ignition, automatic headlights, automatic climate control, power windows with auto driver’s window, heated front seats, two USB ports, Bluetooth, HD radio, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and a three-month Sirius XM trial.

Technology Overview

Contemporary Hyundai vehicles lack little in the way of interior gadgetry. The Ioniq Electric comes standard with a 7.0-inch infotainment system and 7.0-inch + 4.2-inch digital driver display. The vivid TFT screens show energy distribution on the left, speed and remaining range in the center, and a host of telemetry data on the right.

Interior Fit & Finish

The Ioniq’s conservative exterior design pairs with a refined, handsome cabin. Glossy metal trim accents the steering wheel spoke, door handles, air vents, and gear selector controls for a premium touch. On the tactile front, soft leather covers the steering wheel, seats, center console, and door panels. If you look hard enough, you can find budget materials, but those are exceptions to a high-quality cockpit.

Driving Performance & MPG

Powering the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric is an 88 kWh electric motor mated to a 28 kWh lithium-ion polymer battery. A single-speed automatic transmission sends 118 hp and 215 pound-feet of torque to the front wheels for what independent sources estimate is an 8.0-second sprint to 60 mph. Hyundai says the Ioniq Electric runs out of pep at 90 mph.

Safety

Hyundai packs the Ioniq with seven airbags, ABS, automatic headlights, stability control, a rearview camera, and driver blindspot monitor as standard. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has yet to grade the Ioniq EV, but given Hyundai’s track record for five-star performances, we expect the Ioniq to be a very safe ride.

Read More: Digital Trends

To dig its teeth into California’s crowded electric vehicle market, its Korean maker has rolled out an “Unlimited+” lease program for the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric.

The plan mimics a subscription service, and adds unlimited mileage allowance, vehicle-charging reimbursement, and a cohesive maintenance plan to the standard lease terms, according to CarsDirect.

While most of the program is pretty cut and dried, there are a few catches that potential lessees should be aware of.

Unlimited+ could be considered a “lease with benefits,” but in fact the program really is a subscription.

Monthly payments are based on the Ioniq Electric’s trim levels: $275 for the Base, $305 for the Limited, and $365 for the Limited Ultimate.

The program does require $2,500 down, but that’s neatly offset by the California Clean Vehicle Rebate, which is $2,500 for most buyers.

Still, as the article notes, interested lessees will have to come up with the $2,500 at first before the rebate is received.

A few taxes and fees are built into the payment as well: initial taxes, title, license, and fees.

These are all covered by the dealer and then reimbursed by Hyundai, but California sales tax is the responsibility of the lessee.

What about the mileage factor of Unlimited+?

This portion truly has no catch: Hyundai will let drivers clock as many miles as they want during the 36-month term. No overage charges—nothing.

The same can’t be said for the charging benefit, though, which doesn’t offer Ioniq Electric drivers unlimited charging.

Monthly use will then be calculated by monthly mileage, the vehicle kilowatt-hour-to-mile rating, and the cost per kwh in California.

It’s better, but certainly not entirely “unlimited” as the program proclaims.

Finally, the maintenance benefit covers more items than you might imagine, but also isn’t “unlimited” in the most expansive sense.

Drivers can rest assured that brake pads, wiper blades, headlamps, belts and hoses, fuses, and bulbs are all covered for three years or 50,000 miles.

There’s also coverage for one 12-volt battery replacement during the term of the lease, if required.

While the program isn’t entirely unlimited in all facets, Unlimited+ does provide a few exceptional benefits electric-vehicle owners will likely take advantage of.

How it will work for drivers depends in part on how much driving is anticipated; those who clock high mileage will benefit the most from the program’s benefits.

With a 124-mile EPA-rated range, the Ioniq Electric is among the highest-range mass-priced electric cars that aren’t the Chevy Bolt EV.

Source: Green Car Reports

“Electric cars are taking over! Autonomous cars will rule the road! The end of oil is nigh!”

Sigh. If you’re like me, you’re tired of all the rhetoric of how the auto industry is on the cusp of major change, like, any day now. Hell, I spent enough time reading my dad’s old copies of Popular Mechanics from the 1960s and ’70s. If you believed those stories, then today we should all be soaring over roads in flying cars, gently setting down in our suburbia-heaven driveways after a long day of work, your wife greeting you at the door in a dress and pearls with a martini in hand.

We all know how that worked out. As for autonomous cars, they are at least 10 to 15 years from being viable on a mass scale – there’s no way they could even get out of the driveway in Canadian winters with current technology. And electric vehicles (EVs), while having come a long way in the last 20 years, still make up less than 1 per cent of all vehicles sold in North America. Gasoline-guzzling trucks and SUVs are by far the biggest sellers here. So, considering all the facts, you’ll excuse me if I’m more than a little skeptical on how soon this sea of change will come.

Ah, not so fast: I just had a chance to drive “the future,” and I admit I was impressed. And what impresses me the most about it has nothing to do with sci-fi wizardry or space-age design; no, what impresses me is that it’s almost completely, well, normal.

This is the new Hyundai Ioniq, a full-on, battery-powered electric vehicle. Only, you wouldn’t necessarily know it’s an EV if you saw it in someone’s driveway; the only giveaways being the word “electric” on the trunk lid (obvious) and the closed faux-grille at the front (not so obvious). No, this is not an overblown golf cart or futuristic science experiment; the Ioniq is a handsome car that fits in with the rest of Hyundai’s design language – not to mention any other car on the road. The front-wheel-drive hatchback has a wheelbase of 2,700 millimetres, about the size of the compact Elantra; LED lights fore and aft give this top-of-the-line Limited model a more upscale look, while the body-coloured wheels are a nice touch, too.

Inside, it’s more of that normal – no, don’t worry, that’s a good thing, especially as it continues the upscale feel. Nicely textured soft materials on the dash and doors, subtle bronze-coloured accents, simple, well laid-out controls, and a nifty TFT screen for the instrument cluster, which changes colours and details depending on the drive mode. In fact, this Ioniq Limited has an impressive list of features to coddle its passengers: adaptive cruise control, heated seats both front and rear, automatic climate control and a giant 8-inch infotainment screen, among many others.

The ride is comfortable, handling is competent for a sedate compact hatchback (though the steering is vague and over-boosted), the interior is roomy and relatively quiet and it looks sharp. Overall, the Ioniq would be a good choice for someone in the market for a compact hatch. In other words, this electric car is like a normal car.

Read more: Driving.ca

When we first drove the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, we learned about a unique subscription program that would be available for Hyundai Ioniq Electric buyers in California.

Instead of a traditional purchase or lease, it would be a no-haggle program with unlimited mileage and service and wear items covered. At the time, though, Hyundai didn’t have pricing set for the program. Now it does.

It also has a name. It’s called Ioniq Unlimited+. The way it works is that after a consumer has their credit approved, they put down an initial $2,500 payment, and then pay a set monthly fee for the 36-month term. Pricing varies depending on the trim level of Ioniq Electric. The base model has a monthly fee of $275, the Limited goes for $305, and the Limited with the “Ultimate” package costs $365 per month. All of those prices are before tax.

The advantages to this program over a typical lease are in all the included goodies. The initial tax, title, license and fees are covered with the down payment, drivers have no mileage caps, and charging, service, and wear items are all covered for 50,000 miles. If you’re interested, hopefully you live in California, since that’s the only state in which the program is offered. But, if the program is successful, there may be a chance it expands to other models and regions.

Source: autoblog