Introduction
We could start this review with some cliché green car hybrid car talk but let’s be realistic, the peculiar dynamics of the Malaysian car market means that a fuel-saving hybrid car for the masses don’t make much sense.
If you’re a potential car buyer that is looking to for a car that has good fuel economy, you could always opt to purchase a Perodua Axia or a Perodua Bezza instead. As a matter of fact, you can buy multiple Peroduas for the price of one Hyundai Ioniq.
In addition, for consumer that are looking at the Ioniq to lower their total ownership cost it would be advisable to consider other alternatives instead.
This is mainly because the Hyundai Ioniq offers best in class safety features with just a fraction of the price.
Specifications of the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq HEV Plus
· Engine: 1.6-litre, Atkinson cycle, transverse four-cylinder, direct injection, naturally aspirated
· Power (engine only): 105 PS at 5,700 rpm
· Torque (engine only): 147 Nm at 4,000 rpm
· Hybrid system: Petrol-electric, single motor full hybrid
· Traction battery: 42 kW, Lithium-ion Polymer
· Power (motor only): 32 kW
· Torque (motor only): 170 Nm
· Total system output (engine+motor): 140 PS
· Transmission: 6-speed dry-type dual-clutch automatic
· Safety: 7 airbags, ABS with Brake Assist, autonomous emergency braking, hill start assist, electronic stability control, blind spot detection, lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control
· Price: RM114,008 excluding insurance
· Origin: Locally-assembled in Kulim, Kedah
Driveability of the Hyundai Ioniq Plus
Globally, the Ioniq is available with three powertrain options, each with progressively higher levels of electric drive. The range starts off with a regular full-hybrid HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle) model that you see here, with limited electric-only driving range of just several kilometres.
Further up is the PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) model, which can be plugged in to a domestic power socket to recharge its traction battery to extend its electric-only driving range to up to 63 km.
Being a full-hybrid, the Ioniq is able to accelerate from stationary in electric power alone, with the engine firing up only at higher speeds when more power is needed.
The Ioniq EV (Electric Vehicle) is a fully electric vehicle with a driving range of up to 280 km.
In the real world, having a full-hybrid drivetrain means that the Ioniq drives smoother in stop-go traffic as opposed to mild-hybrids used in the now discontinued Honda Insight or Civic Hybrid or CR-Z, whose early generation Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system had to fire up the petrol engine to drive the car from standstill. Later this year, Honda is expected to debut its i-DCD Sport Hybrid full-hybrid system in the upcoming Honda Jazz facelift.
And unlike early Honda hybrids (except the FB-generation Civic Hybrid) the Ioniq’s air-conditioning runs independently from the petrol engine so cabin cooling performance is consistent irrespective of whether the engine is running or not.
Exterior of the Hyundai Ioniq Plus
As the Ioniq belongs to the hybrid family line up, it has a form of styling that is similiar to the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight in the market. This is mainly because this design is highly sort after by most cars manufactures as it is the most aerodynamically efficient.
The Ioniq is designed in such a special manner that the low air pressure zone forming behind car acts as a huge vacuum sucking the car’s rear and slowing it down.
In terms of size, the dimensions of the Ioniq sits between a City/Vios-class B-segment car and a Civic/Corolla Altis-class C-segment car.
Its 2,700 mm wheelbase equals the Honda Civic and Corolla Altis’ but as you will read later, the Ioniq cabin size is actually closer to a B-segment car rather than a C-segment car.
From the outside, this top of the range HEV Plus variant is differentiated from the entry HEV variant (RM100,328 excluding insurance) by its HID Bi-Xenon headlamps and LED tail lights.
Interior of the Ioniq
In addition, the Ioniq’s usable interior space matches to that of a B-segment car.
Like many new generation Hyundai models, the Ioniq’s interior looks really premium with its leather wrap steering wheel as well as buttons and switches which has a solid feel to it and a hint of premium touch to them.
The almost flat-bottomed steering wheel and aluminum pedal inserts give the car a rather racy character, which is not quite what you expect from a car like this.
The parking brake is foot-operated, which some buyers upgrading from lower segments might need to learn to get accustomed to, but it frees up more usable space in the car’s otherwise tight interior.
Drive ability of the Hyundai Ioniq Plus
Press the engine start button and the Ioniq comes to live. Shift the 6-speed dry-type dual clutch automatic transmission into Drive and off the car goes of swiftly in silence. Consumer would be really impressed by the build in technology of the Ioniq as there would be able to drive in total silence which can be quite a remarkable experience.
In regular urban driving, charge levels are unlikely to go beyond the three-quarters mark. Besides, hybrid car’s traction batteries are not meant to be charged to 100%. In interest of reliability, the battery rarely charges/discharges to 100 percent or 0 percent. To extend the battery’s service life, the power control management software ensures that no two neighboring cells within the battery pack are charged/discharged consecutively.
Whereas for low speed driving, the steering wheel is unusually light, even by the standards of a hybrid car, but at higher speeds, it stiffens up nicely.
The rim is thick, coupled with a small-ish diameter, quasi flat-bottomed designed with a rather tight steering ratio, the Ioniq gave the impression that it will handle well, an impression that it lived up to quite well.
Chuck it into a sweeping corner, the Ioniq feels hunkered down well. The placement of both the 12V auxiliary battery (in the boot) and the 240V traction battery (under the rear seat) probably aided in giving the Ioniq a very balanced handling. Of course, having multi-link suspension as opposed to torsion beams that one would normally expect from cars in this price point helps too.
It is important to note that the Ioniq has 4 PS more than previous generation Toyota Prius which was introduced back a while ago. This coupled with a snappy dual-clutch transmission, you would expect to feel a strong shove in the back when you floor it, except that you don’t.
Shifting the transmission into S sharpens the throttle and steering, but it doesn’t do much in terms of making the car faster, even by the standards of a hybrid car.
Despite its advantages on paper, the Ioniq just doesn’t have the get up and go urgency that was found in the previous generation Prius, which can give a surprisingly strong surge of power, albeit momentarily, and only when the traction battery has sufficient charge.
This is not to say that the Ioniq is slow, because it isn’t, but the immediacy of delivering maximum torque, a forte that we would expect of any car with a sufficiently large traction motor, just wasn’t to be found in the Ioniq.
Equipped with a dual-clutch transmission (DCT), the Ioniq is suprisingly quite pleasant to drive and is almost as smooth as a CVT transmission found in most modern cars.
With a powerful electric motor filling up the gap in torque every time the transmission shifts, the Ioniq has removed all the negatives of DCTs, while retaining the positives.
When the petrol engine does fire up, it does in a very seamless manner. Without looking at the energy flow chart, it's not very obvious when the petrol engine comes on.
In addition,under certain low-speed driving conditions, the Ioniq helps recover wasted energy when the regenerative braking is active.
A key highlight of the HEV Plus variant is the long list of advanced driver’s aids features. Take the Autonomous emergency braking a really useful feature to have in car. However, the system is some improvement as it only detects large objects such as cars moving on the road as opposed to smaller objects such as pedestrians or motorcycles.
The Blind spot warning found in the Ioniq is useful feature to have. However Hyundai should really consider improving the warning buzzer with a less alarming noise which helps for a pleasant drive.
Fuel Economy
Summary
With such a high level of safety features for a little over RM100,000, and backed by a 5-year/300,000 km warranty plus an 8-year/unlimited mileage warranty specifically for the traction battery, the Ioniq is easily a highly recommended choice.
Don’t look at it as a hybrid car, because as we’ve mentioned earlier, if you are looking to save fuel, you can buy multiple Peroduas for the price of one Ioniq.
However if your looking for something more sophisticated and premium, than the Hyundai Ioniq would be the car for you.As it can be used as a practical family car that offers an astounding value for money, with the added bonus of offering good handling and ride comfort that can rival cars from one or two classes above it.
For detailed review of the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq kindly click on the vide below. Credits to Bobby Ang for reviewing the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq
2017 Hyundai Ioniq Super In Depth Review in Evo Malaysia
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