Hyundai Seven Concept previews the Ioniq 7 – and looks like a Volvo Concept Recharge

The Hyundai Seven Concept SUEV arrives as Hyundai previews a production electric Ioniq 7, with looks like the Volvo Concept Recharge.

Hyundai has been rather bold with their first electric car built on a dedicated EV Platform – the Ioniq 5 – with its retro-inspired looks – sharing pretty much nothing with any other Hyundai –  impressive cabin and EV powertrain offering good range and good performance.

That’s going to be followed by the Ioniq 6, another bold design if Hyundai keeps the looks of the Prophecy Concept intact, to be followed by the production version of this, the Hyundai Seven Concept, as the Hyundai Ioniq 7.

It seems Hyundai’s designers are on the same page as Volvo’s with this interpretation of what a future electric SUV should be – and have also coined SUEV (that’s an ‘E’ for electric shoved in the SUV moniker) so we know it’s an electric SUV – with a  stretched look and flat back end looking a bit like a long bread van with windows, huge glass tailgate and huge wheels.

The exterior looks may be challenging – and likely to remain for the Ioniq 7 if the Ioniq 5 is anything to go by – but the interior is highly unlikely to make it to production unchanged as it’s properly ‘Concept-y’.

Hyundai has made the Seven’s interior like a lounge – an “innovative living space on wheels“, no less – with a retractable joystick instead of a steering wheel, seating that looks like armchairs and sofas abound, a panoramic roof that’s also an OLED screen, and a ‘Hygiene Airflow System’ using ultra-violet light to sterilise the interior every time you leave it. And, of course, sustainable and recycled materials. It is 2021.

Under the challenging exterior and concept interior of the Seven Concept it’s all a bit more realistic and appealing, with the E-GMP EV Platform already in production with the Ioniq 5 the basis and, presumably, whatever choice of powered wheels and output Hyundai feel fitting for an SUEV (said to be up to 600bhp possible, but unlikely here), range of 300 miles and 350kW charging.