Hyundai delays ELECTRIC Ioniq 6 debut to make it look better and go further

The arrival of Hyundai’s next electric car – the Ioniq 6 – is delayed to make design tweaks and add range with a bigger battery.

Hyundai’s electric car odyssey has moved on from the electrification of ICE cars – like the Hyundai Kona EV – to embrace EVs designed from the off as electric cars, with the very well received Ioniq 5 spearheading Hyundai’s new EV age.

Next up for Hyundai’s EV adventure is the Ioniq 6, an electric saloon inspired by the Hyundai Prophecy Concept from last year and expected to be revealed early in 2022. But it seems, according to the Korean Economic Daily, that debut is being pushed back a few months for a bit of last-minute tinkering.

Part of the delay is down to the overhaul of Hyundai’s Asan Plant to build EVs, but a late decision to, perhaps, make the Ioniq 6 closer to the Prophecy in look plays a part too.

It seems Hyundai has decided the Ioniq 6 needs to be a touch longer and have different bumpers front and back, different headlights and come with a bit bigger battery to improve range.

Expected to be much the same as the Ioniq 5 under the skin, it seems the Ioniq 6 will be getting a 77.4kWh battery – like the Kia EV6, instead of the Ioniq 5’s 72.6kWh – which should improve range by around 10 per cent. Whether the Ioniq 6 will get the option of a smaller (58kWh in the Ioniq 5) battery remains to be seen.

But it seems likely there will be Ioniq 6 models from the entry-level RWD 226bhp model all the way up to an Ioniq 6 N with pushing on 600bhp and 4WD.