The hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of the Hyundai IONIQ will receive their facelift first in July, two months later the electric version will get its.
The battery capacity will increase from 28 to 38,3 kWh (37 %), while the range will increase from 280 to 378 km (NEDC), matching the Nissan LEAF’s (40 kWh version) range. The fact that the battery capacity increases by 37 % while the range increases “only” by 35 % makes me conclude that the battery is slightly heavier, contributing for a minor efficiency decrease.
Nonetheless, the ranges that matter are the realistic ones, by this I mean the WLTP and EPA. While the WLTP range should increase from 204 to 277 km, the EPA range should increase from 124 to 168 miles. I would say that 300 km (186 miles) in the summer and 250 km (155 miles) in the winter will be easily achieved.
Other than the new battery, the facelift will also bring a new front grill, new wheels, some exterior changes at the front and back and minor changes in the interior. The electric motor remains with the same power rating.
There are still some questions to be answered, such as:
The Hyundai IONIQ is a great case study considering that it’s available in hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric variants. Not only to see what people want to buy, but also what automakers want to sell. For example, I see no reason why the electric version with its tiny battery is roughly 10.000 euros more expensive than the complex hybrid that includes two powertrains, other than the fact that the automaker prefers to sell higher maintenance cars…
Anyway, while it’s obvious that the automaker is favoring the higher maintenance variant, I’m curious to see how well the hybrid will sell when the longer range electric version becomes available.
This was the scenario in 2018.
Hyundai Motor Company sales in 2018
Korea
Rest of the World
The facelift will probably arrive too late to make the scenario of 2019 much different from 2018, nonetheless things look promising for 2020.
As a side note I want to say that I’m sorry because I didn’t reply to most of the e-mails I got in the last weeks. I had a big problem with spam and some e-mails got “lost” in the middle of all the junk I was receiving. Anyway, the spam problem is fixed now.
