2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE Lengthy Vary Goes the Distance on Route 66

From the June 2023 difficulty of Automobile and Driver.

Route 66 ain’t what it was once. The Mom Street has lengthy been bypassed by the Interstate Freeway System, and most of its once-numerous roadside motels, fuel stations, and eateries have vanished beneath the blades of bulldozers. Those who stay typically fall into considered one of two classes: graffiti-slathered skeletons of their former selves that stay on in Instagram infamy or Route 66 memorabilia outfits promoting tchotchkes and provides to rare passersby.

However the street nonetheless has numerous attraction, particularly the extra desolate stretches that wander removed from the interstate by lonely but stunning lands that convey a way of time journey. These are locations the place you’ll be able to see the climate advancing throughout the countryside as you drive down into the valley to satisfy it. There are few folks out right here and even fewer providers, making it an attention-grabbing setting to take the brand new Hyundai Ioniq 6 electrical sedan off leash on a street journey.

The smooth Ioniq 6 sedan shares a lot with the Ioniq 5 SUV. Each trip on Hyundai’s acclaimed E-GMP platform, with an obtainable long-range battery pack that shops 77.4 kWh of electrical energy. The Ioniq 6 is offered in rear-wheel drive with a rear-mounted motor that gives 225 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque or all-wheel drive with an added entrance motor that bumps complete output to 320 horses and 446 pound-feet. Curiously, Hyundai claims each Ioniqs weigh almost the identical, with the SUV’s gross car weight ranking exceeding the sedan’s by simply 44 kilos in long-range spec.

Measuring Up towards the Ioniq 5 SUV

That they give the impression of being radically completely different is self-evident, however there’s a lot to glean from the main points. The sedan is 8.6 inches longer than the SUV, whereas its roofline is 4.1 inches decrease. At 0.22, its coefficient of drag betters the cubist SUV’s by 23.6 p.c. Mix this with its tidier frontal space, and we estimate the Ioniq 6 enjoys a 30 p.c discount in aerodynamic drag drive.

This pays off in relation to EPA rankings, as our rear-drive SE Lengthy Vary take a look at automotive, a $46,825 machine, is sweet for a whopping 361-mile vary and 140 MPGe mixed. In the meantime, the identical best-case configuration of the boxier Ioniq 5 is rated at 303 miles and 114 MPGe mixed. On the competitor entrance, the single-motor, front-drive Polestar 2 sedan is pegged for 270 miles of vary and 107 MPGe mixed (rising to a Polestar-estimated 300 miles and switching to rear-drive for 2024), whereas a rear-drive Tesla Mannequin 3 does 272 miles and 132 MPGe.

The Route

This huge distinction gave us the boldness to wander far off the interstate, following all of the weather-beaten Route 66 fragments we may sew into an itinerary from Arizona to California. In principle, the Ioniq’s opponents may handle this, albeit with extra uncertainty. The previous street crosses and recrosses Interstate 40 like an limitless braided river, with Electrify America DC fast-charge stations sitting at a number of of these nodes. The choices alongside our route learn as if the station planners have been guided by the music lyrics “Flagstaff, Arizona, remember Winona, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino.” Electrify America added stations in Williams, Needles, Fenner, and Hesperia for good measure, regardless that these burgs escaped the discover of songwriter Bobby Troup.

Our journey started in Phoenix, and the portion that adopted Route 66 spanned 381 miles from Flagstaff to Barstow, the place we would depart the “freeway that is the very best” to maintain an appointment on the take a look at monitor. There was an preliminary uphill pull to Flagstaff, after which we persevered to Williams to keep away from heavy in a single day snow. The Williams fast-charge station occupied our lodge’s car parking zone, so we took benefit. From there, we coated the remaining 342-mile meander to Barstow with a quick 24-minute cease in Fenner, California. We may have pressed on to our off-piste in a single day in Mojave, however starvation received the very best of us, and eating places encompass the station in Barstow.

Competent and Assured

By means of all of it, the Ioniq 6 proved to be a sublimely succesful road-trip machine, winding within the miles with confident competence. Aided by an additional little bit of sidewall due to the SE’s 18-inch Hankooks, the suspension glides over uncared for, alligator-cracked two-lane pavement that fell off the freeway division’s precedence checklist a long time in the past. The steering holds up its finish of the discount, imparting a assured sense of straight-ahead unfettered by crosswinds and scalloped street edges. Within the twistier sections, effort builds progressively because the automotive bends willingly into corners, a precursor to the respectable 0.86 g of grip we measured on the monitor regardless of slender 225-mm all-season rubber.

Our single-motor powertrain’s 225 horsepower is not terribly athletic, however the absence of all-wheel drive retains the burden right down to 4225 kilos. This additionally offers our rear-drive Ioniq 6 a slight rearward weight bias (46.7/53.3 p.c), which places the facility to the bottom rather more gracefully than the single-motor Polestar 2’s front-drive setup. On the monitor, the Ioniq 6’s 6.2-second sprint to 60 mph handily beat Hyundai’s personal estimate, whereas its prepared torque and direct-drive gearbox made fast work of passing maneuvers. Romps of two.5 seconds from 30 to 50 mph and three.6 seconds from 50 to 70 mph evaluate favorably with outcomes from the final BMW 540i xDrive we examined.

Its wheelbase is 2.0 inches shorter than the Ioniq 5’s, however the sedan’s entrance seat affords a much more spacious setting. We’re smitten with the bi-level console and its large basement, and we do not thoughts the window switches and lock button mounted there as a result of this permits full-length floating armrests on almost bare door panels, permitting one to understand wherever to tug the door shut. The shows and controls are extra engaging and intuitive than within the Ioniq 5 or its Kia and Genesis counterparts, they usually blow away the barren Mannequin 3. The streamliner’s arcing roof does impinge on rear headroom considerably, however noggin area remains to be aggressive. Moreover, there’s loads of room to sprawl out due to the rear cabin’s breadth and considerable legroom.

Supportive Inside

At a look of the entry-level SE, it isn’t instantly obvious what you are lacking by not stepping as much as the SEL or Restricted. Certain, the seats are material, however they’re seamlessly supportive—and heated up entrance. The steering column is not energy adjustable, however it tilts and telescopes. Cellphone mirroring and charging aren’t wi-fi, however USB ports and locations to stash your gadget abound. Driver-assistance options seemingly need for little, with adaptive cruise management that is tied into adjustable regenerative braking and Hyundai’s high-performing lane-centering system each current.

A Few Weaknesses

Nearly as good because the Ioniq 6 is, it isn’t excellent. The trunk’s 11-cubic-foot capability is weak. The headlights haven’t got a lot attain on a darkish desert freeway. Additionally, we managed simply 260 miles in our 75-mph vary take a look at, which says extra about EPA rankings than the rest. The feds’ 361-mile estimate combines metropolis and freeway take a look at cycles in a 55/45 cut up, and the freeway portion is just not the regular cruise you may think. Our take a look at distills a road-trip quantity, and 260 miles remains to be rather a lot the place bladders and appetites are involved. On a back-road tour like this, you may possible take your time and fare higher with vary. In spite of everything, if you happen to drive too quick, you may be unable to learn the Burma-Shave indicators as you move.

Counterpoints

There’s actual polish right here, each within the assured manner the Ioniq 6 goes down the street and within the design prospers that mix kind and performance in revolutionary methods. The 4 dots on the steering wheel reference Morse code for “H” and in addition function state-of-charge indicators whereas the automotive is plugged in—foolish, however not pointless. We’ll take that over Elon’s fart mode any day. —Joey Capparella

May the ascendance of EVs be what lastly derails the pattern of ever-larger wheels? The Hyundai Ioniq 6 exhibits why it would. When outfitted with the 77.4-kWh battery pack, the single-motor model sees its headline-making 361-mile EPA vary drop precipitously to 305 miles the second patrons “improve” from 18-inch wheels to 20s. Making the identical change on the dual-motor Ioniq 6 leads to a 46-mile loss. With EV patrons prioritizing vary—comprehensible, given the still-shaky charging infrastructure—high-style oversize wheels abruptly lose some luster. Happily, the Ioniq 6 nonetheless has type to spare, even on 18s. —Joe Lorio

Technical Editor

Dan Edmunds was born into the world of vehicles, however not the way you would possibly suppose. His father was a retired racing driver who opened Autoresearch, a race-car-building store, the place Dan minimize his enamel as a steel fabricator. Engineering faculty adopted, then SCCA Showroom Inventory racing, and that mixture landed him suspension growth jobs at two completely different automakers. His writing profession started when he was picked up by Edmunds.com (no relation) to construct a testing division.