Who has been saying that Chinese brands are going to take over the European electric car market? It certainly wasn’t anybody from South Korean manufacturers Hyundai or Kia as they are both very proud of their achievements in the EV market.
At the Irish launch of their Ioniq 9 in the K Club in County Kildare in July, Stephen Gleeson, Hyundai’s MD in Ireland said we should not forget that Korean companies like Hyundai are producing some excellent electric cars.
Hyundai have won the World Car of the Year award with their Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 and their neat fully electric Inster has been a huge seller in Ireland this year. Don’t forget Kia, a first cousin of Hyundai, are also major players in the electric car market. Mr Gleeson was clearly very proud of this massive Ioniq 9 and wasn’t coy about dismissing speculation of a Chinese take-over.
The first two questions that my neighbours normally ask me about any new car I am testing are the range and the price. Well, in good weather you should get at least 650km in the Ioniq 9 with a full charge; the neighbours were impressed with that figure, but then the price of €78,495 was a bit of a downer. Hyundai has used AI assist in parts of the car, but that price is real.
I have driven more expensive cars, but you do get a lot of ‘bang for your buck.’ Or in this case for your euro. There is only one version available in Ireland right now, but a six-seater and all-wheel drive version will be available next year.
Looking at the car from the front, it’s very impressive and viewed from the back the vertical lights really catch the eye.
In most seven seaters, the third row of seats are only suitable for children. Not so in the Ioniq 9, and you can adjust the seating to allow extra leg space for the two people in the third row.
My test car came in a lovely shade of green. In the past, Irish motorists were a superstitious about green cars, but this was a very discreet shade of green and even more impressive than the Obsidian Black, limousine-type version, that I saw at launch in the K Club.
It’s a long motor and naturally you have to be careful when parking. The battery is 110.3 kWh and plenty of power with 308 bhp.
The rear doors open very wide which are ideal for passengers to access the middle and third rows. The interior is so clean, you will probably have a J-Cloth in your pocket to wipe the seats.
Passengers sitting in the middle row can recline the seats if required and if you have only two passengers in the middle row, they can share the adjustable armrest. With all seven seats in use, there is still some luggage space at the back, and you also get a decent-sized ‘Frunk’ at the front where you can store items. No spare wheel.
Plenty of good old-fashioned knobs on the dash to control the radio and naturally slave controls on the steering wheel. There are plenty of storage places available throughout the interior.
It’s a long motor, but very easy to handle. The high driving position allows you a perfect view of your surroundings and I reckon you should feel like a ‘King of the Road’ in the Ioniq 9.
The rear-view mirror for the driver can be a bit confusion. What the driver gets is a camera view of the traffic on your tail and sometimes it looks like they are closer to your back door than they really are.
The weather was good the week I had the Ioniq 9, and I reckon that I’m a careful driver, which helps in EV cars. So, before returning the car to Hyundai, I decided to give it a full charge and I was pleasantly surprised to see a figure of 570km, which is higher than the official figure supplied by Hyundai. Now that’s impressive.
I loved it and so did family members who took a lift. Now I need help to find those winning National Lottery numbers or maybe the Euro Millions is easier.
