By Hugh Maguire.
It was a pretty miserable wet day when the new Hyundai Ionic 9 was introduced to the Irish press in county Kildare. But the weather did not dampen our enthusiasm as we set off around the roads of county Kildare to get a brief introduction to the new Ionic 9.
The new Ionic 9 is the largest car in the Hyundai stable and is a full EV boasting a claimed WLTP range of about 620km.
Hyundai will be hoping that the combination of a huge interior, seven seats and loads of standard tech will win over buyers who value the space this new model offers.
Launching cars at this price point against the established premium brands is never easy for manufacturers entering this segment. Image conscious buyers spending some €78,495 will consider rivals from BMW, Audi and Volvo to name but a few. Hyundai even have their own direct rival from their sister company in the form of the Kia EV 9 which is priced from €77,500.
Looking at that landscape its apparent immediately before you turn a wheel that the Hyundai while it might seem expensive at €78,495 is actually competitively priced when you look at a 7-seat rivals from the German brands. Only the VW ID BUZZ 7-seater is less expensive at €69,500.
Buyers of these big SUV’s view having the space as the first priority and here the huge Ionic 9 scores very well indeed. Allied to a vast amount of standard tech and the promise of a decent range it would seem the Ionic 9 may have carved out a niche for itself.
Initial Impressions.
It is very big! Measuring over 5 metres in length and almost 2 metres wide (1980mm to be precise) while standing 1.8 metres tall its gigantic.
You certainly feel aware of its size and bulk when hustling along narrow country roads or while negotiating the tight confines of town and city traffic.
The styling is I think somewhat divisive. Its best view is from the front with the rear looking quite bulky in my opinion.
Those external dimensions though do give you a vast interior and I must say the design, fit and feel of everything is really top notch.
On a relatively brief test drive I did not get to explore all the high tech onboard but given the awful weather I can vouch for the fact that the heated seats, climate control and general comfort of the Ionic 9 is very impressive.
Each row of seats is configurable in multiple ways creating either a full 7-seater (with a decent load area remaining) or a four seater with a massive load area or indeed a 2 seater with a cavernous load area with all seats folding completely flat to allow maximum capacity. All this configurability is via simple buttons which activate the seats to drop flat.
In terms of versatility it scores highly then, perfect for a family, ideal for the school run with 7 seats and at weekends it can admirably deal with all these household chores we all end up doing which require loading up the family transport.
Over the routes I took on the press launch the Ionic 9 proved quiet and refined but a longer time behind the wheel is needed to really see how it performs overall. Suffice to say initial impressions are good!
The new Ionic 9 is offered in one version “ Platinum” here in Ireland with a 110kWh useable battery and an electric motor driving the rear wheels. There are plans to introduce the all wheel drive version here in the future with a 6 seat layout.
whichnewcar.ie will have a full extensive road test review of Hyundai’s flagship SUV in the coming weeks.