2020 Hyundai Ioniq Electric - More practical than a Nissan Leaf?

With the Ioniq 5 around the corner, we thought it would be good to give our thoughts on the existing Hyundai Ioniq Electric. Frankly a very underrated car that ticks a lot of boxes. We think it is a worthy competitor to the mighty Nissan Leaf when it comes to overall practicality and ticking lots of the family car boxes.
The Hyundai Ioniq has a very impressive range for its battery size, similarly to the Hyundai Kona. Hyundai are really pushing the boundaries with their efficiency and we are really looking forward to seeing the new Ioniq 5.
In this video our founder Richard gives his thoughts and opinions on the Ioniq EV based on his long term experience with the car and its owners.
We have Ioniq's available to view on the forecourt. Please call to book an appointment to view and test drive this great Electric Car.
Drive Green Forecourt, A37 Bristol Road, Emborough, Somerset, BA3 4SL.
01761 233558
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www.drive-green.co.uk
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[@FenrisDeSolar]

Solid and fair review. I've had my Ioniq for a month now, couldn't be more pleased with it so far. I'm the first person in my family and circle of friends to have gotten an EV and I've been practically forcing people I know to test drive my car since I got it. I feel like the Ioniq is a great EV ambassador for sceptics because of how nice it actually feels to drive. It's by no means a sports car, but it is absolutely a fun drive with how easy and nimble it feels (in my opinion at least - I think the low centre of gravity from having the battery under the car is what makes it feel that way), one pedal driving has been a joy, and the efficiency is amazing. I got slightly more than the promised 311km on a full charge too, which I was not expecting, but it was a nice surprise. Only thing I might change is that the buttons on the infotainment system require you to be a little too precise. It's kinda easy to miss a button... Oh, and the speakers are great. :)

[@DriveGreen]

Thanks for sharing your experience, glad to hear you love it as much as we do! 🙂

[@decimal1815]

I hate touchscreen and haptic 'buttons' for functions that you're going to need to access frequently. Elon Musk has a lot to answer for..!

[@westleycharringate9526]

I’ve got the Premium electric and it’s been a reliable all round car. The plastics on the door scratch too easily, other than that, I love the car. Hyundai dealership has been fantastic when I needed air con fixing. Couldn’t do enough for me.

[@slaavichii1129]

Great review. Thanks

[@harrybartlett4020]

Great car apart from the current issues with battery coolent problems.

[@robertdodd451]

I’ve had one for about 18 mouths now 30,000 miles don’t listen to all the rubbish talked about these 38kw cars they are amazing for the price get the prem Se model you get 4- 4.5 kw per mile winter 5.5 -6.0 summer. winter it will charge to 185 range summer about 210 max.very comfortable loads of tech cruise control is amazing I have nothing but praise I’ve driven tesler, leaf ect but for the price this is buy far the best of them go test drive it will be second hand now as they have stopped making them MADNESS. one tip.keep to the speed limit and they will give you the range.

[@brianginn1993]

Good content.

[@DriveGreen]

Thanks!

[@WelcomeToDERPLAND]

I feel like its a good or even superior competitor to the Nissan Leaf, with its main advantage over said leaf being the charging system. The Chademo charge port is only used by the Leaf & 1 other mitsubishi plug in hybrid (of cars still being produced & sold), After Nissan announced it will be abandoning the Chademo with its next gen EV the Airya, in favor of the more common CCS, the days of the Chademo are numbered outside of Japan. (which has an estimated 16,000 stations using it, compared to 5,000~ in Europe and 1,500 in U.S) Since the Leaf will either have its Chademo port changed to CCS in its upcoming years or finally put to rest, reasons to build more Chademo are nil, and will slowly stagnate, and then dissapear as they break & stop being supported on new chargers. Thanks to that alone, I think that makes the Ioniq the better long term purchase.

[@DriveGreen]

Ahh you already did watch the Ioniq video 🙂

[@WelcomeToDERPLAND]

@@DriveGreen Yeah, it really does seem to stand in a league of its own compared to other early 1st~ gen competitors; with only really Tesla's being any marked improvement over it. (which still retain ridiculous pricetags even after many years on the used market) Early Ioniq's have tested to have fantastic battery health as well, thanks to its heated & cooled batter + the spare 3~kw/h that the batteries are set to have as a buffer to protect the battery from complete depletion/full charging. (the usable battery is 27 kw/h, but its full size is actually 30~ kw/h.) Along with a fast charging CCS, something that many other early EV's lack or use other less common plugs (Chademo/converter/granny plug) and its myriad of nice little added features really make the Ioniq seem to be just a much better vehicle overall compared to things like a Leaf, Fiat500 e, (early)Zoe, i3, smartcars,ect. The only other early 1st-ish gen EV's I'd be willing to look into getting that can somewhat compare are the Ford Focus ev and E-Golf, that being said I still think the Ioniq is a bit better than the both of them, so only really the cost will be my deciding factor in the purchase.

[@sergel.8876]

You forgot about the Kia Soul EV 2015-2017 27kw and 2018-2019 30kw battery. They used Chademo also and were similarly air cooled with fan like the Ioniq and were able to charge up to 65kw/hr. I owned one and was very happy with his performance (30kw one). Coud do easily over 125m/200km in the summer on a full charge. I know the 2020 and later model use same battery than newer Ioniq and use CSS.

[@JuveyChick]

I thought the infinity sound system was a standard on both premium and SE?

[@dealerovski82]

with the comma ai addon it will also have autopilot feature comparable to Teslas.

[@8anewbeginning160]

I think the Hyundai Ioniq looks flash. Is it available in New Zealand? If so, how much does it cost?

[@misaelramos83]

So has Hyundai figured out the 12v battery drain problem? Is this Li-ion 12v on the main pack or the charging circuit or some hungry electronics?

[@mondotv4216]

I’m not sold. At least in Australia the top end model is only about $AU5K less than a model 3 SR+ drive away. That’s about £3K. Which one would you buy?

[@DriveGreen]

If I had the extra £3k, I would get the Model 3.

[@decimal1815]

No rear wiper. Hmm.

[@roosterbooster6238]

The things I would change in the ioniq are putting an idrive style controller for the infotainment, conditional based service info on it and going back to physical buttons rather than haptic ones. The battery range could be longer but it is fine for most commuters.

[@DriveGreen]

Certainly would be some nice additions 🙂

[@OneGuyPolitics]

The battery range can be over 200 miles in summer

[@davelocktalk]

Why didn't hyundai put a 60klw battery in this car!!

[@davecorlett4849]

A positive review but yet another reviewer saying the looks are "dubious". That's bonkers. It's a very classy looking car & much superior to the Leaf which we also have. Stands out in the car park, especially in the Electric Shadow colour.. The range is fine, 171miles at motorway speeds & well over 200 miles urban driving at around 15°C. This is a hugely efficient car, especially since the battery pack is only 38.3 kwh useable. Less batteries means a lighter, more driveable car & is more affordable than some of it's contemporaries. The regen paddles are great fun but I tend to leave it in Regen 3 giving you 1 pedal driving which is fantastic. Btw there are 4 drive modes, not 3.

[@DriveGreen]

Looks I guess are always going to be subjective. It would be boring if we all thought the same though! As you have mentioned though, an all round cracking proposition 🙂

[@marktiller1383]

I own one, its a great car, but if you can afford one, go for a model 3 it more of a real electric car.

[@savedfaves]

If I can turn off all that auto-driving jazz I'm happy. Not a selling point at all for me. As a filmmaker I'd give you an editing tip. Try to go easy on the cuts, there's too many. It's ok to stay on your face when you're talking. Makes it hard to concentrate with all of the editing going on. Less is more, then we you do a camera move it'll matter.

[@NICKFOXTV]

Do you have a link to some of your work for reference?

[@roosterbooster6238]

You can turn it off and to be honest it doesn’t really bother you. It is a pretty chill car to drive.

[@OG-dp1kx]

The leaf definitely looks better than this car.

[@8anewbeginning160]

Do you think so? I think the Hyundai Ionic looks better.