When the Hyundai Ioniq Electric was introduced in the United States at the end of 2016, it had an EPA-rated range of 200 km (280 km on the more lenient European NEDC cycle). That’s set to change next year, as Inside EVs reports that the fastback EV will get a useful boost in range with its usual mid-cycle refresh.
The news comes from Hyundai Motor America’s senior group manager Gil Castillo, who said, “The Ioniq’s range will improve at the model-year change. It will get bigger.” However, don’t expect a huge increase to match the Kona Electric’s 415 km: “It will be a nice improvement but not like the Kona’s range,” he added.
Castillo points to the popularity of the SUV body style as a reason for this, noting that the Kia Niro plug-in hybrid outsold the Ioniq equivalent by a factor of two to one, despite being more expensive and less efficient. “It doesn’t matter that the Ioniq has better fuel economy,” he said. “That doesn’t matter as much as the body style, which is so much more important.”
The Ioniq Electric is currently powered by a 120 PS/295 Nm motor, paired to a 28 kWh lithium-ion battery that can be charged in four hours and 25 minutes using a 6.6 kW wallbox. The update could push the EPA-rated range beyond the 300 km mark.
GALLERY: Hyundai Ioniq Electric at Bangkok 2018
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Not applying to us Malaysian. It’s not coming to our shore anytime soon cause we need to start our national ICE car more important. And to pollute our land and get people pay more hospital bill for cleaning our lungs.
Not to mention underreported PM2.5 particles that make us and our children dumber and dumber.
Hardly seen any otr nowadays