Hyundai is making good progress toward becoming a fully-electric manufacturer. IONIQ and IONIQ 5 already proved more than capable of keeping up with the competition, and the all-electric Staria van/minivan is only adding to the brand’s versatility. The mid-size sedan segment is still going strong despite the SUV craze, particularly so in the premium segment.
With Hyundai’s recent transition into an upper echelon (and price range), the all-electric Hyundai IONIQ 6 could not come at a better time. The mid-size sedan promises a lot and, frankly, it can easily be described as the budget-friendly Porsche Taycan from Korea. Here’s why the upcoming EV from Korea has a lot in common with the much more expensive and full-size German EV
The Performance
It almost goes without saying that the Hyundai IONIQ 6 and the Porsche Taycan do not share any hardware. Nevertheless, if we are looking for analogies between the Korean electric sedan and Porsche’s high-performance EV we have to talk about performance. So far, it looks like the same powertrains we see on the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and the Kia EV6, will be available on the IONIQ 6 as well. These include all-electric powertrains with 151 to 325 horsepower (112.6 to 242 kilowatts) and battery packs ranging from 53 to 77.4 kWh.
Like the Porsche Taycan, the IONIQ 6 will come with rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, depending on which powertrain you opt for. More importantly, we know that both the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N and Kia EV6 GT will pack 585 horsepower from a twin-motor powertrain. Those will go on sale in December 2022 and early 2023 respectively.
We have already seen what a Kia EV6 GT can do against a V-12 Lamborghini, and we know the same powertrain is going to make it in the IONIQ 6 N, which naturally, shares the same E-GMP platform. The teardrop-shaped, sedan EV tips the scales at 4,486 pounds (2,035 kg), which is about the same as the IONIQ 5 and EV6, equipped with the same powertrain. We know the EV6 GT packs 200 pounds (90 kg) more, so the same is expected to be true for the high-performance versions of the IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6.
In the case of the EV6 GT, those 585 horsepowers (430 kilowatts) and 546 pound-feet (740 Nm) allow for a 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 3.3 seconds. Of course, you need to be in “GT” mode to get all the maximum power, but even in “Eco” mode where the car has “only” 293 horsepower, the EV6 GT still does the 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) sprint in around 6.7 seconds.
Considering the IONIQ 6 will come with the same powertrain options, what is true for the EV6 and IONIQ 5’s performance figures will apply to the IONIQ 6. To put things in perspective, the Porsche Taycan 4S comes with 571 horsepower (426 kilowatts) and 479 pound-feet (650 Nm) from a twin-motor, all-wheel-drive setup. This allows for a 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 3.9 seconds, so the Korean compact sedan is already slightly ahead in that department.
Bigger Bang For The Buck
Obviously, we shouldn’t expect the IONIQ 6 to come anywhere near even the base Taycan’s price. We expect the Hyundai IONIQ 6 to be priced between the IONIQ 5 ($41,450) and the 2023 Kia EV6 ($49,795), at around $44,000 base MSRP. The EV6’s price bump of $7,100 compared to the 2022 model year is due to the fact, Kia dropped the base model.
As for the performance-oriented version, when the IONIQ 6 N debuts early in 2023, it is expected to be priced just above the Kia EV6 GT, which starts at $62,695. Even if the Hyundai IONIQ 6 N starts at over $65,000, that’s still less than the base Porsche Taycan - $82,700. Performance-wise, the IONIQ 6 N would be comparable to the Taycan 4S, which starts at $103,800.
Similar Styling
We are not here to point fingers at who copied who, nor suggest something along those lines. With that said, when Hyundai revealed the Prophecy Concept at the 2020 Geneva International Motor Show, analogies with the Taycan and Panamera were quickly made. The streamlined, teardrop shape is not that dissimilar to the aforementioned German models even though the Korean study has evolved the form into something even more forward-looking. The Prophecy concept clearly led to the design of the Hyundai IONIQ 6 EV sedan, which like the Taycan is a four-door sedan meant to seat four passengers.
The Hyundai IONIQ 6 N Will Be More Like A Four-Door GT3 RS Than A Taycan
The Hyundai IONIQ 6 N is coming sometime in 2023 and we already know it will, not only, be as powerful as the IONIQ 5 N and EV6, but also a lot more aggressive-looking. Earlier this year, we wrote about the Hyundai RN22e concept, which is the developmental prototype for the IONIQ 6 N. The RN22e, which will soon become the production IONIQ 6 N, comes with a motorsport-derived body kit, featuring a deep chin spoiler, exaggerated side skirts, a tall rear wing, and more ground effects, finished in black with red accents.
If the Porsche Taycan ever has a GT3 RS version, we think it will look something like this. Any comparison between a Hyundai and a Porsche might be labeled as blasphemy by any Porsche fanatic. While Porsche fans will almost always be willing to pay the badge tax to get behind the wheel of one of the most influential sports car companies on the planet, there’s no denying the value per dollar that the Hyundai IONIQ 6 will pack when it arrives next year. Whether the Korean EV will live up to the hype or strike a chord with enthusiasts beyond its performance-per-dollar credentials is a question to be answered in 2023.