LOS ANGELES – Hyundai’s latest electric car is its biggest bet in the zero-emission game.
The Hyundai Ioniq 9 electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) is set to join the locally assembled Ioniq 5 and 6 in Singapore at the end of 2025 or in early 2026. When it does, it will be the largest electric vehicle (EV) in the South Korean carmaker’s stable here.
Measuring 5,060mm in length, 1,980mm in width and 1,790mm in height, the electric SUV is Hyundai’s flagship EV. Its 3,130mm wheelbase fits either six or seven seats, depending on how the second-row seats are configured.
Overall, it is bigger, wider and taller than the Hyundai Palisade, which is the largest Hyundai SUV on sale here.
The Ioniq 9’s 110.3kWh battery, powering all four or just the two rear wheels, promises up to 620km of range on a full charge. It takes 24 minutes to power the car from 10 to 80 per cent of charge using a 350kW charger.
The SUV was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, and it is set to be launched in South Korea and the United States in early 2025, followed by Europe and other markets, including Singapore.
For the opportunity to be among the first motoring journalists in the world to sample a pre-production prototype of the car, I make a 21,000km journey over 24 hours from Singapore to an arid patch of Mojave Desert, some 160km north of Los Angeles, where Hyundai tests its cars under development.
My first visual impressions of the car are positive: It is huge but does not look clumsy. From the rear, the tail and brake lights join to form a continuous strip of red lights that frames the entire rear tailgate in an inverted-U shape. The pattern looks like a torii gate and is bound to catch eyeballs when the car hits the road.
From the side, it has a slightly arced roofline. It also has a declared drag coefficient of 0.259 when fitted with cameras as digital side mirrors. For comparison, the Kona EV has a higher drag coefficient of 0.27, which means that the bigger Ioniq 9 is more aerodynamic than its much smaller EV sibling. This is an achievement.
At the cockpit, the instrument and infotainment displays are integrated in a sleek and seamless screen that is curved slightly towards the driver. Basic controls such as cabin temperature and ventilation are made using buttons and dials. This is a fresh departure from how many EVs have eliminated physical dials and buttons, and overwhelm the driver with massive touchscreens.
For the test drive, each journalist gets to drive a pre-production car on a 10km oval track that simulates freeways in the US, and on a 5km winding track.
Three impressions come through clearly. One, the Ioniq 9 is easy to drive despite its size. There is good all-round visibility and the steering is optimally weighted with a linear feel. The brakes are soft but progressive. I drive the car at up to 130kmh on long straight sections of the track and at 100kmh around long sweeping bends, and it feels planted and pliant at all speeds.
Two, the ride is optimised for comfort, employing MacPherson struts for front suspension and a multi-link system for rear suspension. The prototype car comes with self-levelling dampers, which add to the cosseting ride of the large SUV. It is unclear whether the damper will be standard equipment from factory. I hope it is.
Three, while there is some wind noise at higher speeds, the car generally has a limousine-like quietness on the move, thanks to noise-absorbing foam in the tyres, the use of acoustic laminated glass on windscreens and door windows, and three layers of insulating materials at the wheelhouses of the tyres.
Overall, while the Ioniq 9 is not meant for keen or spirited driving, drivers will welcome its easy-to-drive demeanour. Passengers will be pampered by the generous space and comfort of the cabin.
Buyers can opt for six or seven seats, depending on whether they prefer the second row to have a bench of three seats or two individual seats.
Those who pick the two-seat option for the second row will have two additional amenities – the second-row seats can be swivelled to face those in the third row; and the storage box between the front seats can slide backwards by some 190mm to provide easier access to second- and third-row passengers. Unusually, the storage box can be pulled open like a drawer.
With the third-row seats in use, the rear boot still provides 620 litres of space, which is sufficient for two pieces of medium-sized luggage.
The generous boot space comes at a cost. While the two seats at the third row fit two adults for longer journeys, the legroom is average at best. The legroom can be more generous if less space is given to the boot.
As the cars during the preview are pre-production vehicles, I am unable to get an accurate sense of the fit and finish of the final product. Still, subjectively speaking, the build quality of the prototypes is on a par with the high standards of modern Hyundai cars such as the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Santa Fe.
It is also premature to speak of the equipment list of cars heading to Singapore.
The electric car market in Singapore is broadly divided into four camps – the seemingly unstoppable army of Chinese upstarts led by BYD, the European legacy carmakers fighting for a share of the pie, Tesla, and South Korean carmakers Hyundai and Kia with high quality but generally understated products.
The Ioniq 9, when it arrives, will add to the menu of Korean offerings and give consumers more choices, perhaps even slowing the penetration of Chinese-made EVs here.
Technical Specifications
Hyundai Ioniq 9 Electric Long Range RWD, AWD, Performance AWD
Price: To be announced
Motors: Two permanent magnet synchronous with 110.3kWh battery
Transmission: Single-speed with paddle shift for modulating energy regeneration
Power: 160kW (rear); 70kW (front) and 160kW (rear); 160kw (front and rear)
Torque: 350Nm; 255Nm (front) and 350Nm (rear); 350Nm (front and rear)
0-100 kmh: 9.4 seconds; 6.7 seconds; 5.2 seconds
Top speed: 200kmh
Power consumption: Not available
Agent: Komoco Motors
Overheard in Los Angeles
• There are no plans to assemble the Ioniq 9 in Singapore for now. The cars heading to Singapore will come from Hyundai’s factory in South Korea.
• The Ioniq 9 is a further development of the architecture that underpins another multi-seater electric vehicle, the Kia EV9, which was launched globally in March 2023. Differences include the wheelbase of the Ioniq being 30mm longer than the Kia.
• Long-time Hyundai agent Komoco Motors is still mulling over which variant to sell in Singapore. Since the car has not been launched for sale in any market yet, there are no estimated prices. Of the three variants, the version that has the highest chance of landing here is the Long Range RWD. With a power output of 160kW, the annual road tax is a palatable $1,854. The road tax increases to $2,264 for the Long Range AWD and a whopping $4,494 for the Performance AWD.
Source: [The Straits Times] © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.
