Hyundai Motors unveiled the new Ioniq 6 (the New Ioniq 6) after nearly three years, achieving the longest range for a domestic electric vehicle on a single charge by enhancing battery and aerodynamic performance. In addition to the driving range, ride comfort, safety, and convenience features have also been improved.
Jeong Joo-hwan, a researcher from Hyundai's MSV Project 6 team, said on the 27th at the 'New Ioniq 6 Tech Talk' held at the Hyundai Motor Studio in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, that "the driving range on a single charge for the New Ioniq 6 (based on 2WD 18-inch tires) has increased from the previous 524 kilometers to 562 kilometers, achieving the longest range record among electric vehicles currently available in the domestic market."
The vehicle is equipped with a 4th generation battery with improved energy density. The battery cell capacity has increased from the previous 55.6 ampere-hours (Ah) to 60.3 Ah, and the volumetric energy density has risen from 618 watt-hours per liter (Wh/L) to 670 Wh/L. Consequently, the battery capacity of the long-range model has increased from the previous 77.4 kilowatt-hours (kWh) to 84 kWh.
Achieving the lowest coefficient of drag (Cd) among mass-produced vehicles at 0.206 has also extended the driving range. The coefficient of drag is a numerical representation of how much air resistance a car faces, indicating how efficiently it overcomes that resistance.
Lee Eui-jae, head researcher of Hyundai's aerodynamic development team, noted that "we were able to change the angle to further reduce air resistance from the front by expanding the vehicle's length," and added, "the existing spoiler was boldly removed to design it to keep the airflow from the roof as close to the vehicle surface as possible. Keeping the spoiler would create unnecessary vortices at the trailing edge, causing a pulling force from behind the vehicle, meaning resistance."
For the first time in the Hyundai brand, a separate drive mode has been added to provide a comfortable and smooth ride, a response to feedback that some find the acceleration of electric vehicles overwhelming or experience motion sickness. This mode is activated when the Smooth setting is selected in the My Drive mode motor output settings.
Researcher Jeong explained that "this feature is expected to alleviate the acceleration feel when pressing the accelerator pedal and enhance the convenience of cruising at the primarily used speed range, minimizing the motion sickness of passengers," and added, "Noise has been generally reduced by applying sound-absorbing tires and dual-laminated soundproof glass."
Various advanced safety and convenience features have been equipped. To prevent pedal misapplication accidents, which have been increasing in recent years, features such as the pedal misapplication safety assistance function as well as i-Pedal 3.0, which allows acceleration, deceleration, and stopping using only the accelerator pedal, have been applied.
For the first time in Hyundai's history, an occupancy detection feature for the climate control controller has been installed. By pressing the smart zone button on the climate control controller, it detects whether seatbelts are worn or the status of passengers through sensors under the seats, automatically controlling the climate operation area accordingly.
Researcher Jeong explained that "for example, if there is only one passenger in the driver's seat, only the climate control operates on the driver's side, and if there are passengers in both the driver's and front passenger's seats, it recognizes this and does not activate the rear seat climate control, only delivering air to the front seats," adding, "if a passenger then gets in the back seat, the rear seat climate control will automatically activate without separate operation."