2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE Long Range Drives Long Route 66

From the June 2023 issue car and driver.

Route 66 is not what it used to be. The Mother Road has long been bypassed by interstates, and most of the once-numerous roadside motels, gas stations, and restaurants have disappeared under the blade of the bulldozer. Those left behind generally fall into one of two categories. One is the infamously graffiti-filled skeleton of one’s old self on Instagram, or a Route 66 memorabilia outfit that sells trinkets and supplies to the rare passer-by.

But the road still has a lot of charm, especially the desolate section that wanders through a lonely yet beautiful land that conveys a sense of time travel, far from the interstate. At these locations, you can watch the weather progress through the countryside as you drive into the valleys, weather permitting. There are fewer people here, and even fewer services, making it an interesting environment to take in the new. Hyundai Ioniq 6 Electric Sedan Off lead on a road trip.

The refined Ioniq 6 sedan has a lot in common. Ioniq 5 SUV. Both are powered by Hyundai’s well-proven E-GMP platform, with long-range battery packs storing 77.4 kWh of power. The Ioniq 6 is available in rear-wheel drive with a motor in the rear that puts out 225 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque, or all-wheel drive with the addition of a front motor that boosts total power to 320 hp and 446 lb-ft. is. Interestingly, Hyundai claims that both his Ioniqs weigh about the same, with his SUV gross vehicle weight exceeding the sedan by just 44 pounds in long-range specs.

Better performance compared to the Ioniq 5 SUV

It’s self-evident that the look is radically different, but there’s a lot to be learned from the details. The sedan is 8.6 inches longer than the SUV and has a 4.1-inch lower roofline. It has a drag coefficient of 0.22, 23.6 percent better than the Cubist SUV. This, combined with the tidy frontal area, is estimated to reduce the Ioniq 6’s aerodynamic drag by 30%.

This paid off when it came to EPA ratings, where the rear-wheel drive SE Long Range test car ($46,825 machine) excels with a whopping 361 miles of range combined with 140 MPGe. Meanwhile, the boxier Ioniq 5 in the same best-case configuration rates a total of 303 miles and 114 MPGe. In terms of competitors, the single-motor, front-wheel-drive Polestar 2 sedan has a range of 270 miles and an overall fuel economy of 107 MPGe (Polestar’s estimated range reaches 300 miles, switching to rear-wheel drive in 2024). is set to The Tesla Model 3 has 242 miles and 132 MPGe.

root

This huge difference gave me the confidence to roam far from the interstate, following every piece of weather-beaten Route 66 that I could incorporate into my itinerary from Arizona to California. . In theory, Ioniq’s competitors may be able to handle this, albeit with more uncertainty. The Old Road cuts and crisscrosses Interstate 40 like an endless river, with Electrify America DC fast-charging stations at some of its nodes. The choices along our route were as if station planners were guided by the lyrics of the song “Don’t forget Flagstaff, Arizona, Winona, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino.” Electrify America added stations from Williams, Needles, Fenner and Hesperia just in case, even though they eluded songwriter Bobby Troup.

Our journey began in Phoenix and the portion along Route 66 spanned 381 miles from Flagstaff to Barstow, where we got off the “highest freeway” to keep our test track promise. . There was an initial uphill to Flagstaff, but then we persevered to avoid the heavy snowfall at night to Williams. Williams’ fast charging station was occupying the hotel parking lot, so I used it. From there it was the remaining 342 miles of winding road to Barstow with a short 24-minute stop in Fenner, CA. We could have gone off-piste all night in the Mojave, but hunger succumbed to the restaurants lined up around Barstow station.

competent and confident

Through it all, the Ioniq 6 has proven to be a sublimely capable road-trip machine that’s confidently capable of winding miles and turns. A little extra sidewall thanks to the SE’s 18-inch Hancock, and the suspension glides over alligator-cracked two-lane pavement that was left off the Highway Authority’s priority list decades ago. The steering stays firmly in your grip all the way through, giving you the confident feeling of heading straight ahead unhindered by crosswinds and undulating road edges. In curvy sections, the force builds up gradually as the car goes into corners and turns. This portends a decent grip of 0.86 g measured on the track despite the narrower 225 mm all-season rubber.

The single-motor powertrain’s 225 horsepower isn’t particularly athletic, but the lack of all-wheel drive keeps the weight down to 4,225 pounds. This gives his rear-wheel-drive Ioniq 6 a slight rearward weight bias (46.7/53.3 percent), making power transfer to the ground much more graceful than the single-motor Polestar 2’s front-wheel-drive setup. I can. On the circuit, his 6.2-second dash to 60 mph in the Ioniq 6 easily surpassed Hyundai’s own estimates, and its ready-to-torque and direct-drive gearbox made quick overtaking maneuvers. . His 2.5 seconds from 30 to 80 miles per hour and his 3.6 seconds from 50 to 70 miles per hour compare favorably with his BMW 540i xDrive’s final test results.

The wheelbase is 2.0 inches shorter than the Ioniq 5, but the sedan’s front seats offer a much more spacious environment. We’re fascinated by his two-story console and its massive basement, and we don’t mind his switch and lock button on the window mounted there. Because this allows for full-length floating armrests on nearly bare door panels that you can grab and pull anywhere. The door has closed. The display and controls are more attractive and intuitive than the Ioniq 5 or their Kia or Genesis counterparts, blowing away the barren Model 3. The Streamliner’s arcuate roof impacts rear headroom somewhat, but crevice space is still competitive. Plus, with ample width and legroom in the rear cabin, there’s plenty of room to lie down.

supportive interior

One look at the entry-level SE doesn’t immediately tell you what you’re missing by not stepping up to the SEL or Limited. Yes, the seats are cloth, but they support seamlessly and have heaters in the front. The steering column is not electrically adjustable, but can be tilted and extended. Cell phone mirroring and charging isn’t wireless, but there are plenty of USB ports and places to stash your devices. Driver assistance features seem less needed, with both adaptive cruise control coupled with adjustable regenerative braking and Hyundai’s advanced lane centering system.

some weaknesses

The Ioniq 6 is good, but it’s not perfect. The trunk’s 11 cubic foot capacity is weak. Headlights don’t reach much on dark desert highways. It also got just 260 miles in our 125 mph range test, which speaks volumes for the EPA rating above all else. The federal agency’s estimated 361 miles is a 55/45 mix of city and highway test cycles, and the highway portion isn’t as steady as you might think. Our testing distills road trip numbers, but 260 miles is still a long way to go when you factor in bladders and appetites. On back road tours like this, it might be better to take your time and build up your range. After all, if you speed too much, you won’t be able to read the Burma Shave signs when passing.

counterpoint

There’s real sophistication here, both in the Ioniq 6’s future confident ride and in the design flourishes that combine form and function in innovative ways. His four dots on the steering wheel represent the ‘H’ in Morse code and also act as a charge status indicator while connected to the car’s power supply. Stupid, but not pointless. I plan to take over Elon’s fart mode someday. —Joey Caparella

Will the rise of EV finally derail the trend toward larger wheels? The Hyundai Ioniq 6 shows why. For the single-motor version with a 77.4 kWh battery pack, the headline-grabbing 361-mile EPA range plummets to 305 miles the moment a buyer “upgrades” from 18-inch wheels to 20-inch wheels. . Doing the same change on his dual-motor Ioniq 6 results in a loss of 46 miles. With EV buyers prioritizing range, the oversized high-style wheels suddenly lose their luster, given that charging infrastructure is still precarious. Luckily, the Ioniq 6 still has style to spare, even though he’s 18. —Joe Lorio