Hyundai really can do no wrong at the moment. Its new Ioniq 9 range-topper looks to be another home run, with acres of interior space and an aerodynamic shape – yes, even though it looks like a brick!
If you’ve just ordered a Kia EV9, it might be time to put it on hold. This is the new Hyundai Ioniq 9, which shares a lot with the EV9, including massive proportions and vast interior space.
The Ioniq 9 continues Hyundai’s recent styling successes, with clear nods to the rest of the Ioniq range and a similarly brave and blocky design to the latest Santa Fe. High-set lights at the front and a wide grille give the Ioniq 9 a confident, almost Range Rover-like design, while the black side line adds cohesion and reduces visual weight of the side profile. Blistered wheel arches add interest and the tall tail-lights give a luxurious feel.
Hyundai Ioniq 9 UK prices and specifications
Like the EV9, you'll have to dig deep to put an Ioniq 9 on your driveway. Prices start at £64,995 for the Premium trim, which includes far more equipment than we could list here. But highlights include electrically adjustable front seats, heated front and second-row seats, wool and leather upholstery, LED lights all round, adaptive cruise control and an electric boot lid.
Step up to Ultimate trim and, for your £73,495, you'll get 20-inch alloy wheels instead of Premium's 19s, plus 'relaxation' front seats with cooling, a panoramic sunroof, ambient lighting, park assist, a head-up display, active noise cancelling and a 14-speaker Bose sound system.
Top-spec Calligraphy is only £2,300 more, and that covers soft Nappa leather upholstery, 21-inch wheels and a UV tray for sterilising phones and small devices. Opt for this trim and you can also choose a six-seat layout, with captain's chairs in the middle row, for an extra £1,000. For the same price, you can add side cameras instead of mirrors on Calligraphy.
There are a dizzying 10 paint colours to choose from – two metallic greys, five pearl shades (for £700 each) and three matte shades. The matte shades aren't available on Premium; they're a £1,200 option elsewhere.
Range and performance
Despite the blocky shape, the Ioniq 9 cuts through the air like a svelte coupe. Its drag coefficient of 0.259Cd – with cameras instead of door mirrors – might not mean much, but it helps the Ioniq 9’s efficiency. Yes, it also has a large 110.3kWh battery, but the aero smoothness is partly why the big Hyundai can manage up to 385 miles on a charge.
Even the most powerful model with all-wheel drive only shaves 13 miles off that figure.
On-board charging capability stands at a whopping 233kW – faster than most UK chargers. Find one that’s powerful enough and the Ioniq 9 can regain 10-80% battery in just 24 minutes.
The flipside of such a big battery is that an 11kW three-phase wallbox (uncommon in the UK) takes 10 hours for a 10-100% charge; we'd expect the same charge from a more common 7kW home wallbox to take around 14 hours.
Just like the charging capacity, the car’s electric motors are also powerful. Rear-wheel-drive cars get one motor with 215hp (this is exclusive to the Premium trim in the UK), while all-wheel-drive cars get an additional 94hp electric motor mounted on the front axle. Although largely irrelevant for a family bus like this, the 0-62mph times are 9.4 seconds for the RWD model and 6.7 seconds for the AWD one.
If you choose the top-spec Calligraphy trim, you can upgrade to a Performance powertrain with 427hp and a whipcrack 0-62mph time of just 5.2 seconds. You'll need to opt for this version if you want to choose the six-seat layout.
Size and dimensions
The Ioniq 9 measures more than five metres long, and its E-GMP electric-car platform allows the wheels to be pushed out to the car’s corners, so you get a huge amount of room inside. Like the Kia EV9, there’s a choice of six or seven-seat layouts – if you pick the six-seat layout, the second-row seats are captain’s chairs with massaging functions and the ability to swivel round to face the third-row seats.
Hyundai tells us that the Ioniq 9 offers 620 litres of boot space. There’s also a frunk under the bonnet which is the ideal size for charging cables or a pair of wet boots.
Sustainable materials are used throughout, including recycled fabric, wool and bio suede. Even the paint is made from recycled tyre waste, apparently.
Tech-wise, the Ioniq 9 gets an upgraded EV route planner, an AI-enabled voice recognition system, a Features on Demand service that lets you buy digital upgrades from an online store, over-the-air software updates, a camping mode for the climate control and fast USB-C ports in all three rows that run directly off the car’s high-voltage battery, rather than a separate 12V battery.
Like Hyundai’s other EVs, the Ioniq 9 also gets Vehicle to Load (V2L) charging capability, allowing you to power small electricals using the car’s battery.
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