6 surprises in the 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV, including a Detroit connection

Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press
·2 min read
5
The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric vehicle's exterior design was inspired by the Stout Scarab, a rare Detroit-built car from the 1930s.
The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric vehicle's exterior design was inspired by the Stout Scarab, a rare Detroit-built car from the 1930s.
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From a new way to look at steering wheels to fish nets — actual fishing gear, not stockings — Hyundai’s new 2023 Ioniq 6 electric sedan is full of surprises.

Prices for the 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 start at $41,600 for a rear-drive model with 240 miles of range. The long-range model can cover 361 miles on a charge.The most expensive, the Limited AWD, stickers at $56,100. A $1,115 destination charge is added to all prices.

Here are some details the development team revealed recently during the car’s first drive:

The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric vehicle's exterior design was inspired by the Stout Scarab, a rare Detroit-built car from the 1930s.
The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric vehicle's exterior design was inspired by the Stout Scarab, a rare Detroit-built car from the 1930s.

  • Some critics call the car’s shape derivative of Porsche, but the true inspiration was the Stout Scarab, a wildly aerodynamic Art Deco car built in Detroit in the 1930s and ‘40s. In addition to its sleek body, the Scarab had a long wheelbase, another common feature in modern electric vehicles. Hyundai’s chairman owns one of the few surviving Scarabs and showed it to the design team early in the Ioniq’s development. In addition to running his own car company, engineer and Scarab designer William Bushnell Stout worked for Packard and Ford, where his projects included the famous Ford Trimotor aircraft.

  • Almost alone among current vehicles, the steering wheel doesn’t bear the brand or model’s name or logo. Instead, there are four dots lined up horizontally across the wheel’s middle. LEDs in them light up to indicate functions including when the Ioniq 6 is charging, its state of charge, that its voice-recognition system is listening for a spoken command, and more. Incidentally, Hyundai adds, four dots are Morse code for the letter “H,” which appears in the steering wheel of the brand’s other vehicles.

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Four LEDs adorn the 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV's steering wheel where a name or logo is usually seen.
Four LEDs adorn the 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV's steering wheel where a name or logo is usually seen.

  • The rear seat is designed like a couch, to encourage occupants to sit at an angle for work, conversation or comfort. The floor is flat, thanks to chassis-stiffening properties of the battery beneath it in the Ioniq’s skateboard platform, and the seats and walls curve to create a comfortable spot to lean.

The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric vehicle's rear seat was designed to encourage passengers to sit at an angle, for work, conversation or comfort.
The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric vehicle's rear seat was designed to encourage passengers to sit at an angle, for work, conversation or comfort.

  • Conventional household-style power outlets can deliver 110-volt current to run devices — up to powering a household refrigerator for several days. The Ioniq’s controls stop powering the offboard device when the battery hits 20%, so the vehicle has enough power to get to a charging station.

  • Sustainable materials include carpets made partially from recycled fishing nets, fabric trim recycled from pop bottles and paints made from bamboo and recycled tire rubber.

  • The exterior LED lights are faceted to present the appearance of more than 700 different pixels, or points of light.

The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric vehicle's LED exterior lights are designed to look like more than 700 individual pixels.
The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric vehicle's LED exterior lights are designed to look like more than 700 individual pixels.

Contact Mark Phelan: 313-222-6731 or mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 6 surprises in the Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV, including a Detroit connection