Hyundai Ioniq 9 review

This is the Hyundai Ioniq 9, the third entrant in the Korean giant’s EV line-up, and the one that aims to stretch the brand’s bandwidth upmarket to a zone it’s never previously dreamt of.

It’s powered by a 110.3kWh battery that delivers a maximum claimed range of 385 miles (WLTP), has a fully flat floor, and a choice of six or seven seats. Inside you’ll find what Hyundai calls a Universal Island, which is basically a huge storage box that slides between the first two rows of seats. And there’s an enormous amount of boot space with the third row folded out of the way. There are apartments in London with less space inside than this thing.

The Ioniq 9 has an 800V battery system, and Hyundai claims it can recharge from 10 to 80 per cent in just 24 minutes assuming you can find a 350kW charger. It’ll also operate on 400 volts for less rapid chargers. Vehicle-to-load (V2L) capability means it doubles as a giant mobile power bank.

How does the model line-up stack up?

Hyundai is currently finalising that but three versions will likely be available in three trim levels: Premium, Ultimate and Calligraphy. The entry-level car is the Long Range RWD with a single 215bhp motor on the rear axle and 258lb ft. The most potent version is the dual motor Performance AWD, which has a 215bhp electric motor on the front and rear axle and delivers 516lb ft of torque.

The car we’re driving here is the middle-ranking Long Range AWD version in the top Calligraphy spec, which reins in the power a bit in favour of additional efficiency. The motor on the rear axle is the same, but the front one is good for 92bhp (and 446lb ft overall). It’s not a rocketship, but then it’s not meant to be. And your passengers will thank you for a more mindful approach to their journey.

Note also the presence of active noise cancelling tech, acoustic glass, and noise-reducing tyres.

How much will it cost and what’s it up against?

Prices are yet to be confirmed but expect the Ioniq 9 to start at around £65k, rising to circa £80k for the Performance version. Not only does it have a bigger battery than the related Kia EV9, the word is it’ll be priced to undercut it. Volvo’s EX90 is the other obvious rival and you won’t get near one of those for less than £96k.

You could consider the Audi Q8 e-tron or BMW iX but they clearly lack the Ioniq 9’s multi-seat versatility. We’re still waiting for the electric Range Rover, but the ICE version is £120k plus in long wheelbase form. Or there’s the Mercedes EQE SUV.
Hyundai could’ve played a blinder here.

A highly luxurious Hyundai and value for money? I like it! It also looks pretty cool for a big bus.

Doesn’t it? Between them, Kia and Hyundai have wrested design leadership away from the big names, and the Ioniq 9 riffs off some of the ideas already rolled out on the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6. Hyundai calls its design philosophy ‘aerosthetic’, and it aims to be aero-efficient and future-adjacent without being polarising.

Hyundai’s director of design, Simon Loasby, compares the Ioniq EVs to chess pieces: they’re related but have their own distinct personality. The 9 is less obviously ‘designery’ than the EV9 but it makes sense to offer something different. The Kia’s renegade Transformers look might be too much for some. Besides, there’s still plenty of clever thinking here.

Such as?

Well, there are those parametric ‘pixel’ lights, which invoke a fashionable Eighties vaporwave/video game past that Hyundai doesn’t really have. The Korean alphabet is a more pertinent influence. More importantly, they’re designed to enhance night-time visibility while preventing glare. The Ioniq 9 looks smooth and daring, less Minecrafty than the plus-size Kia, but its shape also helps optimise aero. Ostensibly a big barn on wheels, the Ioniq 9’s curved roofline and tapered tail actually helps deliver a drag coefficient of 0.259 when it’s fitted with slim-line digital side mirrors. That sort of figure would have fried minds back when Pac-Man was a newbie. Why does it matter? Because less drag means improved range. We’re not sure about those wheelarch ‘eyebrows’, though.

Tell me more about the aero stuff. I’m intrigued.

Hyundai has actually gone a bit Ferrari on the aero front, strange as that might sound. The Ioniq 9 features a new dual-motion active aero flap on its under-body. That allows cooling air for the battery and drive system to flow through when it’s needed; otherwise they remain closed in order to reduce air resistance. The mechanism even combines a straight movement with a rotation to minimise disruption to the air flow.

The Ioniq 9 also has a 3D-shaped underbody cover, aero-optimised alloy wheels, and you’ll look in vain for an antenna on the roof. The windscreen, tailgate glass and instrument panel cover off all the car’s connectivity needs. Compare that to the Volvo EX90’s Lidar carbuncle.

Clever stuff. So what’s it like to drive?

Smooth and seamless, the sort of car you get out of after 250 miles and feel better than you did when you climbed in. Its seats are amazing, for one thing. With multi-link suspension at either end and twin-valve dampers, the Ioniq 9 is self-evidently set up for comfort over short or long distances, and its major calling card is rolling refinement. Thank the active noise cancelling tech, double glazing and those foam-filled tyres for that.

Dare we ask what it’s like if you find a twisty road?

Well, you certainly wouldn’t go looking for one, let’s put it that way. But its body control is impressive nonetheless. We headed north to the famous demilitarised zone between South and North Korea, a surprisingly short distance from Seoul but a journey that involved a lot of empty countryside roads once the city had receded in our mirrors.

You survived to tell the tale…

We did. No-one will be looking for hardcore handling jollies in one of these, but the Ioniq 9 remains composed and capable even if you get ambitious with the corner entry speeds. The car’s size and a strong military presence in the area deterred us from too much of that. The steering’s pleasantly weighted, it only rolls if you’re driving like a total berk, and the regen braking gives you the option of single-pedal driving if you want it.

Mostly, it’s about maintaining a serene sort of pace. Our Long Range AWD test car can get to 62mph in 6.7 seconds, but there’s no rush. We managed 2.85 mi/kWh, although it was sub-zero outside most of the time. We’d expect to see over 300 miles in warmer conditions.

We didn’t attempt any multi-storey car parks, but the Ioniq 9 is agile enough not to need an active rear axle. No doubt it’ll feel every millimetre of its 5.1m length and 2.5-tonne plus weight on a typical British back-road, but then so do most big SUVs. Don’t think of it as an off-roader, though. Yes it has a terrain response system, but like the EV9 it’s more of a giant all-electric people-carrier. With an amazingly comfy interior. 

Fitness for purpose is the primary yardstick by which every car should be measured. On which basis, Hyundai’s Ioniq 9 is both accomplished and clever. Its people-carrying, quasi-minibus remit means its design is less out there than the Ioniqs 5 and 6, but the result is still cool. More importantly, it’s another Hyundai whose design flair is backed up by some genuinely useful thinking. The flat floor interior gives it a unique ambience, it’s very comfortable, and it goes surprisingly well, despite its size. Wherever you’re seated, the experience is hushed and luxurious.

It joins the Kia EV9 and Volvo EX90 in a rarefied sector, as an all-electric, multi-seat family vehicle that somehow manages to be practical and genuinely desirable. Just make sure you’ve got the space to park it.