Let's party like it's 1939: Hyundai New Zealand has launched its striking "streamliner" Ioniq 6 sedan (with styling inspired by 1930s aero cars) at a start price that still nets buyers the full $8625 Clean Car Discount. Just.
That's with the smallest 53kWh battery, modest 111kW/350Nm single-motor rear-drive and in the most basic "entry" specification. The $79,990 Ioniq 6 still has a pretty decent WLTP range of 429km and carries Hyundai's suite of SmartSense active safety equipment, including adaptive cruise control, lane assists, a Forward Collision Avoidance (FCA) assist package, Rear Occupant Alert, Safe Exit Assist and High Beam Assist for the LED headlights.
For an extra $15,000 (but it's really an extra $23,625 if you factor in the lost Clean Car Discount) you can add the larger 77kWh battery, which also brings a more powerful 168kW/350Nm motor. The 77kWh rear-drive Ioniq 6 is the one that achieves that much-talked-about range figure of 614km (on low-rolling-resistance 18-inch wheels, dropping to 545km on 20in) - but it also trims the 0-100km/h time from 8.9 to 7.4 seconds.
The same powertrain applies to the $104,990 Ioniq 6 Elite, which adds an even more sophisticated collision-avoidance assist setup (FCA 1.5), adaptive LED lights, ambient cabin lighting, exterior cladding, 20-inch alloys with Pirelli tyres, Bose audio, leather upholstery (power seats in the front), Vehicle to Load (V2L) plug, heat pump air-con and battery heating system.
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Finally, the $124,990 Limited is the only model available with dual-motor AWD: 239kW/605Nm, range of 519km on 20in wheels and 0-100km/h in 5.1 seconds.
It also gains an even more advanced version of Collision Avoidance (FCA 2) with junction-turning/crossing, land-change and oncoming traffic functions, the full Blind-spot View Monitor (BVM) in the digital dashboard, extra camera views, remote parking, power sunroof, heads-up display, "interactive pixel lights", Digital Side Mirrors (DSM, a first for Hyundai), and 14-way power seats with heating/ventilation.
All models come with a three-year/100,000km warranty and eight year/160,000 warranty for the high-voltage battery. The E-GMP platform and battery technology are shared with the smaller (but very different-looking) Ioniq 5, which means the 6 benefits form the same 800-volt charging capability: 200kW-plus on a compatible DC station.
