Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid 2019 review

Even Hyundai’s entry-level cars are relatively well specified, and there’s no change here. Every Ioniq is available in two spec levels, the Elite and Premium.

Ours was the Premium, which comes standard with an 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen, with built-in nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support as well as digital radio.

Hyundai’s own software is one of the best offerings on the market, with slick easy to navigate menus, the multimedia screen is backed by an eight-speaker sound system. Phone charging is enhanced by a Qi wireless charging bay.

The Premium comes standard with an 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen, built-in nav, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The Premium’s main gains are its luxurious touches, like heated and cooled leather seats, a heated steering wheel and memory power adjust for the driver’s seat. It also gets 17-inch wheels over the Elite’s 16s, bi-xenon headlights (why no LEDs?) as well as a tilting and sliding sunroof.

Every Ioniq comes standard with keyless entry, push-start, an electric parking brake, and a semi-digital dash cluster. There’s not much spec outside of that you can really ask for, or even expect at under $40k.

Bi-xenon headlights, with no LEDs in sight.

Oh, and the price? That’s $38,990 before on-roads, easily undercutting the top-spec Prius i-Tech ($43,900) by a healthy margin. The Prius gains LED headlights and a head-up display, but has lackluster multimedia, and no heated seats or sunroof. Eco-conscious food for thought.

In terms of safety, you’ll get Hyundai’s full 'SmartSense' active safety suite, no matter which Ioniq variant you choose. More on that in the safety section of this review.

The Ioniq’s odd shape adds up to a practical package.

Up front, this means roughly the same kind of outfit you can expect from other Hyundais, including big bottle holders in the doors, practically sized cupholders on the transmission tunnel, a decently sized console box and, of course, the Qi charging point under the centre stack.

All very neat, and I’d argue a bit more practical, though perhaps slightly less spacious than the Prius.

The Ioniq’s hatch body pays dividends in the boot, where there’s 456 litres to use.

The rear seat offers okay legroom, but it’s nothing special. My knees just touch the front seat behind my own driving position, which struck me as odd as I have it in my head that the i30 offers more legroom.

I put this down to the lack of rearward tilt of the rear seat bases. It’s this which gives the Civic sedan such room in the rear.

I will say the rear seat passengers in the Ioniq do benefit from decent bottle holders in the doors, and rear air vents, which also can’t be said for the Prius.

The rear seat offers okay legroom, but it’s nothing special.

The Ioniq’s hatch body pays dividends in the boot, where there’s 456 litres to use. That places it above most hatchbacks and on par with many sedans in this size bracket. It also edges the Prius out so bravo there.

Despite the decently sized boot, there’s also a full-size alloy spare under the floor, a must for long-distance Australian journeys.

The Ioniq hybrid has two drive units, one is a non-turbo version of the 1.6-litre engine used elsewhere in Hyundai’s line-up, complimented by an electric motor.

Unlike the plug-in which sits above it, the hybrid is primarily driven by the 77kW/147Nm engine, and is complimented only at low speeds by the 32kW/170Nm electric motor for a combined power output of 104kW/265Nm.

The hybrid is primarily driven by the 77kW/147Nm engine.

The Hybrid is not capable of driving any length of distance on electric power alone with its 1.56kWh battery, although unlike the Prius’ older nickel-hydride battery, the Ioniq has a more modern (and solid-state) lithium ion design.

The Ioniq drives the front wheels via a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

All of that hybrid stuff adds up to a fuel consumption number rated at between 3.4-3.9L/100km. Against that, after my week of mixed freeway and suburban driving, I scored a fuel economy number of 4.6L/100km.

Not quite on the mark, but then I apparently fell short of the car’s expectations, according to my ‘ECO driving’ score. Still, it’s just over half of what you’d expect real-world from a 2.0-litre i30, and realistically you should be able to get below 4.0L/100km if you “ECO drive” better than I can.

On my test of the Prius late in 2018 I scored a combined fuel figure of 4.1L/100km, although it’s fundamentally easier to drive the Prius under electric power alone for reasons explored in the driving section of this review.

It wouldn’t be futuristic if you didn’t get a full safety suite, and Hyundai delivers here with pretty much everything its SmartSense suite has to offer. The best part? You don’t even need to get the top-of-the-range Premium reviewed here to get it, the Elite has the same tech.

Active items include auto emergency braking (AEB), with forward collision warning (FCW), blind-spot monitoring (BSM), lane keep assist (LKAS) with lane departure warning (LDW), driver attention alert (DAA), active cruise control, park assist, and rear cross traffic alert.

The usual expected refinements are also there including a standard suite of electronic stability controls and seven airbags. There are two ISOFIX child-seat mounting points on the outer rear two seats.

The Ioniq very recently received a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating. Its set of active safety items is amongst the most thorough on the market right now.