What's the difference?
Is there a place for the humble sedan in 2019?
Hyundai seems to think so. And so for 2019 it has overhauled its Elantra range, with a polarising new look and interesting new trim levels.
Is the price right to push the Elantra to the forefront, though? Or is the i30’s less-famous sedan sibling destined to be overlooked?
We’ve spent some time in each of the Elantra’s four variants over the past few months to find out. Read on to see what’s what, and which one is our pick of the range.
There are a lot of big numbers surrounding the BMW iX3, the German brand’s new-from-the-ground-up EV that acts as the flagbearer for its future-facing Neue Klasse (or New Class) architecture, designed to distil all the ingredients that make a BMW a BMW, and then electrify for them for the post-ICE (internal combustion engine) era.
But the one that really stood out? 805. That’s how many kilometres of driving range the iX3 will deliver, though admittedly in its most efficient and least exciting driving modes. That is bonkers, right?
It’s worth pointing out the first BMW i3, which only launched a decade-or-so ago, delivered more like 150km on what would have been the WLTP cycle, if it had existed then. Talk about leaps and bounds.
A good start for the newest BMW EV, then. But what else does the iX3 have to offer?
The Elantra might be overlooked compared to its famous i30 stablemate, but it shouldn’t be. It’s every bit as entertaining to drive and just as well equipped.
It’s a shame active safety is on the option list for lower trim levels, and there’s no radar features on higher ones, and the unnecessary styling changes might polarise buyers. But the Elantra is otherwise a well-equipped and rewarding-to-drive package across the range.
The thing that really grabs you from behind the wheel of a car like this is just how far EVs have come. The fact you can get a ridiculous range and have a really, really good time on the right twisting road is a pretty good deal and solidifies the fact EVs like this one are the future.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.
Note: The author, Andrew Chesterton, is a co-owner of Smart As Media, a content agency and media distribution service with a number of automotive brands among its clients. When producing content for CarsGuide, he does so in accordance with the CarsGuide Editorial Guidelines and Code of Ethics, and the views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.