Ssangyong Torres vs Hyundai Elexio

What's the difference?

The KGM SsangYong Torres Adventure feels fresh-faced and offers competitive pricing and ongoing costs. Some of the technology could use a little tweaking but the cabin is practical and you get a fair amount of luxury features for its price tag. Value is assured and this is one to consider.

The Elexio doesn't really push any boundaries in terms of its exterior design, its powertrain, or its battery. It doesn't drive itself. It doesn't look like a spaceship. And apart from some interior quirks, it's all pretty familiar in the way it goes about its business.

And I think maybe that's the point. Maybe that's what people are really looking for. Because Hyundai says this will be its best-selling EV in the country. And on our short test, we can't find too many reasons to disagree.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with 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.

Despite sharing similar underpinnings to the Korando, the Torres is its own model when it comes to design.

It seems to borrow from a few different sources and there are some Kia Sportage and Land Rover Defender elements that are easy to see once you start looking closely.

It's refreshing to see such a bold and personality-rich design in this segment but there is a tendency to favour form over function.

There are handles on the bonnet which serve no purpose, a fake ‘wheel cover’ design on the rear (which is annoyingly off-centre) and a bunch of fake vents scattered across the car.

It looks like an SUV you would take off road but if this was a movie, it would be the actor instead of the stunt double.

Head inside and you'll find a gorgeous cabin with copper accent panels, thick soft-touchpoints and black synthetic leather trims.

The dashboard features contrasting stitching in copper and is headlined by a massive display panel that houses the dual 12.3-inch technology panels that look awesome.

Despite still featuring a few notes of harder plastics, the cabin still feels high-end and well-built. Although it has the largest steering wheel I’ve seen in the segment.

I don't want to sound boring, but the thing I really like about the Elexio exterior package is there's nothing too challenging about it. Some of the Hyundai Ioniq cars can be a bit more polarising (and, in the case of the Ioniq 6, a lot more polarising) but there's none of that going on here.

It feels very clean, fairly timeless and like it's going to age pretty well. In short, it looks like a familiar family SUV with only really the full-width light bar, the cubed headlights and a bit of an architectural flourish at the rear three-quarter – which actually reminds me a bit of the Kia EV5 – giving it a more modern edge.

The wheels are 20 inches, there are only a handful of fairly predictable colours and it all just feels really familiar. But, as I mentioned, things do get a bit more out-there in the cabin.

Let's start with the good. I really like the fit and finish. It all feels very high quality and the materials used are lovely, including the velvet-like fabric in the door panels. I also like the square-edged steering wheel.

But the not so good? Now, the central screen looks great, but it controls everything – and I do mean everything. Apart from the steering-wheel controls, I couldn't locate a single physical button in the cabin.

The cabin of the Torres almost defies its mid-size tag because there is oodles of space for taller occupants. Both rows feature excellent access with the 195mm ground clearance and wide door apertures. My eight-year-old son loved his view this week and didn’t have any issue climbing in and out.

Despite lacking lumbar support, seat comfort is best in the front and fatigue doesn't set in too quickly on longer journeys. The rear row offers plenty of under-bum padding but the backs are decidedly flat, expect a bit of movement from passengers in corners.

There are lots of storage options with a glovebox that can house a manual, mid-sized middle console, shelf underneath the centre console, six drink bottle holders, four cup holders and a phone tray.

The boot has a great luggage capacity of up to 703L when all seats are in use and the rear row has a 60/40 split to open up storage options if you need to.

The touchscreen multimedia system is a bit too simple in terms of its information and customisation. It's responsive but functionality isn't always the best. Music playing over Bluetooth hardly ever connects automatically, you have to select the Bluetooth function which is annoying while on the go. The radio is pretty crappy as it rarely picks up any stations and when it does there is a lot of static.

You do get wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with the CarPlay easy enough to connect to.

Charging options are good with four USB-C ports and two 12-volt sockets, one of which is located in the boot. But you do miss out on a wireless charging pad in this grade.

The rear row features enough amenities to keep occupants happy, like the charging options, directional air vents, armrest and map pockets but my son said it was hard to position the air vents to blow air directly on to him.

At just over 4.6m long, just under 1.9m wide, and just under 1.7m tall, the Elexio fits snuggly between the smaller Kona Electric and Bigger Ioniq 5 among Hyundai's electric family. In family vehicle terms, it's marginally shorter than the brand's petrol and hybrid-powered Tucson.

But owing to the magic of EVs and their flat floors, the Elexio feels massively spacious in the backseat. I'm 175cm, and had no trouble getting comfortable behind my own driving position, with plenty of leg and headroom. 

Tech is pretty strong, too. There are twin wireless charging pads up front, a total five USB-C ports, and a household style plug (which car companies call Vehicle to Load) located in the boot.

There's storage in the doors and centre console, including a storage drawer, and cupholders up front and in the pulldown divider that deploys over the middle seat in the back.

But the weirdest thing is the driver screen, which is the only straight-ahead access the driver has to things like speed or navigation directions. It's a very cool 3D-effect display, but it utterly disappears if you're wearing polarised sunglasses. 

That's actually pretty common with all head-up displays, but they usually are projected above a traditional driver's binnacle. In the Elexio, it's the disappearing screen or nothing.

To be fair, the central screen also displays speed and crucial information, but I hate having to turn my head to look at it. It's my least-favourite thing about Teslas, and if you're wearing polarised sunglasses, the Elexio ends up feeling a lot like that.

I do love that there is an actual control to select Drive, Reverse or Park, and I adore the addition of a physical stop/start button, too.

There's also an auto-opening boot which reveals a 506-litre space with the rear seats in place, and 1540 litres with the 60/40 split rear seats folded flat. Keep in mind there's no spare tyre taking up space, though. You'll be leaning on the repair kit should you get a flat.

The Elexio arrives with just the one grade for now, the Elite, and the pricing is a bit weird. It lists at $61,990, but is actually being offered for significantly less than that at launch, with a special $59,990 drive-away deal in place until around the end of March.

There is a cheaper Elexio grade coming sometime in quarter two this year, and it will be $58,990. But I reckon you can expect a sharp drive-away deal there, too, at least at launch.

How does that stack up? I think we have to go on permanent pricing, rather than any special offers, and that puts the Elexio above its main rivals in the BYD Sealion 7 ($54,990 for the Premium), the Tesla Model Y ($58,900 for the Premium Rear-Wheel Drive) and the Xpeng G6 ($54,800 for the Standard Range). Though the cheaper Elexio variant will help to narrow that gap.

There are significantly cheaper electric SUVs that fall into the mid-size category, too. Like the Geely EX5 and Leapmotor C10, both of which are less than $50k on the road.

Anyway, for now the Elite arrives with 20-inch alloys, cube-style LED projector lights, an auto-opening boot and Hyundai’s Digital Key, which allows you and up to 14 other people to use their phone as the key.

Inside, there’s leather seating that’s powered for driver and passenger and heated and ventilated up front. There’s also dual-zone climate, twin wireless charging pads and a household-style power point to power your devices.

Where it gets really interesting, though, is with its cabin tech, which is seriously bleeding edge. The entire dash, from in front of the passenger to pretty much the edge of the steering wheel, is dominated by a 27-inch screen that actually gives the passenger more real estate than the driver.

It's impressive stuff, with high-res games for the passenger to play (including the super-sharp Space Invaders), but there's also wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, twin wireless charging pads, and a relatively small head-up display (only located within the binnacle) for the driver.

All Torres models share the same 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine but the Adventure model is a front-wheel drive, and the only grade that has an all-wheel drive is the Ultimate.

This is surprising as the Adventure moniker would suggest AWD capability ... so you could actually go adventuring.

The Torres offers up to 120kW of power and 280Nm of torque, and features a smooth six-speed auto transmission which is enough to ensure that it is is a pleasant open-roader.

There’s just the one powertrain on offer here — with a front-mounted electric motor, so front-wheel drive, that produces 160kW and 310Nm. That makes the Elexio feel spritely enough, but it’s no rocket ship.

The official combined fuel cycle figure is 7.4L/100km and based on its 50L fuel tank, you should see a theoretical driving range of up to 676km. That’s not the best range we’ve seen in this segment but it’s still respectable for the odd longer road trip.

After doing a good mix of open-road and urban driving this week, I’ve managed a real world usage of  7.7L which is a great result overall.

Delivering the driving power is an 88.1kWh LFP battery, which Hyundai says equates to a WLTP driving range of 546kms.

The Elexio’s E-GMP platform is a 400-volt architecture, which does limit DC fast charging to around 120kW – the Ioniq 5, for example, will charge in excess of 230kW. 

Hyundai says you’ll go from 10 to 80 per cent in around 38 minutes plugged into our fastest chargers. AC home charging is capped at 10kW.

When it comes to power and its delivery, the Torres is willing but never spritely. It’s a bit sluggish off the mark and the auto-stop/start feature doesn't help but there is a decent well of power to dip into once you get going, making this a solid open-roader.

The steering can feel a bit wishy-washy on a winding road but there’s surprisingly not that much roll. Suspension is good without feeling floaty and you’re not bothered by the bigger bumps.

Visibility is good most of the time but occasionally the passenger side A-pillar can hinder, at least from my driving position. The back window is a smidge too small for my liking, especially on an SUV of this size.

The Torres doesn’t feel too big to park and the reversing camera is clear and features dynamic guidelines but all SUVs should have a 360-degree system, considering their bulk.

Ok, let's skip to the good part quickly. I really like the way the Elexio drives. Honestly, Hyundai (and, to be fair, Kia, Porsche, Polestar, Tesla, some German brands and Leapmotor with the new B10, amongst others I'm surely forgetting) are restoring my faith in how an EV can feel from behind the wheel.

It turns out they don't have to feel soft and saggy and come with a light sense of seasickness as standard. They can be engaging, connect you to the car and to the road below, and attack corners with some athleticism, too. 

And so it is with the Elexio, which – to be fair – has a spec sheet that reads a bit like a bedtime story, such is the lack of excitement in the numbers. A two-tonne-plus, front-wheel-drive family SUV that produces less power than a Toyota Camry doesn't exactly quicken the pulse.

And it's true that the flat-footed acceleration on offer won't knock your cap off (though it feels perfectly perky enough to get you up and moving). But the numbers don't tell the whole story here.

A sports car this ain't, but its driving nature perfectly suits the ethos of the car. The ride can feel a little harsh at times, but irons out most road imperfections to the point that you notice them, but they're not uncomfortable.

The steering is direct without being overly aggressive –though I prefer the sportiest setting with the heavier feel – and the body roll is minimal, too.

In fact, you can push the Elexio harder than you might think along twister roads, with plenty of confidence-inspiring stability and without too much complaint from the tyres. Because there's not a huge amount of power underfoot, and this is going to sound absolutely crazy, but it gave me (much-heavier) Mazda MX-5 vibes, in the sense that you can really feel like you're driving it without feeling like you're going to get yourself in too much trouble.

There’s a long list of safety stuff aboard the Elexio, including nine airbags and just about every active safety system you can imagine.

They seem better tuned than some of Hyundai's competitors too, without being too overzealous. That said, overspeed warnings remain an auto industry scourge.

Particularly clever is a system Hyundai calls 'Forward Collision-avoidance Assist 2', which shows just how far modern AEB (or autonomous emergency braking) systems have come. 

Once, and not so long ago, a vehicle could automatically apply the brakes if it sensed a collision ahead. Hyundai's system, though, not only works in both directions, but also detects pedestrians and cyclists as well as cars, and works when you're pulling out of a junction and it detects fast-moving oncoming traffic. It also detects traffic coming in either direction when you're travelling straight through an intersection, and when you're changing lanes.

The Hyundai Elexio wears a full five-star ANCAP safety rating, though one stamped 'tested in 2024'. The data was actually taken from the crash-test result of the related Kia EV5.

The Torres comes with a seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty which is great for the class and a seven-year capped-price servicing program for $2678, at an average of $383 per service, which is very reasonable.

Intervals are good at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

The Elexio is covered by Hyundai’s new seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, provided you service with Hyundai. If you don’t, then it's five years of coverage.

Service intervals are a pretty luxurious 24 months or 30,000kms, and Hyundai’s service plans will see you paying $779 at the two-year mark, and another $1118 at the four-year mark, which puts your annual cost at around $475.

I'd say that's about average, with the happily extended service intervals counterbalanced by slightly higher servicing costs than you might find with some competitors.