three battery-powered Ioniq compact sedans<\/a>\u00a0aimed directly at the Prius family which has long dominated the compact-electric segment. Based on a new platform designed from the ground up for battery-powered drivetrains, the Ioniq family will come in hybrid, plug-in and pure electric guise. Hyundai claims it will best the Prius both in mpg (58 EPA combined for the Ioniq hybrid vs. 56 for the Prius hybrid) and in plug-in range (25 miles on battery-only for the Ioniq vs. 23 for the Prius plug-in).<\/p>\nIn a press conference heavy on automakers\u2019 responsibility to address global warming, the Ioniq was introduced by billionaire environmentalist David de Rothschild, heir to the Rothschild banking fortune, who proclaimed that \u201cHyundai\u2019s vision is for a better world for us all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople want to make the right choice for the environment,\u201d said Rothschild who has circled the world preaching the importance of changing our lifestyles to prevent catastrophic climate change. But he said that the Ioniq would achieve \u201czero emissions with zero compromise\u201d by offering attractive styling, a comfortable interior and digital connectivity including Apple Car Play and Android Auto.<\/p>\n
The Ioniq, says Hyundai North America CEO Dave Zuchowski is also about meeting looming federal and California fuel economy mandates at a time when customer demand for EVs is declining amid high costs and low gas prices.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government demand that cars get 54.5 mpg by 2025 isn\u2019t changing, so we need the product to get our fuel economy to that level,\u201d said Zuchowski. \u201cWe have to create demand where is doesn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zuchowski says that EVs have to be more than just a \u201cjust a way to save on gas\u201d \u2013 they have to be \u201cabout our kid\u2019s futures. When we got to market we focused on changing the world with no compromises. This car is nimble, it\u2019s quick, it\u2019s spacious in the way we package the batteries.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ioniq chassis was built to put its lithium-ion batteries underneath the seats \u2013 with the pure EV version replacing the 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine under the hood (in both hybrid and plug-in) with a 120-horsepower electric motor. Nissan hope the threesome will offer customers a wide verity of mobility options in order to increase sales volume. That volume, says, Zuchowski, is of paramount concern as California requires a percentage of sales to be \u201czero-emission\u201d EV or hydrogen by 2020.<\/p>\n
The pure-electric Ioniq and Hyundai Tucson hydrogen fuel-cell are the brand\u2019s key compliance vehicles since \u201cthe hybrid vehicle doesn\u2019t really count toward zero-emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ioniq welcomes you with a large, full-fascia version of the brand\u2019s signature hexagon grille that provoke comparisons to Audi. With a sleek, sport-coups shape, the Ioniq sedans boast a best-in-class 0.24 drag coefficient. While attempting to broaden EVs\u2019 appeal beyond eco-geeks, the Iconic also makes a nod to green enthusiasts with a dash made of compound resin derived from lava stone.<\/p>\n
In a SUV-mad world, Hyundai Vice Chairman Eui-son Chung hopes that the Ioniq sedan will appeal to buyers with a vision for \u201cfreedom from anxieties about pollution, congestion, and traffic. It\u2019s about driving comfortably in a world where environmental hazards are not the norm.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New York\u00a0\u2013 Look out, Toyota Prius, you have company. On Wednesday, Hyundai introduced\u00a0three battery-powered Ioniq compact sedans\u00a0aimed directly at the Prius family which has long dominated the compact-electric segment. Based on a new platform designed from the ground up for battery-powered drivetrains, the Ioniq family will come in hybrid, plug-in and pure electric guise. Hyundai […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18283"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18283"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18284,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18283\/revisions\/18284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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