Major product assault on the horizon.
Korean carmaker Hyundai has quite a product assault planned between now and mid-2019, with three really interesting cars set to arrive on our shores. The Ioniq family of cars, featuring the hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and full-electric variants will be landing here, along with the Veloster hot hatch and the zero-emissions Kona electric.
No prices were shared as part of the announcement, though we expect to glean those details closer to launch.
The first car to land on our shores will be the Ioniq. The base model with its 1.6-litre atmo petrol engine and assisting electric motor, will provide as much as 104kW and 265Nm, with power going to the front wheels via a six-speed double-clutch automatic. A small 1.56kWh lithium-ion battery pack does duty here, enough to keep the consumption low on most drives.
But the Ioniq Plug-In is perhaps the better option for urban drivers, thanks to its larger 8.9kWh battery pack capable of offering up to 63km of pure-electric range on a full charge (according to WLTP cycle). But it’s ultimately the same powertrain setup so there’s no performance boost to be enjoyed here.
However, you can go one step further and opt for the Ioniq EV, which throws out the perl engine in favour of a 28kWh battery, which gives the 98kW/295Nm all-electric family hatch a usable driving range of as much as 280km on a charge.
The next model following the Ioniq’s arrival in October is the Veloster. Hyundai’s hot hatch will be landing sometime in Q4 2018, coming in with two variants packing two different engines. The base Veloster will pack the 2.0-litre four-pot Nu engine, with 110kW/179Nm, with either a six-speed manual or an optional six-speed automatic. Further details for this model weren’t offered up, but expect to find quite a bit of the headline kit that was shown off when the Veloster was launched earlier this year.
If that’s not enough poke, the Veloster Turbo will likely be more your bag. In addition to things like advanced driver assistance kit, the Veloster Turbo also gets a much better engine: A 1.6-litre turbocharged four-pot engine with 150kW and 265Nm, mated to either a six-speed manual (yay!) or a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic.
The environmentally-conscious among you waiting for the Kona Electric have a bit of a wait ahead, as the zero-emissions crossover is only expected to land in the first quarter of 2019. However, when it does arrive, we’ll be offered only the long-range variant with its 470km range on a single charge, thanks to its larger 64kWh battery pack. It also has a generally-pointier powertrain, with 150kW and 395Nm on tap, enough to get the Kona from 0-100km/h in just 7.4-seconds, and onto a top speed of 167km/h. But good luck getting 470km range driving like that.
The Hyundai Kona is a relatively new entrant in our market, and the Kona Electric will be even more headturning. It features plenty of unique design touches, like a filled-out grille, bigger alloys, a unique dashboard, and the inclusion of adaptive cruise control that allows the car to maximise energy recuperation through braking.
Prices and further specifics on all of the cars mentioned will be provided closer to their respective launch dates, so stay tuned to CarShowroom as we bring you updates as they come.
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