1750km Test Drive in Ioniq Electric

[JejuSoul]

A mention of the safety features. This car was the highest trim with all the additional safety features. It does not have auto-park.

As standard it has a rear view camera and 8 ultrasonic sensors. The rear view has curving grid lines.
When parking you hear beeps if you get too close to an object.



My car included the optional Safety Package which adds a radar and a camera at the front, and two radars at the back.
The safety features included were AEB, SCC, BSD, RCTA, LCA, LDWS, and LKAS. (see below for explanations of these).
With these extra sensors built in it is probable that the autonomous features of the car will be updated.
An original car bought without the safety package will almost certainly never have them added.

I never needed Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) - so can't comment on how it works. I would probably buy the Safety Package for just this feature alone. Even if I never used it I would want the peace of mind that it was there. Would be nice to hear from someone who actually used it.

Here's a YouTube video demonstrating Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu65Cwv27l4

Another feature I never used was Smart Cruise Control (SCC). This allows the car to maintain a set distance behind the car in front during cruise control.
If I get another chance to test the car, this will be the first thing I will test.

AEB and SCC use a radar in the front bumper. It is behind the logo sticker. The logo is 2D, cleverly drawn to look 3D.



Cars without AEB do not have the radar, and come with a 3D metallic logo on the bumper. For example.



The Ioniq Hybrid has a much less attractive 2D logo on a transparent plate.



Never noticed the Blind Spot Detection (BSD) icon in the side mirror, never noticed Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA).



The Lane Change Assist however beeps like crazy if you turn on the indicators to make a lane change just after a car passes by. You start indicating before the car going faster than you has finished passing, and immediately beep, beep beep warnings at full volume. These 'false' alarms I found quite annoying, because obviously I can see the car in front of me and to the side. I had been waiting for it to overtake me before indicating. I don't think I ever got beeped for a car I hadn't seen. Obviously this warning would be a life saver if I ever did make that error, hence I will put up with that annoyance. I would probably change my driving style by waiting for the passing car to get slightly ahead before indicating.

BSD, RCTA and LCA use two radars in the rear bumper.



Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS) beeps at you if you cross the lane markings unintentionally. Quite useful.

Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS) is the one I found really intriguing the first day I drove the car. The car took control on corners when I was driving at speed. I assume I was not driving perfectly in lane and the car was correcting my errors. This disappeared after the first day. I think the car computer had 'trained' me how to drive this car.

LKAS uses a camera in the front windscreen.



There is also a sensor in the steering wheel that will cause the car to start beeping if you take your hands off the steering wheel. This self-driving on corners is not supposed to be auto-pilot.



Something else I didn't know at the time of my drive. You have 3 modes of driver assist.
Go to the 'User Settings → Driving Assist → Lane Keeping Assist System

[JejuSoul]

A comment about marketing. (The first 3 photos are from http://oddangzzigae.blog.me/220810559323 , the latter 3 are mine)

One of my stops on the trip was at the new shopping mall Starfield Hanam. This is where the new Tesla store is being built.
A couple of doors along from Tesla was the Ioniq Store.









Here's a YouTube video of the Ioniq Store

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCfakyM53mA

Just a side note - The Ioniq EV does have a 12V battery. And if you run the accessories while parked you will drain this battery. Hence the battery charger here under the car charging the 12V battery. In the photo above the regular charging cable is for display. They are not charging or using the High Voltage EV battery. In my opinion it is a very bad advertisement for an electric car to display jumper cables on the 12 V battery







The previous posts on this same thread are -
1/ Overview
2/ Charging
3/ Servicing
4/ Range and Efficiency
5/ Interior
6/ Safety features

[sam]

Fantastic info n pics. Must have been a great test drive!

[JejuSoul]

I really enjoyed the road trip, despite never using the car in 'Sport' mode, never testing the zero - 60 acceleration and never driving faster than 130km/h. The best reviewer comment I have found for this car is perhaps the 'IONIQ Electric is well positioned for normal driving'.

This advertisement from Norway though does promote this car as 'Sporty' . Note the driver in this video switches from Eco mode to Sports mode at about 13 seconds into this video. Initially the display shows a 'D' for Drive mode and then switches to 'S'. Am not sure if the display has been photo-shopped or if that is real. Similarly the range of 280km does not change when she switches modes. I think that range is photo-shopped.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIXoMlZrPtM

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Here are the Drive Mode Settings. I never played with these.
I drove in the default mode which had no speed limit set, I adjusted regen myself with the paddles, I didn't need to use the HVAC at all.
I think it's great to have these options. I just didn't need them on this trip.



Touching that option leads to this page



For each of the four 'Drive Modes' (Eco, Normal, Sport, Default) you can adjust 3 settings.

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Here's the dash with sport mode on. It's not my photo. I am kind of annoyed I didn't experiment with this setting.

[JejuSoul]

I have updated the sections Charging and Safety Features with some new info I found in the owner's manual.

Also this review does seem to suggest that The Ioniq EV is fun to drive in the mountains. from Next Green Car Hyundai Ioniq Electric review

...
As with many EVs, the acceleration times don't sound particularly quick, but it is the 'in-gear' acceleration that is most impressive. Shorter bursts like pulling away from the lights, nipping out of junctions, or accelerating from 30-50mph are completed extremely quickly, and the Ioniq Electric doesn't struggle at all in this regard. The Hyundai's electric motor has more than enough pulling power to get up steep hills or overtake on a country road. It's range also doesn't plummet as some of its rivals do when sitting at motorway speeds, making this a reasonable car to drive long distances in.
...
The steering doesn't provide much feedback, but it is accurate and responsive, with the driver only needing to take one bite at threading a line through a bend. This adds up to a car that you can have some fun with - for example when driving around some excellent driving roads on the North Wales test route - but one that is more comfortable around town.

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There's a very good review in Norwegian --- Test of Hyundai IONIQ Electric: Highly efficient newcomer
They find the Ioniq EV to be more efficient than the BMW i3

Interesting to see that the same car in Norway has some differences to the car I drove.

The trickle charge slot is at the back.



Small software difference - no option for off peak charging.



These differences make me think twice before writing the next section which was intended to be about the Map system and route planning. This software utility probably varies more between the different countries where the car is sold than any other. In particular Android Auto / Apple CarPlay is not available in Korea, so I cannot discuss those apps. The internal mapping software is far more advanced here than elsewhere however.

[JejuSoul]

The cluster display can be changed with the menu button on the steering wheel.
Here are a few of the displays.

Most commonly I used the Turn By Turn arrows display when using Navigation.



Can also show tire pressures using TPMS



Instant Fuel Economy



Can show messages (Door open, BSD off)



Here the radar seems to be giving a warning about the car in front.

[JejuSoul]

Some more pictures for you. Am trying to show the sunroof. I tested it. It works but I am not a fan of sunroofs. The sloping rear roof is aerodynamic but it is awkward for tall adults in the rear seat because of it. Similarly the split rear window is obviously good for the aerodynamics but I didn't get used to its restricting of the rear vision.

Click for bigger image







Here's the only photo I have with the side lights on. I am slow charging at a guest house. Using the lights to see the plug.







Here's a photo of another car to show the Daytime Running Lights

[goncalo]

Did you try the car with HVAC?
AC or Heater?

Is the heater a heat-pump?? Does it have also an resistance for heat when temperature drop below a certain temperature?

Here in montreal, canada, during winter we get a couples of days with temperature around -20 degrees C and colder during night.

I'm wondering how the car range will be at these temperatures.
How the HVAC influence in the range when used during summer or winter?!?!
I think these are important question for real life range for future clients of this car.

[JejuSoul]

Here in montreal, canada, during winter we get a couples of days with temperature around -20 degrees C and colder during night.

I'm wondering how the car range will be at these temperatures.

All EVs have lower range in the winter.

I assume the Ioniq EV will have a range curve similar to this one for the 24kWh Nissan Leaf. (Note that 24kWh is total battery capacity, actual usable capacity is 21.3kWh - http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesand ... 2012_o.pdf)
Range on the Ioniq EV would be at least 31.5% higher, because of the 28kWh battery( (Note that 28kWh is actual usable capacity) and then adding a few more percent because the Ioniq EV has slightly better fuel economy overall. The biggest difference will probably be for those travelling at 'normal' speeds on the freeway. It is at the faster speeds that the Ioniq does so much better. Hence I would expect the lower of the two curves to improve more for the Ioniq EV ) The HVAC system on the Ioniq EV is almost certainly similar to the one on the Kia Soul EV. It is a better system than that used by Nissan and as such the Ioniq EV should also do slightly better in winter. I can't know for sure though until I see more data.



But I have never driven this car in the winter. My test drive was in perfect weather, 20C, dry, calm, and clear. I never used the HVAC. I never used the wipers. I never drove at night. Obviously these are major criteria for deciding on whether to buy a car. How does it perform in rain, snow, on ice? How bad is the loss of range in winter? I didn't test any of them yet.

There is a video showing an Ioniq EV driving 350km on a single charge here. But that journey is driving much more slowly on average than I did in perfect weather conditions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW56pVtWPJo

[JejuSoul]

An article in Korean about battery upgrade for the IONIQ EV - http://www.etnews.com/20161028000555

It states there will be a 50% increase in capacity in 2018.
An increase from 28kWh to between 40kWh and 44kWh. (I wonder why they didn't just say around 42kWh)

They state the range will increase from 191km to 320km (119 miles to 200miles). This is greater than a 50% increase. These numbers are on the Korean scale which is close to the EPA values. Not the European NEDC.

It also gives a higher number for fuel economy than was previously reported. 136MPGe