Hyundai Ioniq PHEV Review

Performance

Nobody ever bought a Hyundai Ioniq – electric, PHEV, hybrid or otherwise – because it was fun. But even with modest expectations for driver satisfaction, the Ioniq can be a touch disappointing. The 104bhp petrol engine (power is 139bhp with the electric motor) is the weak point. It’s quite coarse and noisy if it’s revved hard, and since the Ioniq is fairly low on power you can be tempted to do that quite often if you want to make even moderate progress. As such, the Ioniq PHEV is nicer to drive in pure electric mode when it’s far quieter and smoother-feeling, and is just as quick even up to motorway speeds. 

The dual-clutch automatic gearbox shuffles neatly between electric and petrol power, and also streams power from both to the front wheels if you ask for a burst of acceleration. You can simply leave the Ioniq in automatic hybrid mode and there are no ungainly hesitations or surges in power delivery as it picks and chooses the most efficient power source. You will notice the noise and vibration of the petrol engine kicking in if you’ve been driving on electric power, though. 

Drive

Small wheels and soft suspension make the Ioniq PHEV comfortable even over scruffy town roads, while light steering makes it easy to wield around awkward multi-storey car parks or congested school drop-off zones. 

It’s generally an absolute doddle to drive. The only thing that takes a bit of getting used to is the brakes, since the Ioniq – like every electrified car – has a brake regeneration system. This harvests energy to top-up the battery when you’re braking, and also from the car’s natural forward motion when you’re not accelerating. In short, the car feels like it’s applying light braking force when you lift off the throttle, but you can vary how aggressive this is in the Ioniq, and it always bleeds in smoothly and is easy to predict. As long as you’re expecting it, it’s nothing to worry about.

Suffice to say that the Ioniq PHEV isn’t a car that excites. A VW Golf GTE, a Peugeot e-2008, a Nissan Leaf, a Kia Soul EV and even Hyundai’s own Kona all have a bit more vim to the way they drive. But if you’re not fussed about that, and you just want something that’s easy to drive, the Hyundai will do the job.