Hyundai’s pledge to get to carbon neutrality by 2045 took center stage at IAA2021 in Munich with a look at the brand’s next EV expected to hit the market, the Ioniq 6, sometime in 2023.
The next model, which follows the Ioniq 5 introduced earlier this year, is going to borrow heavily from the Prophecy show car it displayed in March 2020. The sleek, sporty looking vehicle was displayed in black — just like the Prophecy — on the show floor in Germany.
Officials on hand confirmed the arrival of the Ioniq 6, according to AutoExpress, a UK-based auto news website, at the same time it planned to sell electric vehicles only in Europe by 2035. The rest of the world will be the same by 2040, according to Hyundai.
Reportedly, the Ioniq 7 will follow the Ioniq 6 in 2024. It will be a seven-passenger sport-utility vehicle. It too will utilize Hyundai’s E-GMP platform, following the lead of the Ioniq 5 and 6, as well as Kia’s EV6 and the recently announced Geneis EV60.
The inspiration
The Ioniq 6 is an appealing departure from the Ioniq 5. Like the concept it’s based on, the Ioniq 6 features of the new “Sensuous Sportiness” design language that made the Hyundai Prophecy a crystal ball on wheels.
The sleek silhouette of the Prophecy – which comes across as a Taycan-like sports car, pushes Hyundai into a new design direction. The look is clean and relatively subtle, with the hood sweeping upward from a low, grille-less nose, then flowing across a coupe-like roof into a boat-tail rear — accented by hidden vertical taillamps. Creases flow from the front fender to back wheel arch, while the inset rocker panels emphasize a coke-bottle curve to the Prophecy’s silhouette.
It’s inside the cabin, however, that one finds some of the more intriguing elements of the Prophecy design. The concept is designed to operate autonomously. But, should a driver wish to take manual control, it features two joysticks, rather than a steering wheel, one in the center console, the other on the door trim.
Steering is handled by pivoting either joystick left or right, but “drivers have access to a wide variety of (additional vehicle) functions,” Hyundai said in a statement, “which can be selected via the joysticks’ integrated buttons. Ultimately, this human-machine interface enhances passenger safety.”
Fittingly, the Hyundai Prophecy also makes use of sustainable materials for its cabin and lighting and material colors intended to enhance a sense of calm. A “Clean Air Technology” system filters out pollutants, meanwhile.
What makes it to the final design
It’s unclear how much of the unique features of the Prophecy will make it to the final product. However, it appears that the external design is going to show up in a couple years largely unchanged. The company has not yet offered any pricing or performance numbers for its second electric vehicle.
However, what it does do is emphatically move Hyundai’s mission of an all-electrified line-up one more great big leap forward. Paired with the new dedicated Ioniq 5 robotaxi, set to arrive in 2023 as well and the commitment revealed Sept. 7 to make certain all of its commercial vehicles will have electrified alternatives to gas or diesel power by 2028, the South Korean automaker does appear to be fully committed to its electric future plans.
