The Multi World Car Award winner Hyundai Ioniq 6 on display at the Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit
What better representative of the future of full electric mobility to have at a summit on Electric Vehicles? The Hyundai Ioniq 6 certainly created favorable impressions when it was tested at the 2023 World Car Of The Year Awards testing sessions in Pasadena, California last year. Enough so that it drove quietly away with three titles. It took the World Car Design of the Year Award and the World Electric Vehicle Award. From all the winners, it was then chosen as the overall 2023 World Car Of The Year Award, announced in New York this year.
All great news, but how does it work in a local environment? How does it handle the streets where you live?
I had a rather fun time putting people in the car, to see their reactions. The phrase I most heard was “pleasantly surprised.” After that, different people had different specifics.
One major impression was on space. There was so much of it, especially given that this wasn’t a big luxury boat or SUV. Even the taller larger people, sitting front and back, were surprised at how much room they had. This, we explained, was due to the fact that because electric motors freed up designers, they could allot more space to the cabin and comfort rather than to big engines and transmissions. Something that many electrics are able to take advantage of if they don’t have to do double-duty as either electric or internal combustion.
Another strong impression across the lard was smoothness. This is, of course, because electric motors are by nature more smooth in terms of power delivery, but that also has to do with how the designers and engineers tune the car systems. They could be built for serious acceleration, but that really isn’t important for most people. Instead, smoothness of power is most appreciated and that was what was prioritized here.
Some of the more knowledgeable that joined us were quite impressed with the ride quality. The car is definitely heavy, but the systems has the Ioniq 6 moving across different surfaces in a manner that was more like a heavy Euro sedan, using weight and mass as an advantage to isolate the passengers. This meant that a lot of thought had to go into the suspension to not just handle the weight but also hopefully stand up to time.
So, different people saw different things in the car, but in general, they all went away with a much better understanding and then acceptance of the technology of modern cars. Even those who were pretty anti-electric were saying they now see the point. And the point wasn’t necessarily about going green or looking for torque or being trendy. The point was more like, well that was a very pleasant way to move around.
And that may well be how people will start accepting cars like the Ioniq 6. By realizing that they can make things just a little…nicer.
