Hyundai has been snapped putting the seven-seat, electric Ioniq 7 SUV through its paces.
The 7 will be Hyundai’s version of the Kia EV9, riding on the brand’s latest e-GMP electric car platform under the skin.
Hyundai Australia has already confirmed it will go on sale in Australia during 2024, as part of a plan to boost sales of Ioniq-branded electric vehicles from 3000 in 2023 to 6000 units in 2024.
Although it’s still heavily camouflaged, the Ioniq 7 is expected to remain faithful to the 2021 Seven concept.
Expect to see a two-tiered headlight arrangement, complete with the retro-futuristic parametric pixel detailing that links the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 already on sale.
With a 3200mm wheelbase, Hyundai says the interior of the Seven concept offers a “completely new dimension of space” with a tall roof and a flat floor.
The Seven Concept had “more than 480km” of range, though with undisclosed drivetrain specs. While Hyundai hasn’t confirmed further details, the new Kia EV9 should offer some clues.
Standard: 160kW/350Nm single-motor RWD, 0-100km/h in 8.2 secondsLong Range: 150kW/350Nm single-motor RWD, 0-100km/h in 9.4 secondsDual Motor: 283kW/600Nm dual-motor AWD, 0-100km/h in 6.0 seconds
A Boost feature is available on the Kia Connect store for dual-motor versions, increasing torque to 700Nm and cutting the 0-100km/h time to 5.3 seconds. Kia claims the EV9 will offer towing capacity of up to 2500kg.
Hyundai Seven conceptKia EV9
All excluding the rear-drive Standard will use a 99.8kWh battery, with the base model using a smaller 76.1kWh battery.
Kia has only published a range figure for the rear-wheel drive Long Range model with 19-inch wheels, which works out to 541km on the stricter WLTP cycle.
The EV9 offers 800V ultra-fast charging capability like other vehicles on the E-GMP platform, and Kia says 239km of range can be added in 15 minutes.
It can also be used to power appliances thanks to a Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) function, which puts out up to 3.68kW of power.
Hyundai Australia says supply of its electric vehicles is opening up, meaning it no longer has to sell its E-GMP-based models in ‘drops’ as it has done with the Ioniq 5 in the past.
There’s no more geofencing either, meaning anyone in Australia can now buy an Ioniq 5 or Ioniq 6 using the online sales portal, and take delivery from your preferred ‘delivery partner’.
Speaking of, Hyundai wants to have up to 90 delivery partners across 90-100 dealerships across Australia by the end of next year. Currently, that tally is sitting at 24 partners.
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