For anyone who’s a fan of 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner, and its 2017 sequel, Blade Runner 2049, there’s an obvious upgrade allegory going on here with Hyundai. Having introduced the ‘Nexus 6 Replicants’ (human-like robots) as the antagonists (and maybe the heroes?) of the original film, the production team, in 2017, introduced the latest models, the Nexus 9 Replicants, as a massive upgrade — faster, stronger, smarter, all the usual refinements.
Which makes a perfect match for Hyundai. Having introduced the Ioniq 6 electric saloon (pretty much my favourite EV of all), the Koreans have now introduced their upgrade — the Ioniq 9.
It’s not that there aren’t electric seven-seaters on the market, it’s just that Hyundai reckons that this new Ioniq 9 might be the best one yet, and looking at the spec sheet it’s kind of hard to argue with that as a conclusion.
The Ioniq 9 shares its E-GMP electric car platform with the existing Ioniqs 5 and 6, but also with Kia, which already makes the dramatically-styled EV9 seven-seater.
RM Block
So is the Hyundai an upgrade compared to its Korean brother-in-arms?
Yes, on a technical level. The Ioniq 9 gets a bigger battery, and comparing the base 218hp rear-wheel drive models, the Hyundai is around €1,000 more expensive than the Kia, but better equipped as standard, and it goes around an extra 60km (based on official figures) on one charge, thanks to a more slippery design.
That design manages an impressive 0.26Cd coefficient of drag, which is positively dolphin-like, but to do that I can’t help but feel that Hyundai has also taken some of the character out of it.
You’d never mistake the smaller Ioniq 5 (just updated) nor Ioniq 6 (itself due for an update later this year), but the 9 falls a touch prey to the tyranny of the wind tunnel, and comes out looking possibly a bit too smooth for its own good.
The distinctive block-shaped ‘pixel’ LED lights, front and rear, claw back a touch of character, but you’ll definitely want to go for one of the stronger colours (although the 20-inch multi-spoke alloys look utterly gorgeous, it should be said).
Inside, the Ioniq 9 does much better, and you can really see how Hyundai can claim that owners of expensive German premium models are happily rolling up to trade-in for one of these. There are some quantitative and qualitative snafus — the big, silver, plastic trim that runs across the dashboard and around the interior door handles looks and feels ,naff, as does the cheap-feeling remote key fob (just as well that the Ioniq 9 is set up to work with an in-phone digital key) but the rest is rather impressive.
For a start, massive kudos must go to Hyundai for keeping lots of physical buttons, especially those for air conditioning and heating, as well as steering wheel buttons and some other minor functions, which makes life on board so much easier, and which means that the twin 12.3-inch digital displays aren’t as distracting nor as fiddly as those in other cars.
There are also some quality high-points, such as the pale wood trim, the leather finish for the seats and (sliding) centre console, and the steering wheel, with its four-dots (Morse code for H) in the centre.
Space up front, whether you mean for passengers or objects, is simply excellent.
Space in the back seats is beyond excellent. Slide the middle row of seats (a three-seat bench for now, but a more luxurious layout with two individual ‘captain’s chairs’ is on the way in 2026) all the way back and there’s enough legroom to make a hen-night limo jealous.
The seats themselves are comfy too, and there’s both heating and cooling for bottoms in the two front seats as well as the two outer rears (plus high-speed USB-C charging ports all-round).
What about the seats in the boot, though? This can often be a stumbling point for seven-seaters, especially those with an SUV shape, but actually the news is pretty good.
Slide the middle row forward a touch, and there’s decent legroom and fine headroom for even tall people in row three, albeit it’s not as impressive as the space on offer in a long-wheelbase VW ID. Buzz.
There’s still a decent boot left behind you when those extra seats (with their cupholders, USB-C sockets, and air vents) are in use, with enough space for a claimed five carry-on rolly-bags, and if you fold the third row flat (you do this with handy buttons in the boot, which fold the seats electrically) and you’ve got a decent 620 litre boot, backed up by an 88 litre storage area in the nose.
So, the Ioniq 9 has roominess, as well as luxuriousness, but what about range? Well, we’ll have to wait for a fuller test to really find out, but on this brief test, the news looks mostly good. Hyundai claims a 620km range from its 106kWh (useable) battery.
Based on our driving (mixing country roads and motorway, amid the foul conditions of an orange weather warning) it returned an average energy consumption of 21kWh/100km, which means 500km should be possible, and probably a bit more if you’re being careful. That makes the Ioniq 9 useful even for long-haul drivers.
Those long-haulers will also appreciate the 350kW DC fast charging capability, which allows the Ioniq 9 to top up from 10-80 per cent battery charge in just 24 minutes, and if you have any excess capacity there’s the potential to run other electrical devices, and even your house, from that massive battery.
Is the Ioniq 9 any good to drive, though? Actually, and maybe somewhat surprisingly, yes it is. The E-GMP platform has some impressive DNA (Ioniq 5 N…). The front suspension does bottom out over speed bumps, which can be jarring, but while you can certainly tell that the Ioniq 9 has been set up for comfort (excellent ride quality, utter silence at a cruise, helped by special low-noise tyres), there’s enough precision to the steering. What it mostly feels is imperious, with a hint of Range Rover about it, and praise doesn’t come much higher.
Does that make the Ioniq 9 worthy of its €78,495 price tag? Well, you can come at that two ways — either it’s an €80,000 Hyundai, which sounds like a lot; or it’s a car with a great deal of the capability, comfort, and refinement of vastly more expensive rivals, such as the Volvo EX90 and the Mercedes EQS SUV.
Already, Hyundai Ireland is saying that it’s taking trade-ins for the car from premium German brand drivers, and that it’s not expecting much crossover between those buying an Ioniq 9 and those already buying the impressive hybrid-engined Santa Fe (which isn’t quite as roomy, but which looks way cooler). Only time will tell if EV will beat hybrid in this equation.
