2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE Lengthy Vary Goes the Distance on Route 66

From the June 2023 issue of Car and Driver.

Route 66 ain’t what it used to be. The Mother Road has long been bypassed by the Interstate Highway System, and most of its once-numerous roadside motels, gas stations, and eateries have vanished beneath the blades of bulldozers. Those that remain generally fall into one of two categories: graffiti-slathered skeletons of their former selves that live on in Instagram infamy or Route 66 memorabilia outfits selling tchotchkes and supplies to infrequent passersby.

But the road still has a lot of appeal, especially the more desolate stretches that wander far from the interstate through lonely yet beautiful lands that convey a sense of time travel. These are places where you can see the weather advancing across the countryside as you drive down into the valley to meet it. There are few people out here and even fewer services, making it an interesting environment to take the new Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric sedan off leash on a road trip.

The sleek Ioniq 6 sedan shares much with the Ioniq 5 SUV. Both ride on Hyundai’s acclaimed E-GMP platform, with an available long-range battery pack that stores 77.4 kWh of electricity. The Ioniq 6 is available in rear-wheel drive with a rear-mounted motor that provides 225 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque or all-wheel drive with an added front motor that bumps total output to 320 horses and 446 pound-feet. Curiously, Hyundai claims both Ioniqs weigh nearly the same, with the SUV’s gross vehicle weight rating exceeding the sedan’s by just 44 pounds in long-range spec.

Measuring Up against the Ioniq 5 SUV

That they look radically different is self-evident, but there’s much to glean from the details. The sedan is 8.6 inches longer than the SUV, while its roofline is 4.1 inches lower. At 0.22, its coefficient of drag betters the cubist SUV’s by 23.6 percent. Combine this with its tidier frontal area, and we estimate the Ioniq 6 enjoys a 30 percent reduction in aerodynamic drag force.

This pays off when it comes to EPA ratings, as our rear-drive SE Long Range test car, a $46,825 machine, is good for a whopping 361-mile range and 140 MPGe combined. Meanwhile, the same best-case configuration of the boxier Ioniq 5 is rated at 303 miles and 114 MPGe combined. On the competitor front, the single-motor, front-drive Polestar 2 sedan is pegged for 270 miles of range and 107 MPGe combined (rising to a Polestar-estimated 300 miles and switching to rear-drive for 2024), while a rear-drive Tesla Model 3 does 272 miles and 132 MPGe.

The Route

This massive difference gave us the confidence to wander far off the interstate, following all the weather-beaten Route 66 fragments we could stitch into an itinerary from Arizona to California. In theory, the Ioniq’s competitors could manage this, albeit with more uncertainty. The old road crosses and recrosses Interstate 40 like an endless braided river, with Electrify America DC fast-charge stations sitting at several of those nodes. The options along our route read as if the station planners were guided by the song lyrics “Flagstaff, Arizona, don’t forget Winona, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino.” Electrify America added stations in Williams, Needles, Fenner, and Hesperia for good measure, even though those burgs escaped the notice of songwriter Bobby Troup.

Our trip began in Phoenix, and the portion that followed Route 66 spanned 381 miles from Flagstaff to Barstow, where we’d leave the “highway that’s the best” to keep an appointment at the test track. There was an initial uphill pull to Flagstaff, and then we persevered to Williams to avoid heavy overnight snow. The Williams fast-charge station occupied our hotel’s parking lot, so we took advantage. From there, we covered the remaining 342-mile meander to Barstow with a brief 24-minute stop in Fenner, California. We could have pressed on to our off-piste overnight in Mojave, but hunger got the best of us, and restaurants surround the station in Barstow.

Competent and Confident

Through it all, the Ioniq 6 proved to be a sublimely capable road-trip machine, winding in the miles with self-assured competence. Aided by an extra bit of sidewall thanks to the SE’s 18-inch Hankooks, the suspension glides over neglected, alligator-cracked two-lane pavement that fell off the highway department’s priority list decades ago. The steering holds up its end of the bargain, imparting a confident sense of straight-ahead unfettered by crosswinds and scalloped road edges. In the twistier sections, effort builds progressively as the car bends willingly into corners, a precursor to the decent 0.86 g of grip we measured at the track despite narrow 225-mm all-season rubber.

Our single-motor powertrain’s 225 horsepower isn’t terribly athletic, but the absence of all-wheel drive keeps the weight down to 4225 pounds. This also gives our rear-drive Ioniq 6 a slight rearward weight bias (46.7/53.3 percent), which puts the power to the ground much more gracefully than the single-motor Polestar 2’s front-drive setup. At the track, the Ioniq 6’s 6.2-second dash to 60 mph handily beat Hyundai’s own estimate, while its ready torque and direct-drive gearbox made quick work of passing maneuvers. Romps of 2.5 seconds from 30 to 50 mph and 3.6 seconds from 50 to 70 mph compare favorably with results from the last BMW 540i xDrive we tested.

Its wheelbase is 2.0 inches shorter than the Ioniq 5’s, but the sedan’s front seat offers a far more spacious environment. We’re smitten with the bi-level console and its huge basement, and we don’t mind the window switches and lock button mounted there because this enables full-length floating armrests on nearly naked door panels, allowing one to grasp anywhere to pull the door shut. The displays and controls are more attractive and intuitive than in the Ioniq 5 or its Kia and Genesis counterparts, and they blow away the barren Model 3. The streamliner’s arcing roof does impinge on rear headroom somewhat, but noggin space is still competitive. Besides, there’s plenty of room to sprawl out because of the rear cabin’s breadth and abundant legroom.

Supportive Interior

At a glance of the entry-level SE, it’s not immediately apparent what you’re missing by not stepping up to the SEL or Limited. Sure, the seats are cloth, but they are seamlessly supportive—and heated up front. The steering column isn’t power adjustable, but it tilts and telescopes. Phone mirroring and charging aren’t wireless, but USB ports and places to stash your device abound. Driver-assistance features seemingly want for little, with adaptive cruise control that’s tied into adjustable regenerative braking and Hyundai’s high-performing lane-centering system both present.

A Few Weaknesses

As good as the Ioniq 6 is, it’s not perfect. The trunk’s 11-cubic-foot capacity is weak. The headlights don’t have much reach on a dark desert highway. Also, we managed just 260 miles in our 75-mph range test, which says more about EPA ratings than anything else. The feds’ 361-mile estimate combines city and highway test cycles in a 55/45 split, and the highway portion is not the steady cruise you might imagine. Our test distills a road-trip number, and 260 miles is still a lot where bladders and appetites are concerned. On a back-road tour like this, you’ll likely take your time and fare better with range. After all, if you drive too fast, you’ll be unable to read the Burma-Shave signs as you pass.

Counterpoints

There’s real polish here, both in the confident way the Ioniq 6 goes down the road and in the design flourishes that combine form and function in innovative ways. The four dots on the steering wheel reference Morse code for “H” and also serve as state-of-charge indicators while the car is plugged in—silly, but not pointless. We’ll take that over Elon’s fart mode any day. —Joey Capparella

Could the ascendance of EVs be what finally derails the trend of ever-larger wheels? The Hyundai Ioniq 6 shows why it might. When equipped with the 77.4-kWh battery pack, the single-motor version sees its headline-making 361-mile EPA range drop precipitously to 305 miles the moment buyers “upgrade” from 18-inch wheels to 20s. Making the same change on the dual-motor Ioniq 6 results in a 46-mile loss. With EV buyers prioritizing range—understandable, given the still-shaky charging infrastructure—high-style oversize wheels suddenly lose some luster. Fortunately, the Ioniq 6 still has style to spare, even on 18s. —Joe Lorio