I don’t get to luggage test too many sedans since, well, they don’t really offer a lot of sedan models any more. That’s especially true in the EV realm. Of course, Tesla literally sells a boatload of its sedans, but in terms of different electric models for sale, the number offered is limited. But there’s one more this year! The Hyundai Ioniq 6 takes everything we love about the funky Ioniq 5 hatchback/crossover/? and applies it to a funky Olds Aurora/Infiniti J30-looking melting sedan body, but adds sportiness and range.
I’ve already deeply dived into the rest of the Ioniq 6 SE interior, so now it’s time to check out its cargo area. One look at that sloping rear end should be enough to tell you that this should be a pretty small trunk and you’d be right. The specs say it measures 11.2 cubic-feet, which is usually what you’d find in many coupes or smaller luxury sedans like the Genesis G70 and Cadillac CT4. Basically, if all my bags fit, I’d be shocked.
All told, this is a pretty standard trunk and it benefits from struts instead of egg-crusher hinges that rob cars like the CT4 of precious trunk space. But …
Here’s the slope of the open trunk. My bag dimensions are below, but that would be my biggest bag in the upper right (bottom for mobile users). That always fits in sedan trunks. Not even close here.
As in every luggage test I do, I use two midsize roller suitcases that would need to be checked in at the airport (26 inches long, 16 wide, 11 deep), two roll-aboard suitcases that just barely fit in the overhead (24L x 15W x 10D), and one smaller roll-aboard that fits easily (23L x 15W x 10D). I also include my wife’s fancy overnight bag just to spruce things up a bit (21L x 12W x 12D).
As expected, everything didn’t fit. That would be one of the medium-sized bags on the ground. The fancy bag is also a bit smushed as you can see, but a less rigid duffle bag would’ve been fine.
This is indeed a bit bigger than those smaller compact luxury sedans. They needed to leave behind one of the bigger bags. But, for Hyundai family reference …
This is what you can fit in a Hyundai Sonata (full luggage test here). Everything with oodles of space left over. Good grief, did I just type “oodles”? Any way, that’s the difference between 11.2 cubic-feet and 16.3.
Here are some other trunk notes.
This is one of the two little pulls that remotely fold the back seat. I guess this is a handy feature, but they also stick down far enough that they can prevent you from fitting something inside. This is not the only sedan I’ve come across that deals with this. Something like the side-mounted pulls in various SUVs would be better or yet another power-operated button.
Speaking of power-operated buttons, the Ioniq 6 SE may have cloth seats and no wireless phone charger, but it has a power trunk lid, complete with the always-handy “close trunk and also lock car” button.
In the above right photo (bottom for mobile users), that little square covered in dots next to the rearview camera is the button that opens the trunk lid. It probably doesn’t say “open trunk” in Braille.
As in most EVs, there is a substantial underfloor storage area. There’s also no spare tire.
It’s not big enough to hold any of my bags, but it’s not useless. When I got the car, a charge cord and tire-patching kit were inside. They do not need to reside here, though, because …
They actually fit perfectly in the frunk. Actually, they’re about the only things that could fit in the frunk, and given how infrequently you’re bound to use them (assuming you don’t charge your EV using a 120-volt outlet), leaving them under here for emergencies makes sense. I know I keep my Niro EV’s 120-volt charge cord in the frunk and have removed it from there precisely once.
Obviously and not surprisingly, the Ioniq 6 has a smaller and less useful trunk than the Ioniq 5. However, as I discovered with that car’s luggage test, it’s hardly God’s gift to cargo carrying, either. It also suffers from a sloped liftgate opening that makes it effectively less useful than its seemingly generous 27.2 cubic-feet spec would suggest.
In fact, the Ioniq 6 and 5 don’t look all that different, do they? Those bags have virtually the same dimensions, and you can see the similar cargo area length and cargo opening slope.
Now, is this totally OK since both look so cool? I’ll leave that for you to decide.
