Along with it, when you encounter a sportier road and switch over to Sport mode, steering wheel heft firms up a bit and shifts provide sounds and sensations that are reassuring to those coming from gasoline vehicles. The Plug-In Hybrid’s ride is just right for the mission-and quiet enough at highway speeds-while it handles better than a Prius Prime. The Elantra Hybrid was much punchier from a standing start, and apparently with a more responsive traction system.Īt 3,300 pounds, the Ioniq PHEV weighs about 200 pounds more than the Ioniq Hybrid and 300 pounds more than the Elantra Hybrid. The Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid drove very differently at lower speeds than the Elantra Hybrid-far less perky from a standing start, with an initial awkward pause, accelerator to the floor, followed by front wheelspin from about 3 mph. According to the trip computer I averaged 56 mpg-the same as a few weeks earlier on the same route in the Elantra Hybrid. Then to see what the Ioniq PHEV can do in its hybrid mode, I set the heat to 72 and took it on the gently driven 53-mile out-and-back driving loop I’ve done in a number of hybrids, including about an equal mix of freeway, suburban, and rolling country roads, with altitude rising from 300 feet to 1,000 feet then back. As such, the Ioniq PHEV went a stellar 34 miles before starting up the gas engine. The route was essentially the same one I’ve taken with a number of plug-in hybrids-8 miles on the freeway at roughly 65 mph, another 8 miles on a 50-mph road with occasional stoplights, then the rest of the route on a 30-mph street with more frequent stoplights. With outside temps clear and 44 degrees, I shut the climate system off, turned up the heated seat, and periodically cracked the passenger-side window to keep the windshield from fogging up. Luckily the rain let up later in the week and I’d learned to temper my right foot and keep the engine off. Hyundai has told us that the system will decide to start the engine depending on torque demand, driveline load, or even how quickly the accelerator pedal is being pressed. The frustrating part is that this point isn’t always in the same place in the accelerator’s travel. With a separate clutch for the engine, both the engine and the motor can be taken in or out of the mix when needed.Įven in its default Eco mode, with plenty of plug-in charge, the Ioniq PHEV starts up the gasoline engine if it thinks you need more torque than the electric motor can deliver through its gearing. The front-wheel-drive Ioniq PHEV is powered by an Atkinson-cycle 1.6-liter inline-4 and a 60-hp permanent-magnet electric motor mounted at the input shaft of the transmission, making 139 hp altogether. Hyundai Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid - January 2021 But if you charge when you can and just let the car balance those wants and needs, your gasoline consumption will go way down. If your idea of a plug-in hybrid is one in which you want a short daily commute free of tailpipe emissions and need the gasoline for longer trips on the weekends-or because you don’t have charging access at home-you might be a little disappointed. Marketing for the Hyundai Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid boasts, “Electric when you want it. Simply put, it feels as if it wants to be in charge. It makes those hardware and software decisions without allowing much input from the driver. Hyundai doesn’t do that with the Ioniq PHEV. Other plug-in hybrids such as the Toyota Prius Prime, the late-and-great Chevy Volt, or most PHEVs sold by luxury brands, provide a mode to essentially lock the gasoline engine out, given enough charge. With no resistive (electric) heater, the Plug-In Hybrid needs to start the engine for that-and with the battery full, it’s not entirely clear if the engine is used for anything other than its “waste heat.”Īfter a brief attempt to push on without the climate control (it fogged up quickly), I relented to the car’s logic and let it cycle the engine on a few minutes at a time-powering the car when it was running, and using a small fraction of the charge.Įven when you don’t need to heat the cabin, there are other indications that Hyundai sees the Ioniq PHEV as a hybrid that plugs in, rather than a vehicle that provides plug-in (electric) driving or hybrid driving, independently. It was 52 degrees outside and lightly raining, and I had turned on the climate control to keep the windshield clear and warm up the car a bit. But the moment I started driving, the engine started, a rather jarring interruption to the quiet of the electric motor.
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