Hyundai’s IONIQ 9: How to feel rich for cheap!?!
[Music] Hello, welcome to the Ionic 9. It’s a big high-end luxurious SUV, and I have a theory about cars like this. I put it to you that this is the type of car least used for the thing it was made to do. Because yes, it can transport many people, and yes, it can go off-road, and it can knock out big motorway journeys in one go. But what this type of car is mostly used for big high-end SUVs is a normal car just for people who have a bit of cash. I mean, especially around here in the Cotworld where we are today, Robert Llewellyn country. Everywhere you look, Land Rovers, Range Rovers. When was the last time any of these saw an honest bit of farm work? Not recently, let me tell you. They are schoolrun mobilebiles. They’re grocery getters. therefore dropping young Hugo and Carrot off at obo recital and then nipping around the corner for a quick affair. And so today, in the spirit of that, we will not be testing the upper limits of the Ionic 9’s immense capabilities. No, we’re just going to knock about town and see what it’s like as a luxury item. So, this is the Ionic 9 and you’re watching the Everything Expensive Show. Our three free YouTube channels on EVs and clean energy tech are funded by our fun-packed Test Drivetastic events in the North, West, and Greater London and events down under. Next up, everything electric Sydney 2026. Plus, check out everythingleelectric.store for merch and much more. Back to the episode. Now, I should clarify that I am kind of sort of not really joking with what I said in that intro. I’m sure it goes without saying that lots of people will be attracted to this car because they genuinely have lots of children and need the extra space or they genuinely often do long-d distanceance driving and for them the enormous 110 kWh big battery that this thing is offered with will be very attractive. I’m sure that all of that will be especially true in North America where I feel longd distance driving is a little bit more common as potentially is having more children. Horny those yanks. And for those people, for people who genuinely need a big SUV, who genuinely do big SUV things, this is fantastic, just like the EV9 with which it shares much of its under bits. But look, we’ve done the EV9, we filmed it, we drove up a mountain, we did the whole big SUV thing. And I think the biggest point of differentiation between this and the Kia is that this with its slightly more prestigious badge and its pixely swoopy design and its sheer flipping massiveness has the potential to be that other thing as well. A status symbol, a Chelsea tractor. So today we’re doing away with all the sensible journalistic criteria like efficiency and boot literage and we’re focusing on the things that really matter to the average cotium which are of course head turning ability, air of superiority, perceived expensiveness, waftiness and handling of the Waitro car park. [Music] Criteria number one, head turnability. What do we think? Me personally, I don’t think it’s quite as good a piece of design as the EV9. I just prefer the way that looks. I think it’s sharper. But I suspect that to the 1% the EV9 with its matte blue paint and black wheels might be a little bit new money, a bit go chby. This on the other hand, a bit more elegant, a bit more understated. It’s not a masterpiece. It’s a little bit blobby front on, but there’s a lot to like. On previous Ionic cars, five and six, this pixy design language has been expressed in a very bold and retro futuristic way. But here, it’s cleaner. It’s sleeker, and I think it works for the most part. Really nice from the side. Love this rear horn. Love the clean brake at the rear, which is also very good for efficiency. Not that we’re talking about anything as uncivilized as that today. These are good as well. Look at these multis-spoke wheels you get on this topsp spec calligraphy model. Not too big. I like that. You know, we want a bit of squashy sidewall on your luxury SUV. And I just like the way they look. They’re not trying to be arrow wheels. They’re not trying to be efficient. They look like they could be off an old ‘ 70s Jag. Good lord. I say small. Those are 21s. I’ve just realized. 21s. Look at the way this car makes 21in wheels. Look. They look like bottle caps. This is a big car. I may have mentioned that. 506 cm. Longer and taller than an EV9. Longer than a Range Rover. one of the biggest cars that you can buy. I’ve got to say, I’ve not driven much in the last couple of years that has turned as many heads as this has. I’m sure it’s partly because it’s brand new. People may not have seen one before, but I think it’s mostly because it’s massive and it’s got massive presence and it’s painted a fantastic color. So, what about waftiness? Just how luxuriously can this thing move along the road? Well, this is where electric vehicles come into their own, isn’t it? Because there is nothing waftier than a big EV. I’ve got it all. I’m sitting high up. I’ve got the commanding driving position. I’ve got the seemingly effortless performance. I’ve got the effortless driving experience afforded by one pedal driving with automatic regen. It is an imperious vehicle. And I’ll tell you something in particular I really like about it, the throttle pedal. Because this thing is fast. It’s got a lot of performance, but you don’t want the acceleration to be spiky in any way. Equally, you don’t want it to be too languid. You don’t want to have to put the pedal all the way down to the floor to make stuff happen. And it is the perfect balance between those two things. It’s a throttle pedal that says to me, “Well, obviously I could if you’d like me to, sir. I just think it would be a bit uncou. If there’s an area where this car doesn’t shine, it’s ride comfort. It’s fine. It’s good. It’s pleasant, but it’s not exquisite. It’s not spellbinding. If you’ve spent time in Range Rovers or Bentleys or Porsche SUVs with the optional air suspension, it ain’t that. And granted, this is a much less expensive car than all of the ones I just mentioned. But that brings me to a slightly controversial opinion I have about the Ionic 9. I think it should be a bit more expensive because it starts at 65 grand. It’s the exact same price as the Kia EV9. What’s the point of that? EV9, you knocked out the park, lads. Hundai Group, great job. Smashed it. Why give it a direct rival? Why not say, “Well, let’s go after the next price point up now. Take them to the cleaners as well because there still isn’t an electric Range Rover. is still waiting. It’s there for the taking. People who want a really high-end big luxurious electric car, not much for them yet. And I just think if this thing had a starting price of 80 grand instead of being 80 grand fully loaded, that would have given Hyundai a bit more room to really make this properly special. Give it some really high-end suspension, for example. There you go. It’s not expensive enough. 65 grand. Chump change. Just another downto- earthth relatable car review with man of the people Jack Scarlet. Right, moving on to perceived expensiveness. This is very important. How nice does stuff feel to touch? That’s very important in a high-end luxury SUV. If you’re going to tease people out of Range Rovers, G Wagons into this, it needs to feel good. So, good stuff. The seats are so good. They’re so nice and plush, and they’ve got all sorts of lovely tricks. They’re called relaxation seats. They have a relaxation mode. If I push a button down here, it basically recines into a deck chair. Not to be used while driving. Trust me, I’ve tried. It’s for while you sit in charge. That’s a bit of a gimmick. But what is not a gimmick is the occasional pleasant surprise of a massage on a long drive. You can turn it off, but I quite like it. If you’ve been driving for x amount of time and the car thinks sir is looking a bit fatigued just starts needing your lumber. That’s a bit nice. This is good as well. If I knock it into sport mode, which I would literally never do if I owned this car, what’s the point of that? But if you do, you can feel the bolsters squeeze your sides, hug you into place so that you’re ready for some spirited driving. That’s good. Few little fun things as well. They’ve started getting creative with these little four ionic dots on the steering wheel. So now they change color when I go into reverse and then into forward. And also I get a little bit of haptic feedback from the drive selector when I go into reverse. Just nice little touches. Here’s another nice little touch. I really like the noise it makes when you turn it off and on. Listen to this. It’s like a sort of hi-fi system powering down. Nice little touches. And on this topsp spec calligraphy edition, which is so similar sounding to the autobiography edition of Range Rovers. Actually, let’s just stay with mimicking Range Rovers. This steering wheel, just the shape of it feels almost like a deliberate jab at Range Rover. It’s so Range Rover. It sort of feels to me like Hyundai are going, “Hey, look, well, you didn’t make one, so we have.” Maybe I’m reading too much into it. Anyway, this is nice. I like this little piece on the dash. Whatever it is, it’s very nice. This is Nappa leather on this upper trim version. So, this is nice. This is nice. This is nice. This is fine. This is where it starts to feel a bit like a hidden day because this looks very nice, but it’s just a big piece of gray plastic. And again, I come back to the point I made a moment ago. If it was just a bit more expensive, and this was a lovely piece of salvaged aluminum, and these were big tactile switches for the climate, it would just elevate it that extra 10% and make it feel as expensive as it looks. As it is, just falls short. Of course, what you do get is the greatest luxury of all, space. All the space for absolutely everyone. Second row, forget about it. Couldn’t even touch the seat in front of me if I tried. That’s all the way back in my driving position. It’s actually even further back cuz it does that annoying thing where the seat slides back when you open the door. Don’t like that, by the way. So much room back here. So much headroom even with the big panoramic sunroof. I’d be comfortable in the back as well. It is extraordinary how much room Kia and Hyundai are able to extract from the gigantic footprint of the Ionic 9 and EV9. And we we’ll stick a pin in our whole is it a good Chelsea tractor story for now and just quickly acknowledge what a masterful execution of a big SUV this is in terms of sheer flipping practicality. It’s huge. What you do notice back here is just how much it tapers at the back. It’s so much narrower, that piece of glass at the rear than the one at the front. It is quite fascinating. Of course, we’re not talking about that cuz that’s an efficiency thing. Right. Next important criteria, handling. Specifically, handling of its massiveness. Because not all huge cars feel as huge. Some small cars feel huge. Some huge cars feel fairly small. And initially, it’s pretty positive news for the Ionic 9. It is massive, but because it’s so slabsided and nice and glassy, visibility is not too bad. Okay, granted, I don’t really know where the end of the bonnet is cuz it sort of swoops away from me and I can’t quite tell where the extremities are, but I know that that piece of glass at the back is where the end of the car is cuz it’s got a nice flat bottom. And actually, these camera wing mirrors are really quite good. In fact, I shall demonstrate how good they are with a perfect piece of parallel parking. Just need to find an absolutely massive parking space. Here we go. Right, here we go. So, here’s what I like about these camera wing mirrors. They’ve got little guidelines for distance, but also if I just knock it into left or right on the switch, it widens the field of vision and gives me this useful little kind of curb guidelines to ensure I don’t ding my lovely alloys. That is actually really handy. What I will say is the first few times I parallel parked this car, I was so focused on not curbing the wheels that I almost reversed straight into the car behind me. In fact, I would have had the car not emergency bra for me. I honestly just This is what happens. It’s so long. You run out of parking space so quickly. So, yes, shout out to Adas for uh preventing two car accidents in the short time that I’ve had the Ionic 9. I am a three, [Music] right? Oh, that’s the first bend up to the first level. That’s the thing we’re making up there. Okay. Positive energy. We’re taking a racing line entering nice and wide. That’s okay. Now this, see what I do have going for me here is 360 degree cameras. Although they do have one blind spot, which is right just under the front wheels, which is really exactly what I need right now. Oh. Oh, it’s so large. I hear squeing. Okay, we’re through. We’re through the first bend. Now I should say at this juncture one thing I don’t have on this five and a bit m long car is rear wheel steering. It’s not even an option. It should be an option on all cars this size by law quite frankly. Will say the squiggly line sensor thing does work quite well. It’s helping me a lot. Admittedly, I also have a I also have a cameraman just just doing this when I get too close, which I really recommend if you can afford if you have the extra change left over after purchasing your Ionic 9 to hire a minion boy to just walk ahead of you through multi-story car parks. It’s It’s a big help. Of course, if this was my car and if I was the type of person who bought cars like this to navigate cities, I’d just curb the hell out of it. But I have too much respect for automobiles to do that. Oh, that was awful. However much air of superiority and luxuriousness you gain by dailying a massive car, all of it evaporates the second you have to do normalsized car stuff like a multi-story car park. Why do people Why do people buy vehicles like this just to potter around it? It’s mad. [Music] Oh god, that was harrowing. Let me just uh pop my massage on. Have a nice little Oh, yeah. Let’s get the stress out of that lumbar. Oh, it’s all it’s all a distant memory all of a sudden. Now, that brings us to the final and most important criteria for a Chelsea tractor. Air of superiority. Does this car make me feel better than everyone else? Absolutely. Look, I spend a lot of time waxing lyrical about small cars. I’ve said many a time that most of us would be happier, better off in smaller, lighter, simpler, cheaper cars than the ones we tend to buy. But I’m not going to pretend I don’t understand it. For one, it’s human nature to enjoy having slightly more than we need if we can afford to. We’ve been doing that for a long time. But with regard to cars specifically, driving around in a big high riding thing feels good. commanding, imperious, authoritative. I feel like I’m in charge of the road. I feel like if I crash into cameraman Louie up ahead, I’m going to win that crash cuz I’m bigger. I’ll tell you who absolutely loves a massive car is Imagin Green Queen Bogle. Cuz for her, it’s like a little holiday from being small. I can be as idealistic as I want about the fact that we’d all be better off in tiny micro cars around town, but people aren’t going to change their buying habits anytime soon. There will continue to be a huge appetite for really big high-end SUVs like this, and this is a very good one. With my sensible journalist hat on, it pretty much nails the brief, just like the EV9. It’s immensely spacious inside. It’s formidably capable at long distance drive. It’s got huge range. It’s pretty efficient for its size. It looks the business. But there is an element of seriousness to this silly little Chelsea tractor narrative that I’ve been doing today. I do honestly feel like it’s just a bit of a missed opportunity this car because it is so close to being a properly high-end luxury object and it just falls short. Why make it the same price as the brilliant EV9? Why not go that one tier up? Allow yourselves a little bit more breathing room to really show what you’re capable of with suspension engineering. Give yourself that little bit of extra change to furnish the dash with slightly more premium feeling materials. Replace these haptics down here with lovely heavy tactile buttons. It’s only that far away from being a proper Range Rover rival. Maybe Hyundai just thought to themselves, “We cannot make a car that costs more than £80,000. We’re Hyundai.” But I think they can. I think the brand’s perception has been so raised in recent years thanks to cars like Ionic 5, Ionic 6, Santa Fe, that big hybrid that you see everywhere now, that they’ve earned the right to go a bit more up market if they want to. My suspicion is what Hyundai has done here is deliberately hold back that final 10% in anticipation of a full-sized Genesis electric SUV, which will surely follow this car. That’s the one that’s going to have the really, really wafty suspension and the really high-end premium interior. And I get it, they don’t want to step on the toes of their own subbrand, but it does just leave the Ionic 9 slightly stuck in no man’s land. It’s a little bit fancier than the excellent EV9, but not so much fancier that it can really go toe-to-toe with the Range Rovers of this world. In short, if you are looking for a fearsomely practical full-size electric SUV, this is great, as is the EV9, and you should pick the one that you like the looks of most. I just think it’s a bit of a shame that there isn’t more than that to split them. And if it sounds like I’m being super critical, I am because these Korean cars are so flipping good these days that I have no choice but to be. So, there we go. The Ionic 9. A bit of a missed opportunity, but a supremely impressive car nonetheless. Do let me know what you think in the comments. Would you have one of these over an EV9? Would you have one over a Range Rover? Do make sure to like and subscribe. And if you have been, thanks for watching.
Beat the rich? We run the rule over an almost Range Rover, that we contend could be too cheap? Hyundai has been knocking it out of the car park lately and Jack tries his best not to knock it in the car park. Look away if you don’t like seeing big objects being squeezed through tight corners. How does it compare to the KIA EV9, or the still not electric Range Rover? Watch; between your fingers…
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