Skip to main content

Hyundai’s Ioniq 6 EV can keep it rolling with its new EPA-estimated 361 miles of range

Hyundai’s Ioniq 6 EV can keep it rolling with its new EPA-estimated 361 miles of range

/

The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric streamliner sedan with RWD and Long Range battery can travel 89 miles further than Tesla’s current RWD Model 3 based on EPA range estimates.

Share this story

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Hyundai’s Ioniq 6 is driving at high speed down a highway. The camera is ahead of the car in a lane to the left of the Ioniq 6. Ioniq 6 is silver and the background has grass and hills with a cloudy sky.
The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6.
Image: Hyundai

Hyundai’s new Ioniq 6 has had its playdate with the EPA, and now the automaker is revealing that its electric “streamliner” sedan can travel an estimated 361 miles on a full charge. While the calculation is specific to the SE Long Range RWD trim, the AWD version is no slouch, either, with a maximum range of 316 miles.

Compared to the similarly sized RWD version of Tesla’s Model 3, the Ioniq 6 SE Long Range RWD could go a whole 89 miles further based on the EPA estimates. Although, Hyundai’s AWD version of the Ioniq 6 isn’t topping the 358-mile Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD.

Hyundai is certainly ecstatic about the excellent EPA results for the Ioniq 6. The automaker had previously estimated the US Ioniq 6 at 340 miles of max driving range when the car debuted at the LA Auto Show last year. The EPA is generally conservative with its estimates compared to the European WLTP calculations, which had rated the Ioniq 6’s maximum range at about 382 miles.

2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 EPA range estimates

2023 IONIQ 6 TrimsEPA-Estimated RangeMPGe City/ Highway Combined
IONIQ 6 SE RWD Long Range (18-inch wheels)361 miles140
IONIQ 6 SE AWD Long Range (18-inch wheels)316 miles121
IONIQ 6 SEL RWD (20-inch wheels)305 miles117
IONIQ 6 SEL AWD (20-inch wheels)270 miles103
IONIQ 6 Limited RWD (20-inch wheels)305 miles117
IONIQ 6 Limited AWD (20-inch wheels)270 miles103

In a press release, Hyundai also points out that the Ioniq 6 ties for the EPA’s best MPGe rating. The Ioniq 6 SE Long Range RWD has a 140 MPGe (combined city and highway) rating, same as the top-rated Lucid’s Air Pure AWD luxury sedan — a car that starts at $108,700. North American pricing for the Ioniq 6 has yet to be revealed, but it starts at £46,745 in the UK — or about $57,577.

“Instead of just adding a larger battery to increase the range, we chose to optimize Ioniq 6’s aerodynamic performance and its Electric-Global Modular Platform for efficiency to produce these long driving ranges,” states Olabisi Boyle, Hyundai North America’s VP of product planning and mobile strategy, in a press release. The Ioniq 6’s Long Range battery pack is a sizable 77.4kWh but is still smaller than ones in EVs like Ford’s Mustang Mach-E CA R1 Extended Range RWD (98.8kWh) and Audi’s E-tron S Sportback (95kWh), which have ranges of 314 and 212 miles, respectively.

Hyundai’s EGM-P is the 800-volt electric vehicle platform that underpins the Ioniq 6. It’s also more efficient compared to 400-volt systems used by some EV manufacturers like Ford and Tesla. The RWD Ioniq 6 only sheds about 231Wh per mile, besting the Tesla Model 3 RWD at 260Wh per mile.

The Ioniq 6’s arc-like design also helps it achieve a low 0.22 drag coefficient for the US version. South Korean models of the Ioniq 6 can achieve an even better 0.21 drag coefficient thanks to a camera-based side-view option in lieu of mirrors, which still have yet to be approved in the US. It’s still bested by Mercedes’ EQS (0.20), Tesla’s Model S Plaid (0.208), and the latest tweaked Lucid Air (0.197) — though it puts Hyundai’s latest EV in a class no one was expecting.

The Ioniq 6 SE Long Range models gain more efficiency thanks to smaller and lighter 18-inch wheels. If you opt for the higher SEL or Limited trims on the RWD models, the range significantly drops to 305 miles.

Of course, all of this talk of range and efficiency doesn’t mean much if the Ioniq 6 isn’t both affordable and available. Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 and Kia’s EV6, both built on the same platform as the Ioniq 6, start at $41,450 and $48,700, respectively — but are apparently hard to snag from dealerships without hurdles and markups.