Hyundai has been snapped putting the seven-seat, electric Ioniq 7 SUV through its paces.
The 7 will be Hyundai’s version of the Kia EV9, riding on the brand’s latest e-GMP electric car platform under the skin.
Hyundai Australia has already confirmed it will go on sale in Australia during 2024, as part of a plan to boost sales of Ioniq-branded electric vehicles from 3000 in 2023 to 6000 units in 2024.
Although it’s still heavily camouflaged, the Ioniq 7 is expected to remain faithful to the 2021 Seven concept.
Expect to see a two-tiered headlight arrangement, complete with the retro-futuristic parametric pixel detailing that links the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 already on sale.
With a 3200mm wheelbase, Hyundai says the interior of the Seven concept offers a “completely new dimension of space” with a tall roof and a flat floor.
The Seven Concept had “more than 480km” of range, though with undisclosed drivetrain specs. While Hyundai hasn’t confirmed further details, the new Kia EV9 should offer some clues.
- Standard: 160kW/350Nm single-motor RWD, 0-100km/h in 8.2 seconds
- Long Range: 150kW/350Nm single-motor RWD, 0-100km/h in 9.4 seconds
- Dual Motor: 283kW/600Nm dual-motor AWD, 0-100km/h in 6.0 seconds
A Boost feature is available on the Kia Connect store for dual-motor versions, increasing torque to 700Nm and cutting the 0-100km/h time to 5.3 seconds. Kia claims the EV9 will offer towing capacity of up to 2500kg.
Hyundai Seven concept 
Kia EV9 
All excluding the rear-drive Standard will use a 99.8kWh battery, with the base model using a smaller 76.1kWh battery.
Kia has only published a range figure for the rear-wheel drive Long Range model with 19-inch wheels, which works out to 541km on the stricter WLTP cycle.
The EV9 offers 800V ultra-fast charging capability like other vehicles on the E-GMP platform, and Kia says 239km of range can be added in 15 minutes.
It can also be used to power appliances thanks to a Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) function, which puts out up to 3.68kW of power.
Hyundai Australia says supply of its electric vehicles is opening up, meaning it no longer has to sell its E-GMP-based models in ‘drops’ as it has done with the Ioniq 5 in the past.
There’s no more geofencing either, meaning anyone in Australia can now buy an Ioniq 5 or Ioniq 6 using the online sales portal, and take delivery from your preferred ‘delivery partner’.
Speaking of, Hyundai wants to have up to 90 delivery partners across 90-100 dealerships across Australia by the end of next year. Currently, that tally is sitting at 24 partners.
Stay tuned to CarExpert for all the latest.
