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Hyundai’s big electric SUV edges closer to launch


Hyundai’s largest electric vehicle yet, the Ioniq 7, has been spied ahead of an Australian arrival during 2024.

Autospy has published images of an Ioniq 7 prototype, still wearing extensive camouflage.

Nevertheless, we can see the Ioniq 7 will closely resemble the 2021 Seven concept and therefore offer a curvier silhouette than the related Kia EV9.

It’ll share the E-GMP dedicated electric vehicle (EV) platform with not only the EV9, due in Australia in the fourth quarter of 2023, but also vehicles like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6.

It’ll form part of a plan to boost sales of Ioniq-branded electric vehicles from 3000 in 2023 to 6000 units in 2024.

Much as the Prophecy transitioned to the production Ioniq 6 with a toned-down rear end, we could see the radical rear of the Seven concept softened. That said, the recently revealed 2024 Santa Fe is pretty wild…

Up front, it should follow the concept in having a two-tiered lighting set-up, a design cue being rolled out across the Hyundai range. This consists of horizontal daytime running lights and vertical headlights, and you can spy these through the camouflage.

As with other Ioniq-branded models, expect the retro-futuristic parametric pixel detailing.

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.

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 EVs 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.

MORE: Hyundai Seven Concept revealed

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