Hyundai has been near the forefront of electric vehicles for some time now, but surprisingly it doesn’t yet have a competitive offering in China, where demand for EVs has skyrocketed. Until now, that is – this is the Hyundai Elexio, a new C-segment SUV set to be built in Beijing by partner BAIC, with a launch slated for this September. The Elexio will be built on the same Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) as the Ioniq 5, 6 and 9, but given that it’s been designed specifically for the Middle Kingdom, Hyundai has ditched some of the hallmarks of those cars – in particular their pixelated design language. That’s not to say that the Elexio looks boring. In fact, with its upright stance, wraparound windscreen design and a contrasting grey reverse-rake C-pillar and rear spoiler – combining to look like a giant grab handle of sorts – the car cuts a distinctive figure. Highlights include the eight (a lucky number for the Chinese) square daytime running lights around the projector headlights, muscular front and rear haunches, squared-off wheel arch mouldings and black door trim that leads into the rear wheels and bumper. Hyundai has not entirely gotten rid of the pixel motif of its Ioniq models, appearing on the full-width front light bar and U-shaped taillights. But it’s on the inside where Hyundai has truly departed from its global models. In a stark U-turn from its previous pledge, the company has eliminated practically every physical button from the cockpit, moving the controls for the air-con and other features to the massive 27-inch widescreen display. This unbroken touchscreen spans from the centre to the passenger side and runs on the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 chip, allowing users to access AutoNavi maps, use generative AI, sing karaoke and even watch Douyin (China’s version of TikTok) videos. Meanwhile, the driver is faced with a three-spoke steering wheel lifted from the Santa Fe, albeit with the Ioniq models’ four illuminated dots and a flattened top and bottom rim. The latter enables users to better view the head-up display in lieu of a conventional instrument cluster, projected on a blacked-out portion of the windscreen in a similar fashion to the Xiaomi YU7 and BMW’s forthcoming Neue Klasse EVs. Hyundai is also promising no less than 29 storage spaces and dual Qi wireless chargers (again derived from the Santa Fe), as well as Level 2 semi-autonomous driving technology from Haomo.AI. Now for the technical specs – the Elexio is claimed to have a projected range of over 700 km, although this figure is almost certainly on China’s lenient CLTC cycle. Hyundai says the car will be able to get from 30 to 80% charge on a DC fast charger in 27 minutes, which seems a bit slow by the company’s usual standards (the Ioniq 6, for instance, can charge from 10 to 80% in just 18 minutes) – suggesting that the crossover will not utilise the 800-volt electrical architecture of its siblings. As yet, Hyundai has not released any output figures for the Elexio, but Autohome reports that a filing with the ministry of industry and information technology (MIIT) lists a maximum power of 218 PS (160 kW) – exactly what the BYD Atto 3 makes. In fact, the slower charging and the dimensions of 4,615 mm long, 1,875 mm wide and 1,675 mm tall (with a wheelbase of 2,750 mm) suggest that the Elexio will compete head on with BYD’s popular midsize electric SUV.
