While the Tesla Model 3 sits atop the electric car sales charts, now closely followed by its Model Y sibling, more established car brands are slowly bringing in rivals in the hopes of tearing down Tesla’s dominance.
Enter the Hyundai Ioniq 6, which takes on a stylish sedan look and expected price tag to put the Model 3 right in its crosshairs. After the accolades levelled at the Hyundai Ioniq 5, we’re expecting the 6 to be no flop.
Arrival timing
While the Tesla Model 3 is available now, delivery arrivals come in waves and the wait times could fluctuate somewhat.
The Hyundai Ioniq 6 on the other hand isn’t here yet, although we’re expecting it to land in Australia in the first quarter of 2023, with further details closer to its launch.
Price and Features
For the Model 3, pricing starts at $69,500 in Standard Range RWD guise, and creeps up to $91,600 for the top-spec Long Range AWD variant.
While the price rises primarily through drivetrain and battery improvements, the Model 3 is quite highly-specified with things like the huge 15.0-inch multimedia screen in the centre of the dash which hosts more digital apps and features than its rivals, including productivity and entertainment apps.
LED headlights, a synthetic leather interior, powered front seats and heating for all four main seats, a panoramic sunroof, and dual-zone climate control are all included.
Hyundai has not yet confirmed exactly what we can expect from the Australian-spec Ioniq 6, but we know it will come in two highly-specified variants much like the Ioniq 5. A lower-spec around the $70,000 mark will likely come as a match for the Ioniq 5’s RWD base model ($69,900 MSRP) and we’re expecting a top-spec to line up roughly with the Ioniq 5 AWD flagship ($77,500).
Similar to the Tesla, multimedia can be updated over-the-air as one of the first adopters of Hyundai’s new focus on in-car tech, while heated and ventilated seats, a heated steering wheel, and dual zone climate control are all pretty much a lock-in.
Performance
We’re still not sure exactly how much power the single-motor, rear-drive version of the Ioniq 6 will make, but we know its twin-motor AWD version makes 239kW of power and 605Nm of torque. In terms of acceleration, the AWD Ioniq 6 is claimed to hit 100km/h in a respectable 5.1 seconds.
Of course, one of the reasons Tesla made such a name was its impressive acceleration times, and the Model 3’s top-spec Long Range manages a 0-100km/h run in 4.4 seconds.
Charging and battery range
Both variants of the Hyundai Ioniq 6 use a 77.4kWh battery pack, even though there’s a smaller battery option we aren’t likely to get here in Australia. Hyundai claims it’ll reach as far as 614km in range, when fitted with 18-inch wheels on its rear-drive version, or 583km for the AWD version. Hyundai’s E-GMP platform supports ultra-fast 800V charging which it claims can juice up an Ioniq 6 from 10 to 80 per cent in just 18 minutes.
In an equivalent Tesla Model 3, its 602km claimed range isn’t far off the Ioniq, and Tesla says you’re able to charge “up to 299km in 15 minutes” which stacks up nicely against the Ioniq.
Safety
We’re not expecting Hyundai to drop the Ioniq 6 in Australia without the expectation it’ll cop five stars from ANCAP, so you can likely look forward to the full-fat safety suite most premium new cars come with: AEB with pedestrian and cyclist sensing, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, proper airbag coverage, and things like rear-cross traffic alert with auto-braking.
Given Hyundai’s move towards over-the-air updates, it’s also possible that with the right series of sensors, the Ioniq 6’s safety system could become more like that of, say… the Tesla Model 3.
Instead of a series of safety elements, Tesla takes a more holistic approach, effectively giving the Model 3 as many sensors as possible and allowing the system to detect potentially dangerous situations and intervene.
The Tesla Model 3 is rated five stars by ANCAP, scoring particularly highly across all categories.
Warranty
Tesla offers a four-year, 80,000km warranty on the Model 3, whichever comes first, and eight years or 192,000km on the battery and drivetrain.
Expect the Ioniq 6 to use the same Hyundai warranty as the Ioniq 5: a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, with the battery getting eight years or 160,000km.
Keyword: Hyundai Ioniq 6 vs Tesla Model 3: electric cars keeping the sedan alive, but which is better when comparing the numbers?