{"id":2114071,"date":"2026-08-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2114071"},"modified":"2026-08-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T21:00:00","slug":"hyundai-ioniq-9-long-term-review-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2114071","title":{"rendered":"Hyundai Ioniq 9 – long-term review"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Four months and almost 5,000 miles later, and the big green Hyundai has returned from whence it came. Top Gear is a broad church that welcomes all, EVs to V12s, hatches to hefalump SUVs, but if we\u2019re being honest the Ioniq 9 could be labelled as everything wrong with the modern car industry \u2013 it\u2019s massive, heavy and inconveniently electric.<\/p>\n

However, that\u2019s not the lasting impression it\u2019s left. Even the most enthusiastic enthusiast knows that a 911 GT3 RS or Lotus Elise isn\u2019t the answer to all of life\u2019s driving questions, and sometimes (a lot of the time, actually) a car that\u2019s comfier than your sofa, bigger than your lounge and works relentlessly well is just the ticket. The Ioniq 9 made my life easier, was a sanctuary to look forward to, and when family and work life is a bit of a whirlwind, there\u2019s value in having an isolation chamber on wheels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I\u2019ve had a run of spectacularly large cars \u2013 Defender 130, ID. Buzz 7-seat \u2013 but even so the Ioniq 9 really has all the space a family could reasonably need. Weirdly, the six-seat configuration with captain\u2019s chairs in the second row might have space for one less bum, but the sense<\/em> of space is even greater. For a family of four it\u2019s undoubtedly the sweet spot \u2013 with the rear row (electrically) folded down you have a business class van, with them up a minibus for six.<\/p>\n

But there are quirks \u2013 on a recent fishing trip with a few mates we discovered the swivel function on the second-row seats. Essentially, the ability to twist them through 90 degrees so, with the door open, you can\u2026 sit awkwardly and stare out the side of the car. Also, the 100W USB-C sockets for the second row are usefully powerful, but weirdly placed in the side of the front seats so wiggling feet on long journeys accidentally kicked and bent more than one cable. But we\u2019re nitpicking here – the space and general airiness is the 9\u2019s true trump card.<\/p>\n

As is the quality we\u2019ve long become accustomed to from the Koreans. Some of the interior material choices, like the faux stone dash are of questionable taste, but that\u2019s trim dependent\u2026 the rest is solid and unpretentious. It feels luxurious because everything from the door pulls to the screen has a solidity to it, not because it\u2019s draped in the finest nubuck suede. Although the charging flap cover did fall off – the body coloured trim bit that covers up the black plastic beneath. At least I think it fell off and I wasn\u2019t targeted by a very-specific thief, one day it was there, then next it was gone.<\/p>\n

Straight-line performance was predictably impressive (421bhp and 4WD will do that), but range was a worry, given the physics of moving something this size through the air. But it\u2019s a more slippery shape than the blockier Kia EV9 and once (very) warm weather arrived the battery thrived. I was seeing an indicated 330-miles+ on the range predictor and didn\u2019t need to adjust my driving style to achieve it. Impressive. And that faith in the readout taught me to use the battery properly in a couple of ways. Firstly, shorter, more frequent charging stops will always get you there quicker on a long drive to the French alps (old news, I know, but I\u2019ve been a pig-headed charge to 100 per center up to this point).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Secondly, if you have a home charger, get yourself on an EV-friendly tariff that delivers super-cheap electricity in the early hours. Ours is discounted between midnight and 5am to just 7p per kWh \u2013 enough to top up about 30 per cent of the battery, or add 100-miles, for pennies. You simply feed it a little every night and you\u2019ll be surprised how you\u2019re rarely you need more. Even the slightly-odd styling \u2013 which I talked about at length last time \u2013 grew on me in the end. I\u2019d always rather drive something that courts opinions over a generic blob.<\/p>\n

Which all in all is a glowing report card, but the Ioniq 9 has issues. Mainly that its near-\u00a380k price tag in this top-spec trim puts it into a bracket with a lot of choice. If you\u2019re design led, the Kia EV9 has the edge, if you’re price led the Skoda Peaq will be kinder to your wallet and if you\u2019re not yet a full-EV convert then a hybrid Sante Fe will do a similar job with less faff.<\/p>\n

Which isn\u2019t to take anything away from the 9, it\u2019s one hell of a family car but one that feels destined to remain a niche choice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four months and almost 5,000 miles later, and the big green Hyundai has returned from whence it came. Top Gear is a broad church that welcomes all, EVs to V12s, hatches to hefalump SUVs, but if we\u2019re being honest the Ioniq 9 could be labelled as everything wrong with the modern car industry \u2013 it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,237],"class_list":["post-2114071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-topgear-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2114071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2114071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2114071\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2114071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2114071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2114071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}