Author: EVAI

The way it looks is reason enough to buy the Renault 5 E-Tech. It looks like the result of tossing several classic Renault hatchbacks into a blender with some sci-fi gravy. It somehow ends up being a really tasty combo, but what clinched it for me was that it drives with enough poise and gusto to challenge a Mini Cooper E.

It strikes a better balance between sporty handling and comfort than the new Chinese-built Mini J01, which feels too stiff in comparison. Like the Mini, the R5 has a multilink independent rear suspension setup, which you rarely see in this segment of the market, making it feel surprisingly sophisticated as it glides over road imperfections. Oh, how very French of it.

This is one of the few electric cars that should come close to matching its WLTP range thanks to its consistently impressive efficiency, even when you’re not trying to save electrons. It’s nice to look at, pleasant to travel in, and the user experience is especially impressive.

It’s not perfect, though, since the version you want, with the more powerful motor and bigger battery, is not cheap, and there’s no room for a rear passenger sitting behind taller drivers. But if you accept that it’s pitched as a somewhat premium product (hence the price) and keep the hauling of big groups to a minimum, it all starts to make sense.

Tron Meets Baguette

Few cars blend retro design cues into a fresh, cohesive and modern look quite like the Renault 5. It’s like something you would see in a sci-fi movie with its holographic-looking, squared-off daytime running lights and matching squares in the headlight glass.

One of my favorite details is the 5 on the left side of the hood, which mimics the placement of an actual vent in the classic Renault 5, which was sold as the LeCar in the United States. The 5 even lights up in higher-spec versions like my tester, where it also acts as a battery meter to tell you the state of charge from a distance.

It also plays a cool animation when the car unlocks, and it makes you feel pretty special. It may seem trivial, but the light-up 5 is a must-have option for this car. I also really like the design of the rear lights, which, just like in the classic 5, run up the C-pillar. They have a cool 3D effect and built-in fake vents, which are meant to resemble the ones on the mid-engined Renault 5 Turbo rally homologation special. The Turbo is coming back with electric power, featuring in-wheel electric motors.

There are plenty of cool details all around the vehicle, and they all blend really well with the overall design. Nothing feels forced or like an afterthought on this.

Wheel design isn’t something I normally feel the need to mention in a review, but I have to because all the available options for the Renault 5 are fantastic. Even the base model’s hubcaps have aesthetic appeal, likely also helped by the fact that all wheel choices are quite big for a car this size at 18 inches—even the steelies.

An ‘80s Arcade Machine That You Can Sit In

The interior perfectly matches the exterior for style, with the same kind of retro-futuristic approach. This is the first car I’ve been in recently where thick bezels around the displays look like a smart design choice and not the result of the manufacturer installing screens smaller than they should be and trying to make them look big.

The top of the gear selector is translucent and has the Renault logo inside, which looks really fancy. Putting it in gear and using any of the stalks, I was impressed by how solid, damped and expensive they felt. The steering wheel looks great and is fantastic to hold on to. It’s probably one of my favorite helms in a modern car.

The seats also deserve a mention. They’re trimmed in something that feels like denim with a mustard yellow color that seems ripped out of a 1970s design magazine. The chairs themselves are soft, supportive and utterly French in the best possible way. They look fantastic and appear modeled after the Turbo 2 seats.

This is also the first modern car where thick bezels around the screens didn’t make it look cheap. Quite the opposite, actually. The driver gets a 10.1-inch display behind the steering wheel, while there’s another 10-inch screen in the middle handling infotainment. It’s among the best I’ve ever used in a car. We’ll get to that shortly.

The user experience inside the R5 is also really good, thanks to a brand-new infotainment operating system built around Android Automotive. I’ve met actual people less responsive than its artificial intelligence-powered digital assistants. Chatting to the bot is surprisingly natural, making asking it questions a lot less awkward than in other cars.

As much as I loved the R5’s interior, it’s not quite perfect. While I praised the overall build quality, there were a couple of spots where the plastic panels didn’t join together perfectly, and the ergonomics are a bit odd, too. To the right of the steering wheel, you have three stalks. One handles the transmission, another the wipers and that’s just too much to remember the position of on one side of the wheel.

There’s also no ‘Park’ position for the transmission, so when you want to stop, you put the car in neutral and then extend your arm all the way to the nether reaches of the dashboard to pull the parking brake button. Then again, a French car without a little weirdness would be an incomplete product.

But another issue I have with the R5 is the shameful lack of rear legroom. With the driver’s seat set for a six-footer like myself, there is no room for a full-size adult to sit behind the driver. There’s just no space for their feet, which makes the car more of a 3+1 rather than a true four-seater. This doesn’t make me like it less, since it’s about the same as a Mini J01, but it could have been a bit better. Maybe Renault could have sacrificed some trunk space for a bit of extra rear leg and foot room.

Corners Like It Means It, But Softly

Photo by: Andrei Nedelea

What really won me over is how it drives. The steering is sharp without being twitchy, and when you tip it into a corner, it weights up nicely and gives you a lot of confidence. That may seem secondary for a car that will spend most of its time sitting bumper-to-bumper in a crowded city. But it is this responsiveness that made me (and many others) like old Renault Clios, so I was very happy to see this character transferred to the new EV.

The well-judged suspension also deserves a mention. It’s a bit softer than in the Mini J01, but it’s all the better for it, since it has a smoother ride over uneven roads. The multilink rear suspension really helps when going over big imperfections or over the wildly inconsistent tram tracks that we have here in Bucharest. Almost no subcompact cars these days have independent rear suspension—it’s kind of a premium feature—making it clear what Renault is aiming for with the R5.

Taking it out on some more windy country roads, the R5 never felt flustered. Carry a bit too much speed into a corner, lift off just before hitting the apex and you feel it rotating around you, like a proper hot hatch should. This isn’t just competent. It’s fun, and I can’t say that about too many EVs in its price, power and size bracket.

My tester had the beefier motor. It delivers 148 horsepower and 180 pound-feet (245 Nm) of torque to the front wheels, allowing for a respectable time to 62 mph (100 km/h) of 8 seconds. It’s not as punchy as the Mini Cooper SE that I keep comparing it to, but it’s zippy enough, and flooring it out of a roundabout chirps the tires before the nannies rein in the excess power.

There is no acceleration sound coming through the speakers in the R5. Just silent thrust. In this regard, it’s like a Tesla and not like other electric (hot) hatchbacks. The Abarth 500e comes to mind, which tries to imitate a turbocharged four-cylinder both inside and out. After experiencing the Mercedes-AMG C590 prototype with its expertly done pretend V-8, I’m a bit partial to having an acceleration sound in an EV, but I also don’t mind its absence.

Plug In, Make Tea

With the larger 52-kilowatt-hour “Comfort Range” battery, my tester is officially rated at up to 256 miles (412 kilometers) on one charge. When I picked the car up from Renault Romania, it was fully charged and had a maximum range estimate of 246 miles (396 km) with an average electricity consumption of 4.28 miles/kWh (14.5 kWh/100 km), which almost matched its WLTP efficiency claim.

This was over several hundred miles from the journalist who drove the car before me, with a lighter right foot and more restraint than I could practice. I drove the car mostly in Sport mode for the first few days and really enjoyed what acceleration it had to offer, and my average consumption was 3.86 miles/kWh (16.1 kWh/100 km).

My theory about the best way to test electric cars is not to try to hypermile the thing to get it to come close to its manufacturer-claimed numbers. I drive these cars like I would any car, not treating EVs differently because they are electric, and in some cases, this produces some alarmingly high consumption figures and drastically reduced range. But in the R5, the average was still reasonable, even in spite of my carefree driving style.

Over the last couple of days with the car, I stopped treating it like a hot hatch, and the efficiency immediately started improving. By the time I returned the car, it had gone down to 4.09 miles/kWh (15.2 kWh/100 km), and this included the first two days of more brisk driving; I didn’t reset it specifically because I wanted to see how it all evened out.

I only charged the R5 briefly, with around 68% in the battery, preconditioning on the way to the charger. Juicing up to 80% from a 150 kW charger, I never saw more than 65 kW going into the car, even though it can take up to 100 kW. Its peak charging power isn’t great, with a claimed 15 to 80% in 30 minutes, but its battery is just about small enough that it’s not bothersome. Using its 7 kW onboard charger takes over six hours to fully replenish the battery from flat.

Thanks to its vehicle-to-load (V2L) function, the R5 can supply any device with up to 3.7 kW of power through a special adapter that snaps into the charging port and allows you to connect anything via a household-type socket. The adapter costs an extra $231 (€200), but it’s well worth getting.

I’d Buy One. Seriously

With its blend of tasteful retro style masterfully executed by Renault, impressive driving dynamics and great range from its relatively small battery, the R5 E-Tech is easily one of the best subcompact EVs you can buy today in Europe. With a starting price of $29,100 (€24,900), which goes up to just over $40,900 (€35,000) for a fully specced Iconiq Cinq example with the big battery.

It’s not perfect. It’s small, a bit pricey and its charging power is only so-so. The fact that you can’t carry an adult behind a tall driver is a big downside. But you know what? It looks fantastic and drives great, and it’s close to the top of the shortlist of EVs I’d seriously consider buying today.

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The pedals and steering wheel can retract, and the bodywork vibrates to remove sand.

I have to admit that I didn’t think much of the Cadillac Optiq when it first debuted, or even right up until I got some seat time in one. It’s not that General Motors isn’t making good electric vehicles; these days, it very much is, and it has the sales numbers to back this up. 

Instead, it’s just that a “new midsize electric luxury crossover” excites me about as much as the release of yet another superhero movie. Most of them are fine. A few are abysmal. But on the whole, it’s all stuff we’ve seen before. 

But every now and then, something new surprises you. And I’m pleased to say the Optiq did exactly that—starting with its refreshingly original cabin. 

Look at this! It’s blue! Aggressively blue, in fact. And that’s only part of the story: the Optiq’s cabin is filled with a charming assortment of different textures, materials, touchpoints and colored accents. 

My Optiq tester’s interior scheme is called Sky Cool Gray with Santorini Blue accents, a zero-cost upgrade from the base car’s (called Luxury 1) all-black cabin. But that’s not all: upgrade to the nicer Luxury 2 or Sport 2 trims, and you can double down with the Phantom Blue trim’s navy leather seats, dashboard and door accents.

Reader: If you buy an Optiq, resist the temptation to get the tan or all-black leather. Cadillac doesn’t make bad interiors (not anymore, anyway) and so I am sure they’re very nice. But you deserve some spice in your life. Be bold. Be interesting. Get one of the blue interiors. You will be dead someday, like all of us, and the chance to drive something interesting—and kind of weird—should not be passed up during your limited time on earth. 

Let me be clear that I mean “weird” in the nicest possible way here. The EV world needs more weird. Every car company is trying to figure out an electrified, software-driven future so desperately that they don’t take risks in other ways.

The ethos behind most EVs we test is generally “do more screen,” itself a derivative of “be more like Tesla, primarily for cost-cutting reasons.” There are certainly reasons why this happens. They aren’t always good for the consumer, however, nor do they end up being all that memorable. It’s also hard to define a brand by being exactly like the other brands.

The Optiq itself is certainly screen-forward. It has a 33-inch LED display with something called 9K resolution. The software suite will be familiar to anyone who’s driven another GM EV. But the neon blue accents? Now we’re talking. 

The dashboard trim, storage area below the center console, door cards and other bits really serve to spice up this cabin. The interesting touches go beyond the cabin; one pervasive material is the “patterned accent fabric” that’s woven from 100% recycled polyester yarn, and it’s splayed across the doors and dash too. 

And then there’s that center console. That chrome-adorned rotary-dial control knob looks almost like some interior bit from your grandfather’s Cadillac, back in the tailfin era. I don’t know how else to describe it, but it has this old-school vibe that pairs well with a modern electric car.

The whole Santorini Blue package is just fun. It reminds me of the avant-garde stuff that the French automakers used to put out, before the demands of modern technology and corporate ownership made them a lot more boring. It’s also deep in Cadillac’s DNA, as the company’s glory-days cars offered wild blue and red interiors, among other combinations. The Optiq’s blue interiors—both of them, really—seem like GM let its interior designers enjoy their jobs, and that energy is apparent throughout.

It’s certainly a nice antidote to screen-focused EV minimalism. I’ve had about all of that I can take for a bit. It’s time to bring some maximalism to this field for a change. 

We need more stuff like this. More carbon fiber and recycled materials like the BMW i3. More wacky stuff like the Genesis GV60’s Crystal Sphere. Hell, half the cars we saw in China this year were purple. Life doesn’t have to be just an endless sea of gray.

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com

The BMW iX may be one of the ugliest cars on sale, but underneath that ugly wrapper lies quite a lovely electric car. The beaver-toothed front end and tragic proportions are hiding an interior that’s almost architectural in its ambiance, paired with a driving experience that’s sharper than some sports-oriented models from other brands. It’s a range king, too—a treat in the electric car space. 

Similarly, the Mini Countryman SE has taken a lot of flak for what some people say represents everything wrong with the Mini brand. To some folks, this car is too big, too ugly, and its circular infotainment screen is way too complicated compared to the simplistic aura that classic Mini cars had. Or heck, even the early BMW-era Minis. Are they right?

I don’t know. I’m not going to pretend to be the ambassador for Mini enthusiasts and purists. But I do know that a week with the Countryman SE revealed a charming electric vehicle, even if it’s not exactly pitch-perfect in its execution.

Believe it or not, the Mini Countryman is now in its third generation. Initially started back in 2011, this biggie-mini crossover was designed to court the number of buyers who liked the Mini Cooper hatchback, but wanted a little more space and a second set of doors. I suppose the ill-fated Clubman was also designed to satiate that desire, but its hearse-style rear doors and crew-cab door on the passenger side meant it was a five-door in the most maliciously compliant way. Mini drivers wanted a “five door” in the traditional sense, with four normal, forward-hinged doors, and a hatchback. 

Some point after that, and possibly even in response, the slightly-bigger-than-Mini Countryman was born. It was an immediate sales success. Several generations later, and a healthy amount of middle-aged model bloat, the Honda Fit-sized Countryman has turned into a small crossover that’s a stone’s throw from a Toyota RAV4. Victory, it seems, has defeated the Countryman.

But while the third-generation Countryman is bigger than ever, its platform feels designed to right some of those wrongs. Underneath, the Countryman is an electrified version of its gas-powered sibling and closely related to the BMW X1. The Countryman SE’s direct electric analog is the BMW iX1, an electric version of the X1 that we don’t get here. 

In Mini’s modern lineup, it’s the only four-door EV available with the Mini badge. The smaller Aceman five-door is missing in action for the U.S. market. 

Power for the Countryman SE comes from two electric motors that have a combined output of 308 horsepower and 364 ft-lbs of torque. This is fed by a 64.6 kWh battery good for 212 miles of range, mounted underneath the car’s roughly 4,400-pound body. Oh, and dual-motor is the only way to fly; no front-wheel-drive-only models here. 

A lot of people don’t like the way the Mini Countryman SE looks inside or out.

I am not one of those people. I think it’s a swell-looking car, but I will admit that it’s a design that looks far better in person. This is the biggest Countryman yet, but I think the Mini designers were good at both making the familiar Mini silhouette feel fresh, while disguising the car’s physical girth. 

Like other modern BMW Group cars, photos don’t really do it justice; the Mini’s sides look kind of blank and understyled, with not much brightwork or surfacing aside from the chunky, squared-off wheel arches. Yet, in person, the Countryman SE’s side surfacing is deceptively complex, with interesting surface interactions. I fell in love with the Countryman’s dead-on rear view, the beefy trunklid, and Union Jack taillights feel like such a techno-futurist elevation of what we’ve already seen on modern Minis. Add in the bronze roof and wheels, and it’s such a good way to make an old theme feel new and modern. I like it a lot more than other second-gen retro designs, like the Fiat 500e. 

The interior is arguably the best part of the Countryman SE.

Similar to the exterior, the interior is deceptively fresh. At first glance, the Mini’s interior looks like little more than a makeup compact-shaped screen mounted on a plastic panel. In reality, the car’s interior is so much more complicated. The shapes are simple – this feels like a more earnest reinterpretation of the very basic dashboards of the original Morris Mini Cooper. 

Yet, all of the surfaces look so much more interesting in person. All of the bright work in my tester was bronze, matched to the bronze roof and wheels. The blue fabric on the dashboard and upper levels of the doors turns orange/bronze as it moves toward the rear of the car. Add in the really nice leather seats, and the interior is so charming that you’ll forget that there aren’t very many soft-touch plastics at all. The only soft part of the interior is the seats and armrests.

Oh, and I liked the circular-shaped screen and its software, but we’ll get into that in a more focused review of the software. 

Fundamentally, the Countryman SE is a converted gas car with some batteries shoved under the floorboard. 

On its face, the Countryman SE’s numbers are very average. It’s heavy, kind of tall, and its power numbers aren’t as staggering as cars like the Volvo EX30 twin motor, which has more than 100 more horsepower than this Mini. Yet, this still manages to be a fun-to-drive crossover. Especially when you don’t have a Mini purist all up in your ear, complaining about how the Countryman SE is the antithesis of any Mini product.

I guess to be fair to those folks, they are a little right. I’ve driven plenty of Mini Coopers in my day, and the low-to-the-ground, slightly raw feeling is part of their appeal. The Countryman SE instead feels tall and very refined behind the wheel, not at all like the old Mini hatchbacks of yore. Dare I say it, the Countryman SE’s suspension tuning is sophisticated and feels expensive, the ride is the opposite of rough, and it feels a premium car, not a toy. For some, they’d hate it.

I am not one of those folks. Yes, the Countryman SE feels a little tall and bulkier than I’d like, and yes, I wish the suspension were a tad firmer, but the car makes up for it by being relatively engaging to drive. The steering ratio is fairly quick, and there’s a bit of feel for the type of vehicle that it is. The car corners flat and grips hard, whereas other cars with similar characteristics would not feel anywhere near as engaging. I mean, drive an Equinox EV, then hop behind the wheel of this thing.

The Countryman SE is also a quick car. Stick it in Go-Kart mode, depress the throttle to the floor, and the Mini will do its best impression of a rocket ship – it’s one of the first EVs I’ve ever driven that genuinely felt as if Mini had underrated its specifications. Mini says it’ll hit 60 in 5.4 seconds, but Car and Driver said its Countryman SE scooted to 60 mph in a mere 4.8 seconds. That’s pretty damn quick.

The Mini Countryman SE’s range and charging abilities seem to be, on paper, kind of mediocre. The car is only rated for 212 miles of range, but it’ll zip from 10-80% on a DC fast charger in 29 minutes, with a maximum speed of 130 kW. 

These numbers would have been cutting-edge in 2018. But, to be fair to Mini, the Countryman SE actually did all of those things. Our DC fast charging test hit the 29-minute mark right on the money, while a mixed-use road trip had me on track to achieve about 190 miles of range. For some, this may not be enough miles, but for my use case, the Mini was just fine. Over the week, I averaged 3.2 miles per kWh, which is merely okay. 

Frustratingly, the Mini has DC fast charging preconditioning, but it’s not intuitive to use. It can activate automatically when navigating to a DC fast charger, but I often don’t use navigation in everyday driving. There is a button to turn on the preconditioning manually, but more often than not, it was greyed out with no explanation. 

The Mini fans may have a point. On some level, the Countryman’s oversized dimensions and weird styling may not be everyone’s cup of tea. I get it, I remember being somewhat disappointed driving the new Fiat 500e compared to my old Fiat 500 Abarth.

However, I don’t think every car needs to be a direct 1-to-1 version of something old. Perhaps it’s time to reinterpret the past into something new—and take that something new, for what it is. With that in mind, the Mini Countryman SE has a lot of things to like about it. It’s sharp to drive without losing its premium edge, it is spacious for being a compact crossover, and in the grand scheme of things, it’s not even that expensive. True, the range and charging specifications are mediocre, but I think it’ll still work for most people.

I don’t even mind the price—my example stickered for $51,145. All Countryman SEs effectively come in one trim, with only a handful of option packs that can be optioned. My example came with the Iconic package ($3,200) and the Comfort Max package ($900), which added goodies like a Harmon & Kardon sound system, power front seats, and Mini’s Active Driving Assistant Pro. For comparison’s sake, this is cheaper than an AWD Cadillac Optiq. Although the Optiq qualifies for the federal $7,500 tax credit on full purchases. For now.

I just liked driving the Mini. Sometimes when I’m behind the wheel of these press cars, it can feel like a slog, like I am forcing myself to drive a car I don’t really like. Whereas with the Mini, I found myself making up reasons to drive the thing. I didn’t want to give it back. Because I liked it.

I think the world would be a better place if we drove cars we liked.

Contact the author: kevin.williams@insideevs.com

A smaller, more affordable Hyundai EV will be revealed soon for Europe. Does it have a shot anywhere else in the world?

• Mercedes-Benz is ditching the blacked-out grilles in favor of an illuminated extravaganza.
• The first new car to get the shiny new grille will be the electric GLC crossover.
• Future models will also get the redesigned grille that evokes the brand’s history.

It’s no secret that Mercedes-Benz’s egg-shaped electric cars haven’t really caught on. Despite the cars being quite good, sales have been anything but stellar, so the German automaker is starting from a clean slate with its new generation of EVs.

This includes the iconic Mercedes-Benz grille, which is also getting a makeover. Gone are the blacked-out grilles of old, and in their place we’ll see a brighter, digital reinterpretation of the classic shapes found on the classic 600 Pullman and S-Class models of old.

The first new Mercedes-Benz to get the glitzy new grille is the upcoming GLC with EQ Technology–that’s the electric version. The base version of the redesigned grille comes with a wide chromed frame, a smoked-glass-effect lattice structure and contour lighting. 

More lighting will be available for more money, though. As an option, customers will be able to order an illuminated version with a total of 942 backlit dots that can also be animated. To top it all off, the central star and its surrounding contour will also be illuminated.

For now, Mercedes-Benz has only published a photo with the fancy version of the grille, so we’ll have to wait a little longer to see what the base version looks like. In any case, the German automaker is adamant that this redesign is exactly what the doctor ordered: the car’s design language is called “Sensual Purity”, while the grille is described as “a face for the future” and “a new era of iconic design.”

“Our new iconic grille is not just a new front for the GLC; it redefines the face of our brand,” said Gorden Wagener, Chief Design Officer at Mercedes‑Benz Group AG. “It is the perfect fusion of lasting design codes reinterpreted for the future, making our cars instantly recognizable.”

Besides the GLC, other models will also get a version of the new grille, including combustion cars. We’ll see the new GLC in all its glory when it debuts at the IAA Mobility show in Munich, Germany, on September 7, 2025.

America’s love affair with big three-row SUVs is nothing new. What’s less appreciated is how well electrification fits that formula. Ditch the traditional engine, transmission tunnel, or driveshaft, and space can be used for what you really want—for your family, your pet and every piece of luggage they might insist on bringing.

The Hyundai Ioniq 9 leans hard into that advantage. Built on Hyundai’s Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), its flat floor and six- or seven-seat layouts make it a proper lounge on wheels. The numbers back it up, too: Its 123.2-inch wheelbase is longer than the current-gen gas Palisade (114.2 inches) and even longer than the Cadillac Escalade (121.0 inches).

Roadtripping in it is absurdly easy. It gets access to the Tesla Supercharger network, the country’s largest and most reliable charging system. Add in a smooth, quiet ride, Bose surround audio and a cavernous interior festooned with tech and you’ve got an EV that feels purposely built to keep you happy and comfortable on most roads.

So, if anyone is still telling you that gas SUVs are better roadtrippers for your family, you’re being lied to. The Ioniq 9 is here and it makes that case better than few other cars out there. We’ve already done a full review—which you can read here—but to learn more about its long-distance strengths, continue reading.

[Full Disclosure: Hyundai loaned me an Ioniq 9 for one week in Brooklyn. It arrived fully charged, and I returned it likewise.]

As a bachelor living in New York City, I didn’t exactly put the Ioniq 9 through a family or soccer mom test. But I did the next best thing: I took three of my friends and drove upstate New York. I’ve never seen them as relaxed or as excited in any other press car I’ve brought home.

These are powertrain-agnostic, non-car people who care about one thing: getting from point A to point B. Yet a few things had them grinning the entire trip: the buttery ride quality, the plush second-row captain’s chairs, the smooth electric powertrain and the Bose speakers turning the cabin into a concert hall on wheels.

The creature comforts are truly great, but they don’t mean much if the EV underneath isn’t sorted. Luckily, the Ioniq 9 nails the basics. So, let’s start with those first.

Range And Charging

The Ioniq 9 gets two things very right: range and charging speeds.

About 200 miles into my drive to upstate New York, I wasn’t even worried about plugging in. Interstate 87 has a decent frequency of Tesla Superchargers and the Ioniq 9 is equipped with a factory-fitted North American Charging Standard (NACS) port, opening up access to 20,000+ Superchargers nationwide. 

Under the skin, the Ioniq 9 shares its platform with its corporate cousin, the Kia EV9. But Hyundai has given it a bigger 110-kilowatt-hour battery, compared to Kia’s 99.8 kWh pack. That extra capacity translates into 300 miles of EPA-rated range on every trim—the base S stretches to 335 miles, the SE and SEL hit 320 miles, while the Limited (my test car) and Calligraphy are rated at 311 miles.

Its 800-volt architecture helps it charge from 10% to 80% in about 24 minutes on a 350-kilowatt DC fast charger—that’s plenty quick given the SUV’s large 110 kWh battery pack. Most new public fast-charging stations can deliver that much power, including Electrify America, EVGo, ChargePoint Express Plus and even Ionna.

During my week-long testing, I stuck to Tesla Superchargers simply because they were easier to find and use with the Tesla app.

While the majority of Superchargers are still capped at 250 kW, the new V4 units can hit 325 kW. The Ioniq 9 went from 30% to 80% in 25 minutes using one of these stalls. The charging speed was slower than what I expected, topping out at 126 kW, but it held that speed even past 70% percent before tapering near 80%—which is a pretty flat charging curve that helps you save time.

Utility Mode Rocks

Hyundai’s newer EVs come with Utility Mode that taps the main high-voltage battery to run the infotainment, climate control, cabin lights, or even external appliances. The feature isn’t unique to Hyundai—Tesla and Rivian have been offering it for years, but it’s a great thing that more cars are coming with it as standard.

Turning it on from the infotainment screen shuts the drive unit down while everything else keeps humming—which is useful if you’re parked for hours or camping. In gas cars, if you kill the engine, you’re stuck with the small 12-volt battery, which will drain fast and might even die.

Dropping the second and third rows opens up 86.9 cubic feet of space, more than enough to toss in an air mattress or a surfboard (or both). Drive it to a campsite and you’ve got a panoramic roof for stargazing.

I used it for something far less romantic: I used it as my office for half a day during a 98-degree Fahrenheit heatwave (felt like 104°F with humidity). It sipped just 2% of the battery during that time—the Ioniq 9’s 110 kWh battery is larger than average packs.

It also gets vehicle-to-load (V2L) capability, with a built-in 15 amp, 125 volt outlet in the trunk plus a 12 volt socket. That means you can power a coffee machine, induction stove, or whatever gear you throw in the back—all using battery power.

About Those Seats

The seats give the Ioniq 9 a lot of personality. The S, SE, and SEL trims come with a second-row bench, giving the Ioniq 9 a seven-seat layout. Step up to the Limited or Calligraphy trims and you get captain’s chairs. If you’re not regularly hauling more than six people, they’re absolutely worth it.

The sweet spot is the right-side captain’s chair behind the front passenger seat. With a set of buttons on the front seat backrest, you can slide that seat fully forward, opening up limo-like space in the second row. The captain’s chairs are kitted out with armrests, powered leg rests, and heated and ventilated cushions. They also get almost pillow-like headrests with side support. 

Up front, both seats offer eight-way power adjustment with lumbar support, which goes a long way toward keeping posture in check on longer drives. And if you slide the second row just a touch, the third row opens up into legitimately usable space.

It doesn’t feel cramped, and Hyundai didn’t skimp on the details back there either: dedicated AC vents, powered recline, bottle holders, dome lights and dual 100-watt USB-C ports.

Because it has a flat floor and nothing obstructing lateral movement, moving around in the second and third rows is easy, especially if you’re petite like me.

Small Details Make Big A Difference

In big cars, the little things matter the most. I’m not convinced every automaker gets that.

The Volkswagen ID. Buzz, for all its charm as a people-mover, skips bottle holders for the second row. Owners can buy a second-row center console, but it’s more of a general storage rack than a true cupholder setup. The Ioniq 9 gets 11 bottle holders: four in the first row, four in the second row and three in the third row.

It also gets a highly modular center console which slides all the way forward, or halfway back—about 7.5 inches—extending the access to both first and second-row passengers. Because there is no transmission tunnel running through the middle of the car, Hyundai has used that space smartly.

The console has a wide armrest that can open from both ends, has generous storage capacity, two large bottle holders, a wireless charging pad and climate settings for the second and third row passengers. That’s a lot of functionality packed into a small, movable unit.

Plush Ride Quality

Despite weighing 6,000 pounds, the Ioniq 9 is surprisingly effortless to drive. Light steering, large side mirrors and a 360-degree camera make threading it through narrow streets far less intimidating than its size suggests.

The ride quality is where it really shines. The suspension absorbs road imperfections with poise, eagerly swallowing everything from small bumps to big potholes. There’s some inevitable lateral movement with an SUV this large. It dives a bit under braking and squats on acceleration, but none of that makes you feel unsettled. The dampers do a commendable job of keeping it all under control.

Hyundai credits that composure to self-leveling dampers and hydro bushings. The self-leveling dampers maintain the correct ride height regardless of the load, while the hydro bushings absorb vibrations more effectively than solid rubber. They’re basically fluid-filled mounts between the suspension and chassis.

Together, they give the Ioniq 9 an almost luxury-car-like ride, making smaller imperfections far less bothersome.

And Hyundai has gone to great lengths to keep the outside world, well, outside. The Ioniq 9 rides on 21-inch Hankook Ion Evo SUV tires (285/45), each wearing a big “EV Soundabsorber” badge. Hankook has a whole breakdown of the technology behind the tires. In simple terms though, there’s foam lining the inner walls and a series of tread and groove designs aimed at killing road noise. After a week behind the wheel, it’s hard to argue—it just works.

Add to that acoustic glass, triple door seals and active noise cancellation and the cabin feels genuinely quiet. Enough that even at 70 miles per hour, you won’t have to raise your voice to talk to the third-row passenger.

It’s Halfway Software-Defined

Hyundai’s software game isn’t at Tesla or Rivian levels yet, but the Ioniq 9 makes it clear the automaker is stepping up.

The 12.3-inch central infotainment screen felt responsive, though not as snappy as a Model Y. But it displays EV-specific data in great detail, better than probably most other automakers.

You get battery health monitoring, efficiency history and a breakdown of energy use split between the drivetrain, electronics, climate control and battery care. It even shows, in real time, how many kilowatts each system is drawing, which can help if you’re obsessive about efficiency like I am.

Hyundai is also improving the software in small ways. One example is that you can electrically fold or raise the second and third-row seats straight from the screen. It sounds minor, but it requires tight software-hardware integration. If someone is trying to load a large item in the back and you need to drop the seats without leaving the driver’s seat, this feature will come in surprisingly handy.

And unlike General Motors, Hyundai isn’t ditching wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto anytime soon. Despite the tech-heavy cabin, manual buttons and knobs are still plenty. Key functions, including drive and terrain modes, volume, and climate controls, still get proper physical buttons and dials. Again, a small thing, but it makes a big difference in keeping your eyes on the road instead of buried in menus.

Granted, none of this comes cheap. My press loaner carried a sticker of $71,250, which could be a dealbreaker for plenty of buyers. The base S trim costs $59,000. With the $7,500 federal tax credit, that starts to look like a more reasonable proposition.

Hyundai is also sweetening the deal until Sept. 30, when the federal tax credits expire. It’s offering $5,000 cash discounts across all trims on purchase. And lease options starting at $419 per month for 36 months with $4,999 due at signing. That’s not a bargain by any measure, either, but it does let you skip the steep purchase price and still land one of the best three-row electric SUVs on sale right now.

However, the price isn’t the Ioniq 9’s strength. I don’t think Hyundai intends it to be that way either. The Ioniq 9 feels more like a blueprint. It’s proof of how much capability you can pack into a three-row electric SUV without mechanical or design compromises. It’s proof that electrification is the way to go for family SUVs. 

Remember that this blueprint will only get better as battery tech evolves and costs come down. So, this is just the beginning and the Ioniq 9 is easily one of the most convincing three-row electric SUVs yet.

Have a tip? Contact the author: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com

If you go looking for stories about the Volkswagen Group’s transition to electric vehicles, you probably won’t find a ton of positive headlines.

The original “pivot to EVs” company has suffered through software issues, delays to crucial new cars, C-suite upheavals and other crises, and now it’s staring down the barrel at brutal new tariffs—arguably none more so than its Audi brand, which doesn’t even build cars in the United States.

When your company’s press releases open with “Challenging half year,” well, the vibes aren’t exactly great.

But here’s what gets lost in all the noise: every single VW Group EV that I’ve driven is a quantum leap forward over the last one.

Nothing illustrates that better than the new Audi SQ6 E-Tron and the related Q6 E-Tron. It’s built on an all-new platform that was once a part of those many delays, but now that it’s here, it’s one of the more impressive luxury electric SUVs on the market. In terms of charging, range, features and performance, it handily outclasses what we’ve seen from Audi’s EVs before. Now, we’ll see if it has the juice to be the sales success that Audi needs it to be. 

(Full Disclosure: Audi gave us an SQ6 E-tron with a full charge for a week, followed by a Q6 E-Tron later on.)  

2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron: Overview

The Q6 and SQ6 E-Tron models ride on the VW Group’s new Premium Platform Electric (PPE), alongside the related A6 and S6 E-Tron sedans and the similar-but-has-its-own-energy Porsche Macan Electric.

That’s a groundbreaking EV platform for this company on several fronts. It has an 800-volt electric architecture, which allows it to rank among the fastest-charging EVs on the market. It offers over-the-air software updates, an Android Automotive-based infotainment system with native Google Maps, new electric motors that are vastly more efficient than those on its first-generation EVs, along with a host of other new and improved components. 

In the U.S., the Q6 and SQ6 E-Tron models are powered by a 100-kilowatt-hour battery pack with 94 kWh of usable capacity. The base Q6 E-Tron starts at $63,800 before destination fees and up to 321 miles of range and 322 horsepower in single-motor rear-wheel-drive form. Opt for dual-motor all-wheel-drive and you get up to 456 horsepower and an estimated 307-mile range.

If you want more power, go with the SQ6 E-Tron, whose trims come with Quattro AWD only. That bumps the base price to $72,900 and gives you 483 hp—up to 510 hp in Boost Mode—but cuts range to an estimated 275 miles. This test primarily covers the SQ6 E-Tron, but I’ll explain later where the sweet spot is in this lineup.

2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron: Driving Experience

The best compliment I can give to the SQ6 E-Tron is that it drives like an S-Line Audi should. That’s to say, it handles spectacularly well and it’s damned quick, all while being considerably less vulgar and ostentatious than an AMG or one of BMW’s M cars. 

The old Q8 E-Tron was a good handler by the end, too. This is better. It’ll do zero to 60 mph in a stated 4.1 seconds, but instrumented tests I’ve seen put it more in the high-3 range and I believe it. It’s a genuinely fun EV to drive, especially when the Boost function is used liberally. 

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It has another advantage over even the Macan Electric: adjustable regenerative braking. The VW Group is tepid on one-pedal driving in general, but the SQ6 E-Tron at least offers several different strength settings using a “B Mode” toggle. The steering wheel paddles can also let you adjust regenerative strength temporarily.

Overall, it’s athletic, fun and balanced, but doesn’t offer many surprises in this field. 

2026 Audi SQ6 E-Tron: Exterior and Interior

Let’s get this out of the way first: for such an important car, it doesn’t look like much. In fact, it looks like something the Audi design team won in a low-stakes poker game against the Infiniti design team, and I don’t mean that in a nice way. Its voluminous grille, anodyne profile and those narrow, insect-like headlamps are a far cry from the hits of the past like the Audi TT and R8, or even the comparatively elegant first-generation Q5. And its algebraic name doesn’t evoke anything special, either. Audi seems to get that it needs a reset on this front. 

Hop inside, and a lot of those cares go away. This is a comfortable, tech-laden interior that loses nearly all of the gripes I had with the old Q8 E-Tron, as this car is a completely different animal in terms of hardware. 

The seats are comfortable, bolstered well without being too aggressive (it’s thankfully not an RS Q6 E-Tron, after all) and the cabin is airy and modern. The grippy, rectangular-ish steering wheel is a delight to use. 

I liked the abundance of physical buttons and air vents, although not so much the haptic buttons on the steering wheel. Those aren’t as irritating here as on older cars, but my thumb often slipped when trying to change the audio track on the sound system, for example. Just button-buttons would be preferable. But overall, the quality is exceptional and worthy of its price tag.

2026 Audi SQ6 E-Tron: Technology

Thankfully, those delays were worth it on the tech front, because the PPE cars are a technical tour-de-force. Audi’s infotainment system uses the Android Automotive OS for the first time, and like other EVs it’s featured on—cars from General Motors, Volvo and others—it offers a tremendous degree of speed and customization. Want a certain display or setting featured more prominently? Just drag it on over to where you want it. 

Or you can talk to the voice assistant, which is better than most. It can do a lot of things you ask it to, like change the climate settings or defrost the rear window. It can’t do a lot of physical functions, like opening the windows, for example.

You get a 12-inch OLED virtual cockpit in front of the driver that blends into a 14.5-inch center touch display. There’s also an optional 10.9-inch display in front of the passenger, but like most screens placed there, whoever’s riding shotgun may wonder what they’re supposed to do with it. (This tends to be a vastly more popular feature in China.)

No matter how many screens you get or use, the displays are high-quality and powered by software that’s far more quick and responsive than what was on older Audis. Because it’s Android Automotive, you get a bunch of native, built-in apps, like YouTube, Spotify, and Zoom. 

In terms of automated driving assistance tech, it’s a solid setup, but nothing groundbreaking: adaptive cruise control with lane-keeping, traffic sign recognition, a distraction and drowsiness warning system and other features. But it remains fully hands-on, so visit your Cadillac dealer instead if that’s a dealbreaker. 

2026 Audi SQ6 E-Tron: Range, Observed Efficiency and Charging

Here’s where the SQ6 E-Tron falls down a bit. Going under 300 miles of range is par for the course for modern “performance” EVs (outside of China, anyway), but this model isn’t quite enough of a screamer to justify that range hit.

I drove the SQ6 E-Tron earlier this summer, when it was still on the colder side here in upstate New York. Even on a full charge, I never really got close to the claimed 275 miles of range. This, for a car with a 100 kWh battery; I often wondered where all of those kilowatt-hours actually went. In mixed driving, I saw between 2.7 and 3.2 miles per kWh pretty consistently. Not bad, but nothing at all special in terms of efficiency. 

Where the SQ6 E-Tron acquits itself well is in DC fast-charging. It has a peak rate of 270 kilowatts, so if you find a fast enough charger, you can go from 10% to 80% in just about 20 minutes. On a slower 150 kW charger, I saw it jump from 34% to 60% in just nine minutes. Like their Porsche brethren, these modern Audi EVs do quite well on the charging front. 

2026 Audi SQ6 E-Tron Or Q6 E-Tron: Which To Buy?

Incidentally, I drove a standard Q6 E-Tron Quattro a few weeks after the SQ6 E-Tron, and that’s the one I would tell you to buy. That car offers 456 hp with the same battery pack, the same fast-charging speeds, the same tech features, and largely the same interior. And it’ll do zero to 60 mph in the upper-mid four second range, which isn’t slow, either. 

For all that, you still get Quattro AWD and a much more palatable 307 miles of range. The point is, I don’t think the SQ6 offers enough of a performance premium to sacrifice at least 30 miles of range, and at least $10,000. In real-world situations, they don’t even feel that different. 

My hope would be that Audi adds some spice to the SQ6 E-Tron over time to justify that price premium, or finds a way to boost range across the board. 

2026 Audi SQ6 E-Tron Verdict: Strong Contender

MY SQ6 E-Tron tester came in at $83,395 including the Prestige and Edition One packages. Not at all shocking for a loaded German luxury SUV. (And I don’t want to start any inter-family drama, but it may be a better overall deal than the Porsche Macan Electric is.) 

I like the SQ6 and Q6 E-Trons a lot, and both of them finally put Audi where it needs to be in the modern EV space. Overall, the duo feel like an EV gateway drug for anyone who’s enjoyed their gas-powered SUVs over the years and wants to drive the technology of the future—and that’s a lot of people.

It also feels like a convincing luxury upgrade for anyone moving on from a Tesla Model Y, though those people may miss its hands-free highway driving features or the ubiquitous Supercharger network. (Audi will join that network at some point too, via an adapter at first and a native NACS plug later.) Ultimately, it needs more range and better efficiency to match its impressive hardware and first-rate driving experience, but there’s a lot to like anyway. 

Globally, the Q6 E-Tron family is selling pretty well so far, so it’s good to see Audi’s big swing pay off. We’ll soon see how true that is when tariffs hit in the U.S., but I hope Audi loyalists give this thing a shot. And it’s proof that EV technlogy is getting better, and more quickly, than most people think.

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com

A three-row crossover SUV isn’t something you dream of driving. Most of them offer the dynamic excellence of a minivan, just with less practicality. You often end up in one because you have to—maybe you’ve got kids and tons of gear to haul around on the regular, or you have to be prepared for certain extreme use cases, like that one time a year when all the in-laws all come to visit at once. 

For anyone facing the three-row doldrums, I’d say: Friend, have you heard the good news about battery power?

It turns out that adding instant electric torque can spice up any large family-hauler. So can features like outboard power for camping or other adventures, and a Tesla plug to ease any road-trip charging anxiety.

The new American-made Hyundai Ioniq 9 may be exactly what you’re looking for. Even from a company whose electric vehicles are its best products ever, full stop, the Ioniq 9 may be its finest work yet. In fact, it’s one of the best examples of the three-row SUV genre in America, and one of the better ways to spend time in an automobile in 2025.

If there’s any downside, it’s that you’ll be paying more for that “H” badge than is to be expected. Then again, you’re getting a lot from this SUV, too.

(Full Disclosure: Hyundai sent me an Ioniq 9 to test for a week with a fully charged battery.

2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9: Overview

The Ioniq 9 is a new model for the 2026 model year. On its face, it seems to take everything that was successful about Hyundai’s E-GMP platform, which underpins the massively successful Ioniq 5 and other EVs, and makes it bigger. But that’s only part of the story. 

In reality, the Ioniq 9 feels like a kind of second-generation EV product from Hyundai, because it builds on the success of the cars that came before it and debuts with a raft of improvements that just arrived on the Ioniq 5 and the rest. It has the largest battery pack this family of cars has seen yet, at 110 kilowatt-hours. It has an updated software suite with—finally—wireless Apple CarPlay. And it comes straight from the factory with a Tesla-style North American Charging Standard (NACS) plug, though getting the charging speeds the Ioniq line is famous for will require a CCS adapter. 

More than that, the Ioniq 9 feels like a more mature, more dialed-in car than the first Ioniq 5 or my own Kia EV6 and the rest. The overall build quality feels better, and the entire car just seems to be a more cohesive EV product, as if made by a company that’s done with electric first drafts and really knows what it’s doing. 

It’s more than just a re-badged and restyled Kia EV9, too. It’s a bit bigger and roomier in every dimension, has a bigger battery with more range across all trims, and only comes in a seven-seat configuration. The two remain very comparable in price and specs, but I’d give the slight edge to the Hyundai. 

And no matter which Ioniq 9 trim you choose, you won’t skimp on range, unlike some of the other lower-end Hyundai and Kia EV variants. The Ioniq 9 comes in single-motor rear-wheel-drive or dual-motor all-wheel-drive forms. The most basic one, the RWD S model, starts at $58,955 and gets 335 miles of range.  This Ecotronic Gray Matte (what a name!) tester you see here is an AWD Performance Limited model, third from the top of the trim line, rated at 311 miles of range and priced at $74,300 with all its options.

A lot for a Hyundai? Sure, but when you consider that this Georgia-built EV also qualifies for the full $7,500 EV tax credit (for however long that lasts) and the equipment and specs you’re getting, it can be a solid deal.

2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9: Driving Experience

I don’t care for driving most three-row crossovers. And as a person whose immediate family includes one spouse and one small dog, I don’t really need one. But the Ioniq 9 was an SUV I looked forward to driving every single time, and even made excuses to drive.

In dual-motor Performance form, the Ioniq 9 puts down an impressive 422 horsepower. There’s no hiding its almost 6,000-pound curb weight, but the thing can still scoot. Hyundai estimates it’ll do zero to 60 mph in a little under five seconds, and in reality, it feels a bit quicker.

But the Ioniq 9 isn’t about brutal speed. It’s about smoothness. Comfort. While the handling is far from sloppy, it’s most at home when it’s cruising in near-silence. And it’s still much more fun and much more athletic than any gas-powered three-row crossover I can think of. Driving an Ioniq 9 is a pleasant and calming experience, even when you need to smoke someone on the highway in Sport mode.

One big plus here is Hyundai’s updated i-Pedal system, which offers four levels of regenerative braking (or none at all) via the paddle shifters. It’s a nice degree of customization when most EVs just do “on” or “off.”

And in “Auto” mode, the i-Pedal automatically adjusts the level of regenerative braking depending on what’s detected in front of you—an upcoming turn, another vehicle, and so on. This feature is polarizing at the InsideEVs offices, but I’ve found that if you learn to work with it and understand what it’s going to do in most situations, you won’t want to live without it. 

2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9: Exterior and Interior

I give props to Hyundai’s designers for doing something kind of different with each member of the Ioniq line. The Ioniq 9 isn’t just a stretched-out Ioniq 5 (which I’m not even sure would look all that great); nor is it an obvious cousin to either generation of Ioniq 6 sedan. Instead, it’s a curvaceous streamliner with a distinct grille and rear light setup, shaped almost like a big wagon than just another anyodyne faux-rugged SUV, and it even packs a couple of fun colors to boot. 

But the Ioniq 9 shines the most on the inside. This no cheap, bargain-basement Hyundai; it’s a high-tech, modern, near-luxury car that would be convincing enough if it wore a Genesis badge. The materials are all first-rate and a lot of attention was clearly paid to their designs, from the door handles down to the cupholders. Oh, and physical buttons and air vents—it has them. Thanks, Hyundai. 

My biggest complaint was how far away the dashboard felt. I had to lean over and reach further than I would’ve liked to operate the controls, which felt frustrating on longer drives. But Hyundai’s voice controls are first-rate, so try those when you can instead. 

Of course, this is a three-row SUV, so what matters most is probably behind the driver. And it’s one of the roomiest and most comfortable places in its class. I’m 5’11” and had plenty of headroom and legroom in the second row. And the third row? The Ioniq 9 has the only one I’d want to sit in. It’s plenty spacious back there even for adults, especially if the second-row folks are willing to move up just a smidge.

Thank the packaging excellence that EVs offer. With no engine or transmission tunnel to account for, they can be roomier than gas-powered SUVs. And most of those have a third row in name only, or exist only for small children and only in a pinch. Not the Ioniq 9. It’s a true long-distance people-hauler.

You also get up to 87 cubic feet of cargo space, including 22 cubic feet of cargo area behind the third row, which outclasses even Hyundai’s spacious gas-powered Palisade. Not bad at all.

2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9: Technology

The Ioniq 9 launches with Hyundai’s updated software suite. Among the best upgrades here: a range meter with three figures, including “minimum” and “maximum” ratings. It feels designed to avoid low-range surprises. It’s also very proactive in offering charge time estimates. 

Beyond that, Hyundai’s software game continues to be just mid-tier in the EV race. It was never buggy, like some options we test. But the infotainment system isn’t as flexible or as customizable as some of the Android Automotive OS-based systems we’ve tested. And the decisions made by Hyundai’s navigation system are as frustrating as ever—you’ll be missing Google Maps in no time, or using your phone for directions instead. 

Hyundai’s Highway Drive Assist 2 (HDA2) automated driving assistance system is decent, offering automated lane changes and speed-limit monitoring. But it is not a true hands-free, eyes-on driving assistance system like General Motors’ Super Cruise or Ford’s Blue Cruise, both of which have it handily beaten for highway road trips.

And Hyundai’s smartphone app won’t have Tesla’s tech team staying awake at night. As great as the Hyundai and Kia EVs are with design, performance and electric powertrains, their software and tech suites could stand to be a lot more competitive. 

Still, it’s great at the EV stuff. Route-planning, charing scheduling, battery health ratings and battery management are all among the best in the industry.

Range, Observed Efficiency and Charging

Still, you can’t argue with 300-plus miles of range on every Ioniq 9 trim level. At 100% charge in my driveway, I regularly saw ratings of 330 miles or more in temperate New York summer weather. In our testing, we recorded around 3.3 to 3.5 miles per kilowatt-hour, and sometimes higher. Pretty excellent for its weight, overall. 

Like the rest of the 800-volt E-GMP family, the Ioniq 9 will see max charging speeds of around 235 kilowatts. When hooked up to a 350 kW fast-charger, it’s rated to charge from 10% to 80% in as little as 24 minutes—absolutely outstanding for a battery this size, and only a few minutes more than an Ioniq 5 with its smaller pack. (Hyundai says using a CCS adapter will not affect the car’s charging performance at all.)

I’ve had great experiences with fast-charging these cars before; it’s why I bought one for myself. I wanted to try it on a Tesla Supercharger, which it works with natively thanks to that NACS port. Due to differences in voltage between Hyundai’s 800-volt setup and the Tesla chargers’ 400-volt system, you won’t see the usual crazy-quick speeds.

But the Ioniq 9 still went from 20% to about 75% in 25 minutes on a Tesla plug at a consistent 126 kW. And honestly, that’s not bad. It’s about what any Tesla will do on the same plug, and it passes my “Can you plug it in and get back on the road reasonably quickly?” test.

And with access to more than 20,000 Tesla Superchargers (just note that not all of them work with a non-Tesla EV, even with that NACS port), you won’t really find yourself worrying about range all that much on your next road trip. 

Hyundai Ioniq 9 Verdict: Top Recommendation

I didn’t walk away with many criticisms of the Ioniq 9. It’s one of the best EVs you can buy in America today, and also one of the best EVs built in America. 

Yes, that $74,300 price tag (before any tax credits or discounts) is steep. And plenty of people may scoff at paying that much for a Hyundai—but they shouldn’t. Unlike some of these so-called “luxury” EVs that are coming to market with half-finished software and enough recalls to keep the folks at NHTSA busy until the next decade, the Ioniq 9 is a complete, well-executed and extremely competent electric SUV.

My recommendation would be the mid-range dual-motor SEL model, with 320 miles of range and a starting price of $66,320. Grab the EV tax credit while it lasts, and that’s $58,820, about on par with most nicely-equipped gas-powered three-row crossovers. And this offers a better experience, especially when you add in Hyundai’s complimentary home charger. 

If you can buy a better three-row people-hauler, buy it. But I’m not sure you will.

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com

• Even three years on, the Tesla Model S Plaid can still humiliate a supercar.
• Even with less weight and more power, the 2025 Corvette ZR1 loses every time.
• The Tesla rockets ahead in all drag races in this video, never giving the Corvette a chance.

The hype around the Tesla Model S Plaid has mostly died off since the car is now around three years old and it’s no longer the only EV with 1,000 horsepower or more. However, even if it’s not the newest electric sedan with whiplash-inducing acceleration, its 0 to 60 mph time of 1.9 seconds is still hard to beat, even in cars with more power.

You would think the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, with its monumental 5.5-liter flat-plane crank V-8 engine that churns out 1,064 hp, would have no problem out-accelerating a Model S Plaid, which was recently given a very mild update. The Vette is only rear-wheel drive, so it needs four-tenths more to hit sixty from a standstill. However, its superior power, combined with much less weight, should give it the edge in a drag race against the Tesla. Right?

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It turns out that the Tesla starts ahead and stays ahead throughout an entire quarter-mile drag race. It’s not even close. The Model S Plaid consistently does quarter-mile runs in the low nine-second range, while the Corvette struggles to dip below 10 seconds in this video by DragTimes.

The Plaid has considerably more torque, 1,050 pound-feet versus 828 lb-ft in the Corvette, but it’s also over 1,100 pounds heavier, coming in just shy of 5,000 lbs. The Corvette’s power-to-weight advantage is undeniable, though, and it should come much closer to matching the Model S through the quarter-mile.

The first run was the best for the Corvette, with its best time to 60 feet of 1.57 seconds. The Tesla had a 1.46-second time in the same run, but it shoots ahead as if the difference was far greater than that. It almost makes the ZR1 look like it’s struggling to accelerate, but that’s just how big a difference there is in sheer acceleration between these two cars.

In all subsequent runs, the Tesla beats the Corvette by a bigger margin. Judging by how quickly it sprints ahead, the ZR1 would likely not be able to catch up even if this were a longer race. Maybe in a one-mile straight-line sprint, it could claw back some of the difference and take the lead from the Tesla, whose acceleration does begin to taper off after it reaches 150 mph and approaches its top speed of 200 mph.

Maybe it just takes an even crazier Corvette ZR1 to beat a Plaid.