The Ioniq 3 sits below the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Ioniq 9 as the smallest Ioniq-branded Hyundai. However, at 4.1m long, it’s not the smallest Hyundai electric car – that honour goes to the Inster supermini.
Both the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 have pretty distinctive designs, so it’s no surprise the Ioniq 3 looks set to turn a few heads, too. Hyundai describes the model as an ‘aero hatch’ and while it sits higher than the Concept Three, the overall profile is familiar, with a low front end, swept-back windscreen and tapered windowline.
The overall surfacing of the Ioniq 3 comes from Hyundai’s ‘Art of Steel’ design philosophy, which is most evident in the creases down the side that point up towards the rear spoiler. Colour-contrasting wheelarches help give the Ioniq 3 a squat-looking stance (although not quite as extreme as the show car’s) and to the rear the upright form and narrow light bar have a whiff of the Alfa Romeo SZ.
As with the Alfa, Hyundai’s design is purposefully bold, with one designer telling us “the best thing for us is people not immediately loving it, we want a polarising design”. An element of the Concept Three that hasn’t made its way to the Ioniq 3 is the fake exhaust, which provided exterior sound on the concept. However, we were told that this feature might be something we’ll see on future Ioniq 3 models, such as a hot Ioniq 3 N.
What equipment will the Hyundai Ioniq 3 get?
The car shown to us was in sporty N Line trim and had 19-inch wheels, a larger rear spoiler, a functional diffuser, red accents and a unique front bumper with gloss-black trim. Lesser versions of the Ioniq 3, like the Advance get a rounded, less aggressive front and rear bumpers and that rear lip spoiler shrinks, too. These lower trim levels also get smaller wheels of just 16 inches.
