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“We are not Premium”

It is the mantra repeated until satiety in the Hyundai/Kia tandem. It is what they told us when we got into KIA EV9. This is what they have repeated from Hyundai when we have put ourselves to the controls of the Hyundai ioniq 9 for the first time.

However, it is clear that both SUV brothers have a clear vocation to raise the level. To show that they have taken a step forward and that, perhaps they are not premium but, of course, they are not general firms to use.

Hyundai ioniq 9 technical record

Looking for a new hole

What defines a car as a premium?

There is no definition of use. There are no minimum or clear criteria that, if they were fulfilled, fully put to a car in the category of “The Premium”. And yet, we all have more or less clear what those premium cars are. In Europe, without any doubt, the German Mercedes-BMW-Audi trio are the great emblem of this category.

Because? Because their products are refined, they have good materials and adjustments above average. And although they are being criticized for according to what solutions either according to what materials usedthe truth is that its quality is above the rest of the market. Also its price … but also its brand image, the status they bring to the client or, at least, the client feels that he is acquiring when he buys one of his cars.

That is why it is so complicated to enter the premium segment. And not only uses purely objective issues, there is a part of irrationality that makes a car with a more brief starting equipment and a higher price in a premium car.

The line with the generalists is clear. A generalist is not an aspirational car like the previous ones. It does not have the finishes of a premium, it does not use the same materials and, above all, it does not project the same image who travels aboard a Renault as a Mercedes, although they can share pieces … Like the engine itself.

And in between there is a slippery category. That of those cars that are not Premium but have a slightly higher price than the generalists and that have been more careful than them. Good for driving touch, materials or equipment, they want project a superior image But they don’t get among the chosen ones. Here we can find Volkswagen with his classic hinge positioning between Audi and Skoda but has had cars that have been aspirational, such as Golf GTI.

We also find a Mazda And there he wanted to play Stellantis with DS and with some specific products of Peugeot, like 508. Renault tried also in his day with the Vel satisf and Avantimeminorities higher than the competition but did not break in the market for their clearly more expensive price.

And there it seems to want to play Hyundai and Kia with the electric car. Technology allows them a Reset In your brand image. Ioniq 9 and EV9 are not cars designed just to sell, they are cars designed to show off the latest technology, to demonstrate where they are positioned and how they want to climb in brand perception.

Very good wicker

To make this leap, in Hyundai they have opted to risk their aesthetics. Like more or like less, it is appreciated.

It is a new design line that has already advanced with the Hyundai Santa Fethat flag vehicle in the combustion format that, over the years, has gone from Popular SUV to a car settled in the 60,000 euros, a little suitable size for the European market and an image clearly focused on the American public.

The ioniq 9 repeat formula. With the addition that here the SUV goes to the 5.06 meters long and 1.98 meters wide. The image with its 1.79 meters high is powerful. Especially with a very high front, dominated by that pixel network of its lights that repeats formula in the rear. Squares are a tonic that is repeated throughout the structure of the car.

The Hyundai Ioniq 9 shouts at the four winds that this is not their site, that Spanish roads and cities are small. But that also has a market niche to which it can assault. They are those who live in villas outside the cities, who have home parking and who use the car for long family trips and to take children to schools away from large cities and easy access shopping centers.

It is clear that this car will not reap large sales pointing to those who live “to the American” in the ring that surrounds Madrid or Barcelona. But it does allow Hyundai to show his car on our roads, make him roll and impact (because by image he impacts) on the rest of the drivers.

Much more if shocking (or counterintuitive) if it gives the chance of seeing it loading. Because Hyundai Ioniq 9 is a car that adds the latest Hyundai/Kia technology in electrical format.

The E-GMP platform allows you to offer an 800 volt structure that dissipates the inconveniences of traveling with an electric car. The battery is gigantic, with 110 kWh. In our contact we close a consumption that was around 22 kWh/100 km. Although more evidence would be necessary, that left us a real autonomy of between 450 and 500 kilometers. If we add the possibility of loading the car at 350 kW, that leaves us stop every 400 kilometers of just 24 minutes to recover up to 80% of the battery capacity. That is, travel another 400 kilometers.

Taking into account that we are facing a 2.5 -tons car but, above all, a vehicle that makes few efficiency concessions (its 0.259 cx is relatively good but the frontal surface must be huge), those 22 kWh/100 kilometers do not seem too high. In fact, it could assume greater consumption since the battery is huge but, above all, that the load power is so fast.

Inside, the car knows where to focus. The highest versions have incorporated cameras instead of mirrors that undoubtedly raise that perception of technological and advanced car. Although I prefer the classic mirrors, it includes two guides in the image by putting the intermittent, orange and red, which provide depth and point out where the safety distance is located and when the vehicle that circulates next to us already gets fully at our dead angle.

It is the most striking of an interior that does not shine for the choice of materials or their adjustments. I do not say it is bad, I say that it is not up to that German triad that we mentioned before. Because it seems that the potential customer of this car is less conservative, familiar but interested in trying new things. And Hyundai wants to deploy all his arsenal to conquer him.

In that Technological Arsenal We found a very good adaptive cruise control. The system has an assisted lane change, so it is enough to point out the lane change so that the car moves alone. Its operation has surprised me for its consistency.

Not an acceleration at the wrong time, not a sharp braking and, something that I liked very much: the reluctance to change lane if another car is thrown to our left, although it is still located behind that orange line that marks the minimum safety distance. Thus he avoided a brake to the vehicle that was thrown and, above all, a risk situation.

Good behavior is confirmed with a very soft rolling and a total noise absence. It is surprising how it has worked to eliminate rolling noise and aerodynamic in a car with such square shapes. Of course, when we squeeze him on a secondary roller road we do some sewing.

However, we are facing a 2,500 kg car and more than five meters long. I doubt that someone will put him against the strings in these circumstances. It is designed to be a ship in the best of the senses. A car that, on highway, has a soul to devour kilometers. I am almost certain that tiredness will appear after many hundred kilometers traveled.

This technologically advanced car positioning is what Hyundai wants to presume. But also of a car that takes care of the passenger. Heating and ventilated seats are included. Clearly American size seats that for a driver like me (1.68 high) are huge. At least, the side of the seat offers a little more accommodation.

But it is in the arrangement of the rear seats where the car shines. Its inner space is huge and, even, the last row is relatively comfortable. In addition, the electric SUV can be requested with relax sidewalks in the second row, delving into that sensation of traveling as comfortable as possible. Or, even, it can be configured with countermarca seats in the second row, facing back with back to driver and co -pilot and creating a huge living room between the second row and the passengers of the background.

Similarly, the car is perfect for those who, with a family of one or two children, prefer to reduce the third row of seats and have a gigantic trunk that goes above 1,000 liters. Perfect to forget to choose between the weekend with the bicycle or the children.

In summary, the hyundai ioniq 9 is A car that points high. It is clear that the bulk of sales should have it in North America and, of course, its space in Europe is limited to a very concrete niche. But, deep down, the main task of this car is not that. His idea is to be the image of a new hyundai. One that, they say, is not premium but that has without any doubt left behind the generalist market.

It is not about selling the car, it is about demonstrating that, if someone looks for an electric car, Hyundai has the latest market technology and that if you are looking for a smaller car you can find part of it in the hyundai ioniq 5 or ioniq 6. Also in which they are to come. And that way of attracting customers and selling the benefits of the product is only achieved with an excessive product like this.

Photos | Xataka

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