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Is the Kia EV6 a better car than the Hyundai Ioniq 5?
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The Kia EV6 and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 are two of the year’s most famous electric car debuts. Both variants are based on the same cutting-edge E-GMP electric car platform. Both brands are owned by Hyundai Motor Company and are part of the same electrification strategy.
However, if you live in a place that isn’t quite an EV hotbed yet – say, somewhere in “flyover country” or merely Michigan – you’ll find it far more difficult to acquire or service an Ioniq 5 than an EV6 at their respective dealerships.
The majority of Americans won’t be able to request a Hyundai Ioniq 5 any time soon, and Hyundai is simply offering an “interest” form right now. Hyundai intends to offer the Ioniq 5 through a limited number of EV-certified dealerships in California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Oregon, and Rhode Island, as well as Texas, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, Arizona, and Washington.
If you ask your local Kia dealership, they will very certainly be willing to work with you to get an EV6. Kia’s electric vehicles are now available in 50 states.
It highlights today’s market divergence in the United States: Hyundai is the company with its own electric-vehicle sub-brand, as well as a large home-energy concept that includes solar and blackout-fighting smart technologies. Despite this, Kia is expanding the availability of its battery electric vehicles in the United States. Please be patient, said a Hyundai representative who declined to comment on the brand’s larger rollout strategy. Some of this is due to Hyundai‘s dealer network not being ready for electric cars.
Meanwhile, Kia had a 2.5-year head start on Hyundai on electric vehicles for reasons that seem partially global but also point to a more agile sales organization, and has worked hard over the last year to ensure that the EV6 and other planned EVs are accessible worldwide.
The Hyundai Ioniq Electric didn’t arrive in the United States until early 2017, whereas the Soul EV arrived in October 2014. Kia Motors America has known about the advent of the EV6 project since October 2016, according to Steve Kosowski, manager of long-range planning and strategy.
The United States was always going to be a crucial market for the brand.
Up until this year, Kia only sold EVs in a few areas, and while the number of dealerships was initially about 145, it had expanded to roughly 175 by 2021. Then, in March 2021, Kosowski said: “Kia underlined to its stores the importance of EVs, offering $12,500 to help with charging infrastructure and encouraging dealers to have a dialogue to be prepared.”
Both brands have not said anything about how many of these cars they plan to sell. According to the newest CARB regulations, Kia has a target in every state, which will very certainly be exceeded owing to demand, according to Kosowski.
“We’ve come to feel that EV market demand or adoption will be faster, and maybe more aggressive, than some people first imagined,” Kosowski added. “We’re seeing it, but it’s not general or widespread.”
He said that we’ve reached the stage where forums are following EV6 ship dates and dealerships are vying for more, indicating that the passion for the Kia EV6 is far more than it was for the Kia Soul EV (It is also known as Kia e-Soul).
According to Kosowski, about a quarter of Kia customers claimed their next car will be an EV in a recent poll, while the response rate for existing EV drivers is around 90%.
Meanwhile, Hyundai had made it obvious with the introduction of last-generation EVs like the Kona Electric that by the time the next-generation EVs arrived, they would be in considerably higher demand and likely accessible in 50 states. It’s uncertain how fast that will happen now that EV demand is increasing.
The Ioniq 5 has “very restricted availability,” according to Hyundai. It also warns that not all of its 19-state availability’s dealerships will be EV-certified. To become EV-certified, Hyundai claims that stores must have the necessary tools, servicing capabilities, and training.
In the end, the solution may lie in Europe, where Hyundai has pushed its EVs quicker than Kia, including local manufacturers of the Kona Electric, and the Ioniq 5 may gain greater electrified brand awareness. Allowing Kia to catch up to Hyundai in Europe on EVs might be the reason the current Soul EV won’t be available in the United States this generation.
While Kia will offer plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), Kosowski didn’t hesitate to declare that, going ahead a few years, the regulatory framework surrounding greenhouse-gas standards has gotten so severe that “the bang for the money, so to speak, is true with EVs.”
How long will it be before the Ioniq 5 is as widely accessible as the EV6?
With Hyundai seemingly following its parent company’s lead, and brands like Ford and VW trying to sell EVs in mass-market proportions, how long will it be before the Ioniq 5 is as widely available as the EV6? Hopefully, this will happen shortly.
- You Can Also Read Our Kia EV6 Review.
