Car engineers and designers are like actors. By the time we get to see their handiwork, they’ve long since moved onto the next project, or even the one after that. Which is why Hyundai’s R&D team is already testing a facelifted version of the Ioniq 6 that only went on sale in the US just over a year ago. Our spy photo team spotted the revised electric sedan testing in Europe, and though it’s covered in Hyundai’s trademark black disguise panels we can immediately see that it’s in for some bigger changes than the ones made to the Ioniq 5 earlier this year.
The most striking of those changes
concerns the front-end design, and specifically the shape of the hood and
positioning of the lighting setup. The current car has traditional one-piece headlight
units that the hood is shaped to fit around, but this facelifted car appears to
have a square-shaped hood with a defined point at each corner. That new hood
shape leaves no space for even a slim set of headlights, and looking at the
cutouts in the disguise we can see that the lights have been moved down into
the bumper. Judging from the relative sizes of the two slots in each side, the
DRLs seem to be mounted just below the hood line, with the main headlight units
tucked away beneath, much like they are on Hyundai’s Kona SUV.
It’s more difficult to make out what’s
changed at the back, but you can be sure the rear LED lights will have received
some design tweaks, and the interior should also benefit from some minor trim
changes and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Also expected when the facelifted car is
revealed during 2025 is a range boost that comes via a move from a 77.4 kWh
battery to a 84 kWh unit, a change Hyundai has already made to the Ioniq 5. The
powertrains – 225 hp single-motor and 320 hp dual-motor –
will probably be carried over, but they’ll be joined for the first time by an
Ioniq 6 N that gains a 641 hp twin-motor package and simulated
paddle-shift transmission from the Ioniq 5 N.
