Tokyo - Arabstoday
Hyundai i-oniq Concept Tokyo - Arabstoday Hyundai have just presented the world with the details regarding their Geneva Motor Show-bound concept car. The Hyundai i-oniq was first previewed in a sketch towards the end of last year. Back then they also announced that the car was going to be used to show off some of their new styling ideas. Unfortunately, due to the vagueness of the sketch that didn’t really mean a whole lot. But now we get to see the car from that all-important front 3/4 view, it all starts to make sense.The Hyundai i-oniq probably isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste, and personally I’ve got a few issues with the uninspiring front end which could do with a revisit from a designer’s pen. But on the whole it’s quite a nice looking bit of kit. If you prized off the Hyundai badge at the front, I bet there’s very few people who would guess the car came from a budget Korean manufacturer.Measuring in at 4.4 metres long (14.4 feet) long, the i-oniq (I keep wanting to call it the ironic) has space inside for four adults. Hyundai have fitted the car with a range of equipment designed to reflect contemporary and future premium consumer electronics technology. Hyundai say the interior design was inspired by the shape of musical instruments. In addition the i-oniq is fitted with something called a ‘penthouse roof’. Although I think that’s just Hyundai’s fancy new term for a glass roof.Allan Rushforth, Senior Vice President and COO of Hyundai Motor Europe, said of the concept, “The i-oniq concept has been created to reflect the new thinking that runs through the Hyundai brand. It has a bold design, inside and out, that provokes contemplation on the future of automotive possibilities, and a powertrain that highlights one of the ways in which we could power future products – wrapped in a package that exudes premium qualities.”Powering the Hyundai i-oniq concept is a hybrid drivetrain which consists of a 1.0 litre, 3-cylinder gasoline engine acting as a generator to supply electricity to lithium ion batteries which in turn power a 109 horsepower electric motor. In electric-only mode the i-oniq has a range of 75 miles (120 km). However with the help of the generator engine it can cover 435 miles (700km) before refueling.