Imagine if, 10 years ago, someone had said to you, in a decade’s time, the car manufacturer you’d most admire would be Hyundai. You’d giggle yourself clean out of your Recaro.

The only way your past self could see that fanciful statement being true – that the Korean maker of ordinary economy hatchbacks (with only a light dusting of rallying in its history) could go from Pony to thoroughbred in such a short time – is if the world received an almighty shake-up.

Thanks to a global pandemic, a complete eradication of dignity in our world leaders and some of our long-held human rights being at risk, it feels very much like a different planet now than 10 years ago.

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But it’s not this cultural reset that has made us look at Hyundai differently. No, it’s Hyundai that’s changed dramatically, and the automaker was on this trajectory way before such major world events forced their way into our lives.

It was 2016, with the launch of Hyundai’s performance brand, N, that set the tone for the company’s reinvention. And we were not prepared. Not at all.

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I covered the reveal of the first N, the i30 N. It shows how little faith we had in Hyundai that I, the most junior member of staff of the magazine I was working on at the time, was sent to see its unveiling. We thought we knew what was coming.

You see, we’d driven Hyundai’s sister brand’s performance model, the Kia Proceed GT. This warm hatch was well balanced and peppy. It was nice. But you didn’t want one.

There was the Kia Stinger, too. This car showed real promise. It had the basis of an incredible performer, but it was finished with a mass-market glaze – the sort that leaves a bitter aftertaste in the mouth of car lovers.

So we knew what to expect from this new Hyundai hot hatch. A sporty hatchback, but nothing that would worry a VW Golf GTI, and something that wouldn’t see where a Renaultsport product had gone.

But boy were we wrong. The i30 N was a hot hatch done right. Made just the way you’d want it. It was dripping with touches that could only have come from people who love performance cars. At tick-over it sounded just like a WRC car skulking around a service area. To me, the triangular brake light screamed Manta 400 bonnet vent.

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And it was engineered properly. It had a limited-slip differential and a tough chassis. It gripped when you wanted it to; it slipped when you didn’t. The entire steering system was new because the regular i30’s wasn’t rigid enough and didn’t provide sufficient feel.

That latter point isn’t the sexiest fact, but that’s the sort of in-depth and expensive modification that rarely gets past a car company’s accountants. It shows how dedicated Hyundai was to making the i30 N a proper hot hatch contender. Maybe, even at the expense of any profit. I’ve always assumed that Hyundai loses money on the i30 N given it feels so exquisitely engineered.

It’s worth the lack of profit, though, because the i30 is the foundation of the N brand. If it wasn’t as strong, if it was, say, like the Kia Proceed GT, then we wouldn’t be applauding it now.

The i30 N was the spark that made us all turn our heads east and pay attention to Hyundai. The Kona, Veloster and i20 have all received the N treatment with much the same success as the original.

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Then there are the non-performance Hyundai models that we just can’t take our eyes off. The Ioniq 5 might be an electric hatchback – a huge one at that – but it looks like it should be restricted to a slowly rotating turntable – it’s too futuristic to be a car you can just buy. Hyundai’s van, the Staria, is equally mystifying. Both are stop-you-in-the-street stunning… a hatchback and a van.

Then we get onto Hyundai’s actual concept cars and prototypes. These sorts of cars, fanciful never-going-to-make-it-to-production machines, are rarely exciting. Often wonderful looking, undoubtedly, but they’re usually designed to be exhibited at stale motor shows. Their sole purpose to boast about spurious new technology and get industry and design guys hot under their indoor scarves.

Hyundai didn’t get that memo. The Korean brand’s concepts want to show us – people who actually buy and love cars, not industry design types and futurologists – where the company is heading. Hyundai’s prototypes often have the whiff of burnt rubber about them, brilliantly so.

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To showcase its future drivetrains, Hyundai has stuffed its electric motors into radically redeveloped Velosters to make not one, but two mid-engined, rear-wheel drive track cars in the form of the N ETCR and the RM20e. The latter has over 800hp.

One of the company’s most bizarre creations is the iMax N, a high-performance drifting eight-seater van. Someone at Hyundai is a Dajiban fan, clearly.

Then there’s the more sedate, but no less captivating, Grandeur restomod that Hyundai made in 2021. An original Grandeur saloon, but with the sheen, elegance and matrix lights from a 1980s vision of the future. It’s retro without seeming gaudy, celebratory without being attention seeking, and humorous without being a joke. It’s perfectly judged.

Despite these triumphs, Hyundai has managed to outdo itself recently. In early 2022, it launched two concepts that harness new-world tech and unleash it in a way that seems to have – if we didn’t know better – Speedhunters approval stamped all over it.

First is the RN22e, essentially an N version of Hyundai’s swooping Ioniq 6 saloon. In true loveable N-style, it’s in light blue, has plenty of power (569hp) from two electric motors, one for each axle, and torque vectoring at the rear. It’s the way it looks that’s most astounding, though. There’s never been a GT3 race car made from a saloon, because that would be absurd. But it would look incredible and we know that because that’s exactly what the RN22e looks like. Massive wing, huge diffuser, wide stance, blistered arches and everything.

The best of these two concepts, however, is the N Vision 74. It combines the retro styling, high performance and sheer joyous attitude of all the Hyundai concepts we’ve touched on and stuffs those attributes into a wild, wedge-shaped package.

The basis for the N Vision 74 is a Hyundai Pony Coupé concept designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro for the Turin Motor Show of, yes you guessed it, 1974. An updated, modernised and electric version of this crisp coupé would have been lovely. It would have got us talking and sharing a few pics online, just as the Grandeur restomod did.

But Hyundai didn’t leave it there and boy are we grateful. It took the ’70s concept and did what, well, any of us would do to it. What we’d do to it if we had an unlimited budget and the right combination of reverence and disrespect for the company’s heritage.

The N Vision 74 has a 1970s Group 5 silhouette-style body kit. Big wide box arches that finish abruptly at the doors to leave gaping cooling holes fore and aft. Its wheels are like a cleaned-up version of the turbofans found on a Trans Am Audi 200 Quattro, big and smooth. And, so it doesn’t simply hark bark to race highlights from the past century, it has a massive modern aero package, including a wing, diffuser and splitter.

Why it needs quite so much downforce is perplexing, because the official pictures show it being backed into corners, sideways, well before any apex. I know the images are not real, just digital renders, but pics like this show Hyundai’s intent. This is how it wants you to see its cars, at full opposite lock. That’s another thing about Hyundai you have to admire.

Hyundai seems determined to prove that the future, V8 and petrol-less, will still be irresponsibly fun. The N Vision 74 has two electric motors, but unlike the RN22e, they’re both for the back axle to make pulverising rubber much easier. It’s hydrogen-powered too, our favourite ‘new’ form of propulsion. None of that lengthy charge time.

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It seems as though there’s someone like us – someone with Eurobeat punctuated by 4A-GE induction noise constantly playing in our heads – that’s making decisions at Hyundai. Heck, more than one person. It seems like there’s a team of people who really love cars there.

That’s why I admire Hyundai right now. Each one of its concepts or performance cars feels as though one of your car mates is behind it. You half expect that each new car will be unveiled in the same way a friend would announce when they’ve bought, made or done something silly. Rather than a pompous PDF press release, you’d get a WhatsApp with a pic and a simple ‘check this out’.

Source: Speedhunters.com

J.D. Power has released its annual U.S. Tech Experience Index for 2022, ranking the most innovative automakers and models on the market and calling out the features owners love and love to hate. And after taking the top spots of the 2022 Vehicle Dependability Study, Korean sister brands Genesis, Hyundai and Kia find themselves at the top of the chart as the innovative brands in their respective segments.

A companion piece to J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study, the Tech Experience Index is based on the responses of 84,165 owners of new 2022 model year vehicles surveyed after 90 days of ownership. The survey seeks to find what technologies owners find the most desirable and which ones frustrate them the most. Along the way, the automakers themselves are ranked by a calculated Innovation Index to determine which ones are most successfully introducing the best new tech. 

J.D. Power's analysts calls new vehicle technology a "double-edged sword," stating that tech is one of the leading reasons for purchasing a new car and that automakers must continue to innovate or risk losing their competitive edge. However, inelegant implementation of tech or a high occurrence of problems could cause users to abandon a technology or even a brand outright. These are tricky waters and not everyone's doing a great job navigating them.

Korean brands lead innovation

Crunching the numbers, J.D. Power assigns each automaker an Innovation Index score scaled from 0-1,000, higher being better. American electric vehicle company Tesla would have been the outright winner with an unofficial score of 681 points. However, because Tesla blocks JPD's access to owner information in certain states, the automaker finds itself ineligible for awards. Swedish premium EV brand Polestar also finds itself ineligible with an unofficial score of 608 points.

That leaves room for the Korean luxury upstart Genesis to slide in and once again take the crown for the highest officially ranked premium and overall brand with an Innovation index of 643. The G70 and GV70 are best-in-classes vehicles packed with user-friendly cabin and driver aid technologies; no wonder the brand finds itself the survey's king of this hill. The next highest ranked premium brands are Cadillac (584), known for its Super Cruise hands-free highway assist tech, and Mercedes-Benz (539) which launched the high-tech, electric EQS this year.

Korean brands continue to dominate among the mass-market brands with Hyundai leading the pack with 534 points — not too far behind Benz. These brands share many key technologies with Genesis, hence the similarly high score. Third-place is a three-way tie (482) between Buick, GMC and Subaru.

For context, the industry average sits at a calculated Innovation Index of 486 points. And because I know you're curious, the lowest ranked brands are Porsche (439), Honda and Chrysler (tied at 429) with Mazda being the least innovative brand of 2022 with its 387 Innovation Index — which makes sense given Mazda's minimalist approach to tech.

The biggest loser

Fingerprint readers were found to be the most problematic technology probed with 54.3 problems found per 100 vehicles surveyed as part of the study. That makes it the lowest-performing tech in the study's history with the lowest overall satisfaction score, dethroning the previous record-holder: gesture controls.

Biometric fingerprint authentication is most commonly used for login on infotainment suites like Mercedes-Benz's User Experience that support multiple users or, more rarely, to lock or unlock a vehicle. Considering how well fingerprint readers have been implemented in smartphones, tablets and personal computers, the surveyed users' low ranking of the tech is surprising. It's possible they were displeased with the execution of the tech in cars or, perhaps, just find too complicated in contrast to other authentication technologies, such as phone-based digital key tech — which was the third-highest ranked technology surveyed.

Award-winning technologies

No surprise, the technologies that gave users the least trouble were the most simple in concept and execution. The Cadillac Escalade and Subaru Ascent each took home Advanced Technology Convenience Awards in the premium and mass-market categories, respectively, for camera rear-view mirror technology that allows users to flip a switch to change the optical mirror at the top of the windshield to a camera view via a screen hidden within the glass. Cadillac was recognized last year for the same tech.

Accolades for "emerging automation" or driver aid technology went to the premium Lexus IS for its front cross traffic warning system and the mass-market Mitsubishi Outlander for its implementation of reverse automatic emergency braking. Again, not the most cutting edge features — both have been around for years now — but trouble-free implementations of proven tech that left surveyed customers satisfied.

J.D. Power also awarded the Mini Cooper (presumably the fully-electric model) an energy and sustainability award for its one-pedal driving mode. This EV feature promotes maximum range-extending regenerative braking when lifting the accelerator pedal, so much so that the car can be brought to a stop often without touching the friction brakes. Elsewhere in the BMW Group, the BMW X3 received recognition for its phone-based digital key tech.

Want to know where your favorite automaker ended up and why? Check out the full J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Tech Experience Index study for more details.

Source for original article: Cnet

• In our charging test, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 matched their claimed charging rates of 10 to 80 percent in 18 minutes, while the Genesis Electrified G80 also equaled its advertised time of 10 to 80 percent in 22 minutes.

• With average charging rates between 117 kW and 135 kW over the entirety of our test from 10 to 90 percent, the Korean EVs are among the fastest-charging sub-$100K electrics.

• The time required to add 100 miles of real-world highway range was 11 minutes for the Ioniq 5, EV6, and GV60, while the G80 needed an extra minute to meet the mark.

Automakers often make lofty claims for their products, ranging from acceleration times to fuel efficiency, driving range, and a more recent metric, charging rate. For decades, we’ve tested these kinds of assertions for ourselves, and in 2021 began testing fast-charging capabilities of new EVs. For those of us more familiar with pumping liquid fuels than visiting a charging station–which is pretty much all of us–the metrics to judge these vehicles by can be complicated. For our test, we charge every EV on the highest speed equipment it can handle from a 10 percent to 90 percent state of charge. In our testing, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and both the Genesis GV60 and Electrified G80 exactly matched their charging estimates, placing them among the fastest charging EVs at any price.

There are a few different metrics that we look at when talking about how quickly an EV can replenish its battery. There’s the peak charging rate, although more relevant is the average rate over the entire 10 to 90 percent charge, as the rate falls off considerably at higher states of charge. Also, we consider how long it takes to add miles of real-world highway range, based on the range testing we do at 75 mph. Not surprisingly, the Ioniq 5, EV6, and GV60—which are all underpinned by the same E-GMP platform—share near identical peak rates of 230–231 kW. The G80 lags behind slightly with a 180-kW maximum, however it is ahead of the pack with an average rate of 135 kW over its 32 minute stint at an Electrify America charging station. The E-GMP siblings also had exceptional showings, returning 117–118kW averages in 33 minutes of total charging time.

Charging Time as Advertised

Hyundai and Genesis share claimed charging figures for their respective E-GMP variants: 10–80 percent in 18 minutes. In our testing, all three iterations exactly matched that claim. The G80 also met Genesis’ prospective charging speed, sliding the battery gauge from 10 to 80 percent in just 22 minutes. To put a slight damper on things, these are relatively small battery packs at 77.4 kWh and 87.2 kWh respectively (for comparison’s sake the larger of the two packs on the Ford F-150 Lightning is 131.0 kWh, which is 69-percent and 50-percent larger, respectively), meaning they’re not taking in massive amounts of juice, but what they are receiving comes quickly.

To make these statistics more user-friendly in the real world, we took to our TI-85 calculator and calculated the time required for each of these EVs to add 100 miles of range. Using our highway range results as an indicator, we found the Ioniq 5, EV6, and GV60 to need a minuscule 11 minutes to add enough juice for 100 miles of driving when plugged in at a 10-percent state of charge, while the second hand needed only one more trip around the dial for the G80 to finish the job. In this metric, only the Lucid Air and Porsche Taycan CrossTurismo from this year’s EV of the Year field were quicker.

Only one EV has matched the Electrified G80’s average charging rate of 135 kW, the Lucid Air, and the Mercedes-Benz EQS580 sits alone atop the leaderboard, a single tick higher at 136 kW. Resting between the G80 and the E-GMP group are only two others, a 2020 Porsche Taycan 4S (127 kW), and 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid (125 kW). But that doesn’t tell the whole story, so let’s talk price. We don’t have official pricing for the G80 as of this writing, however we expect it to start right around $80,000. Our Ioniq 5 Limited and EV6 Wind were well optioned all-wheel-drive models, with price tags of $57,490 and $54,190 respectively, and our GV60 Performance rang in at $69,560. The Lucid Air Grand Touring now requires at least a $155,650 check for purchase, the cheapest EQS crests six-figures at $103,360, tack on another $28k for a base Model S Plaid, and a base Taycan starts at $84,050, making it the only competitor-in-charging to the newcomers under $100k.

The smallest differential between the Koreans and the competition is $4050 between the Taycan and G80 (assuming our G80 price estimate is dead on), and the largest difference, a whopping–drumroll, please–$101,460, is between our EV6 test car and a base Lucid Air Grand Touring. All of this is to say that cost doesn’t directly correlate to performance. And when it comes to charging the newest generation of Hyundai, and Genesis EVs, that couldn’t be more true.

Source: Car and Driver

Hyundai Motor Group is now the world's third-largest automaker in terms of sales volume.

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday that its global sales volume from January to June of this year stood at 3.3 million vehicles, coming in third behind Volkswagen Group, which sold 4 million vehicles, and Toyota, which ranked first with 5.1 million vehicles sold.

The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance followed behind Hyundai with 3.14 million vehicles and Stellantis with 3.01 million vehicles sold.

Hyundai Motor Group ranked fifth in the first half of last year.

Experts say the production setbacks of global automakers due to the shortage of semiconductors contributed to Hyundai Motor Group's rise in the global market.

Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia Corp. saw a 5.1 percent decrease in sales during the first half of this year compared to a year ago, but the gap was smaller than that of the other automotive groups.

Toyota's sales decreased by 6 percent, Volkswagen by 14 percent, Stellantis by 16 percent, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance by 17.3 percent and GM by 18.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

An increase in sales of Hyundai Motor's luxury Genesis brand and a strategy of entering the eco-friendly car market in its early stage also contributed to the rise of Hyundai Motor Group's global ranking.

Genesis vehicle sales totaled 25,668 units in the U.S., the world's second-largest automobile market, during the first half of 2022, setting a new record for the highest sales in the first half of the year.

According to Bloomberg, Hyundai Motor Group sold 27,000 EVs in the U.S. market between January and May of this year, ranking second after Tesla on the back of the popularity of the Ioniq 5 and EV6.

"It seems that Hyundai Motor Group's unique potential to use the unprecedented crisis in the automobile industry as an opportunity, such as the supply shortage of semiconductors and the transition to electrification, seems to have excelled," an automobile industry official said.

Source: Korea Times

Concept cars are all about capturing our imaginations. We want them to be big and bold and to truly stand out from the crowd. Which is needed now more than ever, in a car world where so many designs are dull and drab. Unless you are Hyundai, however. Hyundai is just knocking it out of the park right now with their ultra-cool car designs, just take a look at the Ioniq 5 and the new Ioniq 6. Two of the best, if not the best, designed EVs in the world right now.

They’ve not rested on their laurels either. Hyundai recently unveiled two new concept cars. One was the N Vision 74, a hydrogen fuel-cell car inspired by the 1974 Pony Coupe concept and the N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo. The other was the RN22e, an electric powered concept using the Hyundai E-GMP platform and with the Ioniq 6’s body design. These are two of the coolest concept cars of 2022 and will likely be unbeaten. We’ve already explored the N Vision 74, so let's take a look at the RN22e and why we love this car so much.

Getting To Know The Hyundai RN22e Concept

The RN22e is all about continuing Hyundai’s vision on electrification. And they’ve certainly done it with a striking design. It is based upon the Ioniq 6 body, and utilizes the E-GMP platform that has been used so successfully in the Ioniq 5, will be used in the Ioniq 6 and has also seen use in sister company Kia’s equally brilliant EV6. Hyundai says the name signifies that the car is a rolling lab of the N brand, developed in 2022 with EV performance. But most people will be instantly drawn to that eye-catching design.

The car is quite striking. The design of the Ioniq 6 is very streamlined, which will help the RN22e leverage the aerodynamic features of the EV. There are plenty of motorsport inspired details too. The low ground clearance for starters, and the wide and sturdy stance with the broad and emphasized shoulders. The car properly stands out. A large rear wing at the back further adds to the motorsport look, as does the lower bumper. It isn’t as radical as the N Vision 74, but it is gorgeous and certainly one of the best concept cars we’ve seen in a long time.

The Specifications Of The RN22e

There is plenty to be excited about under the skin of the RN22e as well. The N range of Hyundai’s are developed with cornering capability in mind, and with the e-LSD, Corner Carving Differential on the RN22e, the concept will feel an utter joy in the corners. The RN22e is heavier than a lot of N cars, but Hyundai say that enhances its performances through the corners, also via it exploring torque vectoring by twin clutch. But to keep some weight down, Hyundai have used 3D printed parts that not only lower the overall weight but keep the rigidity of the car too.

As you might expect, the RN22e is all-wheel drive, which allows for fully optimized torque distribution via the different drive modes. Those modes allow the driver to choose the torque power on the front and the rear wheels of the car. Cooling and braking performance was a big focus given the cars track capability. Four piston monoblock callipers and a 400 mm hybrid disc give great braking performance, allowing the car to withstand the weight of its power electric system. But Hyundai is also using the car to study dynamic movement with regenerative-braking as we attack the corners and the car yaws.

A Truly Mesmerizing Car

Hyundai says that the RN22e has a 77.4 kWh battery pack with 800V fast charging capability. When it comes to power, the front and rear combined produce 430 kW of power and that propels the car to a top speed of around 155 mph, or 250 km/h. Away from the power, Hyundai are using the RN22e to really innovate. The car has Sound+, generating interior and exterior sounds for a dynamic driving feel, while the car’s N e-shift integrates the vibrating and shifting feeling of an N car via N Sound+. Even if you don’t like that sort of thing, the technology behind it is so impressive.

Hyundai Knocks It Out Of The Park

Hyundai once again have knocked it out of the park. They are currently the kings of electric vehicle design and this, plus the hydrogen N Vision 74 shows just how far other companies have to go to catch up. Remember, the RN22e is based on the upcoming Ioniq 6 and Hyundai’s actual production cars look just as good as both concepts. We love what Hyundai are doing right now, and no doubt they will keep knocking it out of the park for a long time to come.

Source: Hotcars