Ioniq 3 Hits 4.0 mi/kWh in Turkey. That Is Not 308 Miles

Autocar's 61 kWh Hyundai Ioniq 3 returned 4.0 miles per kilowatt-hour on Turkish roads. On a 61 kWh usable pack, that is about 244 miles. Hyundai's UK long-range claim for the Advance 61 kWh is 308 miles on the WLTP cycle. The first independent figures sit in the gap between those two numbers.

The magazine drove the finished Long Range N Line Evo in Turkey, not far from where the car is built, after sampling a late pre-production car earlier in the year. Efficiency held at 4.0 mi/kWh in normal use and tailed off after extended running on motorways limited to 87 mph. That is a launch route, not a controlled 70 mph highway test. None of the figures below is an EV News road test.

Parkers, on a mix of urban roads, high-speed motorway and country lanes in northwest Turkey, recorded an average of four miles per kWh and said more should be possible. Auto Zeitung's 138-kilometre loop returned 14.2 kWh/100 km on the 61 kWh car, which the onboard computer translated to about 430 km — close to the German WLTP figure for that battery. Convert 14.2 kWh/100 km and the implied efficiency is about 4.4 mi/kWh, a gentler mix than Autocar's motorway-inclusive 4.0.

The three published figures sit close together: 4.0 mi/kWh at Autocar and Parkers, roughly 4.4 at Auto Zeitung. All three are launch drives on Turkish roads in mixed conditions, so none is a controlled 70 mph test. A UK motorway result at a true 70 mph is still unpublished.

UK orders opened on 5 October. Every version qualifies for Band 1 of the Electric Car Grant, £3,750. Hyundai Motor UK's grant-inclusive prices are £18,495 for the Advance 42 kWh (147 PS, 213 miles WLTP) and £21,995 for the Advance 61 kWh (135 PS, 308 miles). Premium, Ultimate and N Line Evo sit at £23,695, £26,195 and £28,195. Ashley Andrew, president of Hyundai Motor UK, said more customers registered interest before launch than for any previous new Hyundai in Britain, and that the grant puts "a genuinely spacious, long-range electric car within reach of far more drivers."

Autocar and Parkers both list the 61 kWh car with a nickel-manganese-cobalt pack, while the 42 kWh car uses lithium-iron-phosphate cells. Autocar lists the 61 kWh pack as usable and the 42 kWh pack as 42.2 kWh gross. Auto Zeitung puts DC charging at up to 110 kW, about 30 minutes for 10 to 80 percent. Autocar quotes a 115 kW peak, and said Hyundai's engineers prioritised holding speed over a headline figure. It judged charging "acceptable rather than impressive". The sources differ by 5 kW on the peak; Hyundai's UK release does not state one.

Trim matters for range. Parkers lists the N Line Evo with 19-inch wheels, and Autocar's spec box still printed 308 miles WLTP for the N Line Evo it tested. Buyers comparing trims should ask for the WLTP figure for the exact wheel size on the order sheet rather than assume the headline Advance number applies.

Until someone publishes a like-for-like 70 mph UK motorway result, 4.0 mi/kWh on a 61 kWh pack, or about 244 miles, is a reasonable planning number from the published drives. The 308-mile WLTP figure remains a laboratory claim.