Tesla Model 3 or Hyundai IONIQ 6?
Discussion
I’ve been all over the place with planning my next move for our ‘fleet’ - I’m very guilty of overthinking, it’s becoming an expensive game of chess and I’d all but decided to get a new Tesla Model 3. The 4 year 0% PCP and £3750 trade in bonus for our elderly runaround enables some man maths to justify the idea.
I’d just about gotten over my less than positive feelings about Musk’s antics. But the latest behaviour of a certain president is making me wonder how the whole anti-USA thing is going to go and whether there’s actually a real possibility that a Tesla will become a liability.
I don’t want to turn things political, as much as anything I’m, selfishly, concerned about my own investment, so I’ve been pondering alternatives. A car that’s certainly not to everyone’s taste is the Hyundai IONIQ 6, but I like them.
Currently available on Autotrader, is a 25 plate Ultimate with around 3k miles for a little under £29K. I’m sure depreciation will be horrific but the Tesla is probably no better in that respect. The example PCP for the IONIQ 6 has an APR of 8.9% so some hefty charges there. But funding it from selling some investments won’t be free either as I’ll lose out on potential growth. Perhaps I could fund it via a Santander PCP, or something similar but in any case I suspect the 4 year cost vs. the Tesla might not finally be so much different.
So, that covered, I’m basically here to ask what experiences people may have had with an IONIQ 6 (or an IONIQ 5 as similar) and whether you feel that they represent a good long term ownership prospect, as I’d probably keep it beyond the initial 4 years. Things like reliability, real world range, dealer experiences, charging away from home, which I’d have to do every couple of months for weekends visiting family and for which the Tesla is very attractive.
Your thoughts would be appreciated, thanks.
I’d just about gotten over my less than positive feelings about Musk’s antics. But the latest behaviour of a certain president is making me wonder how the whole anti-USA thing is going to go and whether there’s actually a real possibility that a Tesla will become a liability.
I don’t want to turn things political, as much as anything I’m, selfishly, concerned about my own investment, so I’ve been pondering alternatives. A car that’s certainly not to everyone’s taste is the Hyundai IONIQ 6, but I like them.
Currently available on Autotrader, is a 25 plate Ultimate with around 3k miles for a little under £29K. I’m sure depreciation will be horrific but the Tesla is probably no better in that respect. The example PCP for the IONIQ 6 has an APR of 8.9% so some hefty charges there. But funding it from selling some investments won’t be free either as I’ll lose out on potential growth. Perhaps I could fund it via a Santander PCP, or something similar but in any case I suspect the 4 year cost vs. the Tesla might not finally be so much different.
So, that covered, I’m basically here to ask what experiences people may have had with an IONIQ 6 (or an IONIQ 5 as similar) and whether you feel that they represent a good long term ownership prospect, as I’d probably keep it beyond the initial 4 years. Things like reliability, real world range, dealer experiences, charging away from home, which I’d have to do every couple of months for weekends visiting family and for which the Tesla is very attractive.
Your thoughts would be appreciated, thanks.
My advice would be to buy the car you actually prefer and not worry about politics.
Test drive both and see how you feel. I haven’t driven the Ioniq 6, but I can see that it’s quite a different car to the Tesla. So there should be enough differentiation to make a clear choice. The infotainment UI for example looks completely different.
I’m actually having a similar dilemma, but more because I’ve owned several Teslas and simply fancy a change. But Tesla make it very easy to buy! Everything else I look at is proving to be hard work and/or more expensive. I did think about the Ioniq 5/6 but I just don’t get on with the styling and not hearing good things about customer support if things go wrong. Like the ICCU issue, which they appear to have simply ignored.
Test drive both and see how you feel. I haven’t driven the Ioniq 6, but I can see that it’s quite a different car to the Tesla. So there should be enough differentiation to make a clear choice. The infotainment UI for example looks completely different.
I’m actually having a similar dilemma, but more because I’ve owned several Teslas and simply fancy a change. But Tesla make it very easy to buy! Everything else I look at is proving to be hard work and/or more expensive. I did think about the Ioniq 5/6 but I just don’t get on with the styling and not hearing good things about customer support if things go wrong. Like the ICCU issue, which they appear to have simply ignored.
Still early days, but potentially relevant observations after 3 years and 76,000km (47,500 miles) with an AWD Ioniq 5 in Central Europe (Switzerland-based, frequent trips to Southern tip of Italy, Finland, Bosnia and the Netherlands):
I'm somewhat optimistic about depreciation because anecdotal evidence of the robustness of the platform is trickling in: in addition to the famous 400,000+ mile example in South Korea, you see reports of 250,000 mile cars with minimal battery degradation. The last two cars were kept for about a decade, both essentially worthless at the end. I5 might be an exception to this, based on asking prices of 10-year old EVs here. Hyundai's response to price wars was also done in a way that didn't cause the values of used cars to collapse.
As for companies, the traditional fundamentals would give Hyundai an edge: bigger turnover and higher profit margin and not massively overvalued on the stock exchange.
- High-speed charging is easy, and at least above 10 degrees the speeds are as advertised, chargers are everywhere. Chargeleague might be a game-changer. I got three additional networks to use at the same price as IONITY Power. ChargeMyHyundai gives access to 900,000 chargers across Europe.
- ABPR gave practically the same travel time estimate on our standard test route (1350km to Lecce, Ioniq 6 seemed to need 10 minutes less charging time). The hidden advantage of Ioniq 6 would be to charge faster if you stop "too early" (the speed drops below 100kW only at 85% SoC - source).
- Ioniq 5 seems to be extremely gentle on the tyres: we have two sets, both original. The summar tyres have lasted more than twice as long as the fronts did in our previous car, despite I5 having twice the power and being driven slightly more "dynamically".
- I like to drive myself, but have recently started to leave the lane assist on (it seems to have gotten less intrusive after a few updates). I5 front radars (needed for adaptive cruise control) get quite easily blocked by snow/freezing fog - not sure if I6 is the same.
- The maps in the in-car navigation system are not great (the details tend to be outdated), but CarPlay is a fairly OK workaround (might require a wired connection).
- ICCU issue is real, but IMHO also misunderstood (and possibly emphasised by some astroturfing on social media).
- V2L is nice to have, although haven't used it much.
I'm somewhat optimistic about depreciation because anecdotal evidence of the robustness of the platform is trickling in: in addition to the famous 400,000+ mile example in South Korea, you see reports of 250,000 mile cars with minimal battery degradation. The last two cars were kept for about a decade, both essentially worthless at the end. I5 might be an exception to this, based on asking prices of 10-year old EVs here. Hyundai's response to price wars was also done in a way that didn't cause the values of used cars to collapse.
As for companies, the traditional fundamentals would give Hyundai an edge: bigger turnover and higher profit margin and not massively overvalued on the stock exchange.
I was looking at the ioniq 6. Test drive it and almost putting down a deposit
Great car, very comfortable and spacious, very generous about equipment. Then the owner warn me about ICCU issue and seemingly no fix for it.
If you are leasing and PCP for less than 5 years I would go for ioniq 6 between the 2. However, if you plan to keep it longer, I would wait for facelift and see if ICCU finally got redesigned
Great car, very comfortable and spacious, very generous about equipment. Then the owner warn me about ICCU issue and seemingly no fix for it.
If you are leasing and PCP for less than 5 years I would go for ioniq 6 between the 2. However, if you plan to keep it longer, I would wait for facelift and see if ICCU finally got redesigned
How often are you likely to use public chargers?
Tesla's charging network is brilliant, and usually around half the price (although you can still use their network with other brands).
I've considered an Ioniq 6 myself, but compared to even my 6 year old Tesla, it seems more like a 'car' than an 'EV'. I know that doesn't make sense.
What I mean is, the Tesla feels like it was designed from the ground up as an EV and a software platform. Everything feels integrated, the UI, the way features get added through updates, even how the car "thinks" about efficiency and range. The Ioniq 6 is a very good electric car, but it feels more like Hyundai took their excellent engineering and applied it to an EV platform, if that makes sense. It's more conventional, which isn't necessarily bad, some people prefer physical buttons and a more traditional layout.
The charging network advantage is real though. Even with other brands getting Supercharger access, the native Tesla experience is smoother, the navigation routes you through chargers automatically, preheats the battery, and you just plug in without faffing about with apps.
That said, if you've got home charging sorted, public charging becomes much less critical unless you do frequent long trips. For daily driving, you'll barely notice the difference. The Ioniq 6 is genuinely excellent based on my research, better ride, good range, and often better value. It really depends whether the Tesla ecosystem appeals to you or feels like unnecessary complexity.
Honestly, I keep looking at alternatives to our Model 3, but I always come back to how much I actually enjoy using it day-to-day. Little things like having it automatically pre-condition before the school run every morning, or being able to fire up the heating remotely when I'm walking back to the car on a freezing day. The sound system is genuinely one of the best I've heard in any car. Public charging just works without thinking about it. Proper keyless entry means I never carry a key, just my phone in my pocket.
And the navigation is genuinely good enough that I don't need Waze or Google Maps anymore. The fact it's fully integrated with the Supercharger network is brilliant, you can see exactly how many stalls are available at each location and what the price is before you even get there. It all just feels seamless in a way that's hard to give up once you're used to it.
That said, it's not all perfect. The driving experience itself can feel a bit sterile - quick, yes, but not particularly engaging (Performance model handles great though). And being an early Model 3, the ride quality isn't great, it's quite firm and the interior develops rattles over rough roads. These are things the Ioniq 6 would definitely improve on with its more refined ride and build quality.
Ours is 6 year old now (54,000 miles), owes me £5k (£9k equity in it), is cheap to run and hasn't let me down. So while I always want something different, nothing has pulled me away from it just yet.
When I looked at the Ioniq 6, a few things put me off.
- Not as fast as the Tesla
- Won't handle as well
- Less integrated experience
- Sound system doesn't get good reviews, even on the Ultimate models.
Tesla's charging network is brilliant, and usually around half the price (although you can still use their network with other brands).
I've considered an Ioniq 6 myself, but compared to even my 6 year old Tesla, it seems more like a 'car' than an 'EV'. I know that doesn't make sense.
What I mean is, the Tesla feels like it was designed from the ground up as an EV and a software platform. Everything feels integrated, the UI, the way features get added through updates, even how the car "thinks" about efficiency and range. The Ioniq 6 is a very good electric car, but it feels more like Hyundai took their excellent engineering and applied it to an EV platform, if that makes sense. It's more conventional, which isn't necessarily bad, some people prefer physical buttons and a more traditional layout.
The charging network advantage is real though. Even with other brands getting Supercharger access, the native Tesla experience is smoother, the navigation routes you through chargers automatically, preheats the battery, and you just plug in without faffing about with apps.
That said, if you've got home charging sorted, public charging becomes much less critical unless you do frequent long trips. For daily driving, you'll barely notice the difference. The Ioniq 6 is genuinely excellent based on my research, better ride, good range, and often better value. It really depends whether the Tesla ecosystem appeals to you or feels like unnecessary complexity.
Honestly, I keep looking at alternatives to our Model 3, but I always come back to how much I actually enjoy using it day-to-day. Little things like having it automatically pre-condition before the school run every morning, or being able to fire up the heating remotely when I'm walking back to the car on a freezing day. The sound system is genuinely one of the best I've heard in any car. Public charging just works without thinking about it. Proper keyless entry means I never carry a key, just my phone in my pocket.
And the navigation is genuinely good enough that I don't need Waze or Google Maps anymore. The fact it's fully integrated with the Supercharger network is brilliant, you can see exactly how many stalls are available at each location and what the price is before you even get there. It all just feels seamless in a way that's hard to give up once you're used to it.
That said, it's not all perfect. The driving experience itself can feel a bit sterile - quick, yes, but not particularly engaging (Performance model handles great though). And being an early Model 3, the ride quality isn't great, it's quite firm and the interior develops rattles over rough roads. These are things the Ioniq 6 would definitely improve on with its more refined ride and build quality.
Ours is 6 year old now (54,000 miles), owes me £5k (£9k equity in it), is cheap to run and hasn't let me down. So while I always want something different, nothing has pulled me away from it just yet.
When I looked at the Ioniq 6, a few things put me off.
- Not as fast as the Tesla
- Won't handle as well
- Less integrated experience
- Sound system doesn't get good reviews, even on the Ultimate models.
Edited by TheBinarySheep on Monday 19th January 12:03
My 10p input is that depending on your electricity provider, what I find is that most link up better with Tesla from everything I've read. I'm with IOG and so far I've had no problems. I've linked it with the car, rather than the charger and it works.
Also no issues with public chargers as I've only ever used Tesla's chargers.
End of the day, get what you like the best. No one gives a hoot anyway. I got a Tesla because it was the easiest to live with but I much prefer the looks of the Hyundai 5. Not that I've ever thought, that I wished I got the Hyundai.
Also no issues with public chargers as I've only ever used Tesla's chargers.
End of the day, get what you like the best. No one gives a hoot anyway. I got a Tesla because it was the easiest to live with but I much prefer the looks of the Hyundai 5. Not that I've ever thought, that I wished I got the Hyundai.
ReineKurokawa said:
I was looking at the ioniq 6. Test drive it and almost putting down a deposit
Great car, very comfortable and spacious, very generous about equipment. Then the owner warn me about ICCU issue and seemingly no fix for it.
If you are leasing and PCP for less than 5 years I would go for ioniq 6 between the 2. However, if you plan to keep it longer, I would wait for facelift and see if ICCU finally got redesigned
I saw a mention somewhere that the ICCU part number has changed. The reason I think the ICCU is misunderstood is that it integrates several components (AC/DC onboard charger, DC-DC converter, charging control unit, V2L) that are prone to wear in any EV into one system. Great car, very comfortable and spacious, very generous about equipment. Then the owner warn me about ICCU issue and seemingly no fix for it.
If you are leasing and PCP for less than 5 years I would go for ioniq 6 between the 2. However, if you plan to keep it longer, I would wait for facelift and see if ICCU finally got redesigned
This makes repairs easier, saves space, is cheaper to manufacture - but is also a reputational risk. Four to five independent failure modes give the same "check electric system" error, with the same fix (lift the rear bench, swap the ICCU to a new one). The cost of an out-of-warranty ICCU repair doesn't seem to be that different from a failure of one of the ICCU components in a Tesla ( source).
Based on what I've read, Hyundai's batteries are easily accessible, have a nice modular structure and repairs are straightforward (independent garages can work on them). On the other hand, motor/reduction gear units are not repairable at the moment (5000€ from the factory, half of that used).
With the Tesla Model 3, it seems the source of the batteries matters: EV Clinic (usually a very much pro-Tesla source) had some grave warnings about early failures of the Chinese NMC batteries, accessing the high voltage battery is also a bit more inovlved (requires stripping the interior of the car).
Swings and roundabouts? Owning and using a car as a daily is always a bad investment; you lose a bit every day and sometimes a lot in one go.
The Mad Jock said:
I ve been all over the place with planning my next move for our fleet - I m very guilty of overthinking, it s becoming an expensive game of chess and I d all but decided to get a new Tesla Model 3. The 4 year 0% PCP and £3750 trade in bonus for our elderly runaround enables some man maths to justify the idea.
I d just about gotten over my less than positive feelings about Musk s antics. But the latest behaviour of a certain president is making me wonder how the whole anti-USA thing is going to go and whether there s actually a real possibility that a Tesla will become a liability.
I don t want to turn things political, as much as anything I m, selfishly, concerned about my own investment, so I ve been pondering alternatives. A car that s certainly not to everyone s taste is the Hyundai IONIQ 6, but I like them.
Currently available on Autotrader, is a 25 plate Ultimate with around 3k miles for a little under £29K. I m sure depreciation will be horrific but the Tesla is probably no better in that respect. The example PCP for the IONIQ 6 has an APR of 8.9% so some hefty charges there. But funding it from selling some investments won t be free either as I ll lose out on potential growth. Perhaps I could fund it via a Santander PCP, or something similar but in any case I suspect the 4 year cost vs. the Tesla might not finally be so much different.
So, that covered, I m basically here to ask what experiences people may have had with an IONIQ 6 (or an IONIQ 5 as similar) and whether you feel that they represent a good long term ownership prospect, as I d probably keep it beyond the initial 4 years. Things like reliability, real world range, dealer experiences, charging away from home, which I d have to do every couple of months for weekends visiting family and for which the Tesla is very attractive.
Your thoughts would be appreciated, thanks.
Depreciation risk doesnt need to be your concern, as worst case, you can hand the car back at the end of the term. If you're planning on keeping the car long term, why not look at the straight HP option over a longer term, again at 0%.I d just about gotten over my less than positive feelings about Musk s antics. But the latest behaviour of a certain president is making me wonder how the whole anti-USA thing is going to go and whether there s actually a real possibility that a Tesla will become a liability.
I don t want to turn things political, as much as anything I m, selfishly, concerned about my own investment, so I ve been pondering alternatives. A car that s certainly not to everyone s taste is the Hyundai IONIQ 6, but I like them.
Currently available on Autotrader, is a 25 plate Ultimate with around 3k miles for a little under £29K. I m sure depreciation will be horrific but the Tesla is probably no better in that respect. The example PCP for the IONIQ 6 has an APR of 8.9% so some hefty charges there. But funding it from selling some investments won t be free either as I ll lose out on potential growth. Perhaps I could fund it via a Santander PCP, or something similar but in any case I suspect the 4 year cost vs. the Tesla might not finally be so much different.
So, that covered, I m basically here to ask what experiences people may have had with an IONIQ 6 (or an IONIQ 5 as similar) and whether you feel that they represent a good long term ownership prospect, as I d probably keep it beyond the initial 4 years. Things like reliability, real world range, dealer experiences, charging away from home, which I d have to do every couple of months for weekends visiting family and for which the Tesla is very attractive.
Your thoughts would be appreciated, thanks.
The £3750 extra trade in value tips the Tesla figures quite nicely.
We're in the final throes of committing to a Tesla Model 3 LR RWD and playing around with funding options. 0% APR is a plus.
Dealer experience was excellent. Very different approach to regular car buying. Impressed so far.
We did the hour long test drive / chat type thing. After a mile of driving it my wife said "i'm in" and that was that.
They do a 24hr test drive option if you wanted longer.
C.A.R. said:
Everyone complains about a Tesla interior, but having sat in an Ioniq 6 "Ultimate" I was quite disappointed. Very mini-cab esque, cheap looking plastics and switchgear. I'll take no switchgear over that, thanks - but to each their own.
We really liked the Tesla interior. Very minimalist. Simplified rather than cluttered.Seats were comfy, surfaces such as dashboard were different than "normal" but nice.
Deep Thought said:
C.A.R. said:
Everyone complains about a Tesla interior, but having sat in an Ioniq 6 "Ultimate" I was quite disappointed. Very mini-cab esque, cheap looking plastics and switchgear. I'll take no switchgear over that, thanks - but to each their own.
We really liked the Tesla interior. Very minimalist. Simplified rather than cluttered.Seats were comfy, surfaces such as dashboard were different than "normal" but nice.
As I said earlier, the Hyundai interiors are totally different so it’s entirely down to personal preference, but one should appeal more unless you like everything!
uktrailmonster said:
The current Tesla interiors use high quality materials throughout. It s minimalist, but with quality. It s not likely to appeal to those who prefer a more traditional interior, but I ve always liked it and the newer models have really stepped up the quality, which was already quite reasonable on my 2022 car.
As I said earlier, the Hyundai interiors are totally different so it s entirely down to personal preference, but one should appeal more unless you like everything!
Interesting RE: Tesla quality history and Ioniq.As I said earlier, the Hyundai interiors are totally different so it s entirely down to personal preference, but one should appeal more unless you like everything!
Thank you
I really like the facelift version of the Ionic 6, not sure when I'll arrive in the UK though
https://www.hyundai.com/worldwide/en/eco/ioniq6/de...
https://www.hyundai.com/worldwide/en/eco/ioniq6/de...
I had my new Ioniq 6 delivered on Thursday, so I can't give any long term experience but I'm really impressed with it so far (Ultimate AWD version). It's plenty quick enough, very comfortable, loads of equipment, range seems decent, it has actual buttons for things! -lane keep and speed limit warnings can be turned off using steering wheel buttons.
Dislikes so far ; the paint quality is poor (like a lot of new cars now), the Bose speakers are 'ok', nothing special. I'd rather it didn't have 20" wheels, but they do look quite nice.
Mine is leased, I personally wouldn't put my own money into any new(ish) EV.
Dislikes so far ; the paint quality is poor (like a lot of new cars now), the Bose speakers are 'ok', nothing special. I'd rather it didn't have 20" wheels, but they do look quite nice.
Mine is leased, I personally wouldn't put my own money into any new(ish) EV.
We looked at both the Ioniq 6 & the base model RWD model 3.
I REALLY wanted to like the Ioniq, it looks funky, but sadly, whilst an excellent car, the steering felt wooly & the ride very wafty.
The Model 3 was just slightly more engaging to drive, I really like the overly sparse interior & MUCH cheaper on a BCH, the Ioniq, in my opinion is a country mile ahead on looks.
The Model 3 arrives Friday
I REALLY wanted to like the Ioniq, it looks funky, but sadly, whilst an excellent car, the steering felt wooly & the ride very wafty.
The Model 3 was just slightly more engaging to drive, I really like the overly sparse interior & MUCH cheaper on a BCH, the Ioniq, in my opinion is a country mile ahead on looks.
The Model 3 arrives Friday
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