Hyundai is into a very slow tease. Months after revealing the first (not particularly revealing) photos of its upcoming Ioniq 5 electric crossover, the automaker has shown off photos of the car’s interior. As with the outside, they’re quite fetching.
The cabin appears particularly open and spacious. Electric vehicles (EVs) offer unique design opportunities, but automakers have been slow to take advantage of them. The moving parts of an EV are much more compact than those of a gasoline-powered car. The componentry fits neatly below a flat floor. That means the transmission bump drivers see between the seats isn’t necessary.
Most EV designers mimic the hump anyway, to give us what we’re used to. With the Ioniq 5, Hyundai does not. A storage console still nestles between the front seats. But now there’s an expanse of flat floor in front of and behind it.
The seats are a plant-based false leather, and Hyundai says much of the dashboard and the material lining the doors and roof come from recycled plastic, wool, and sugar-cane-derived fibers. Even the gloss on buttons and switches sport a “bio paint” processed from corn oil.
In a touch we’ve rarely seen in vehicle interiors outside of the ultra-luxury class, the front seats include extendable leg rests.
The exterior of the Ioniq 5 is unlike anything else we’ve seen from Hyundai. It has a few curves. But subtle design details, from the individual LEDs within the headlights to the pattern of the wheels, take inspiration from the humble pixel, giving it a unique retro-futurist air that recalls 8-bit video games.
The full Ioniq 5 reveal comes next week, at which point we expect to have pricing information and performance specs.
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