As you bowl along through life words often pop into your mind, especially when driving.
Today those words are all derivations of size – big, leviathan, huge, behemoth, immense, with a little bit of sci-fi sprinkled on the top.
This pretty much sums up the new Hyundai Ioniq9; it is vast.
If you remain in any doubt as you fly around the interior or choose to sit in any of the seven seats then try chucking your cumbersome bicycle in the back.
Swallow it? You could easily fit in the whole peloton. No removing wheels, no juggling the handlebars to fit it in, just launch it into the big hole in the back and it lands where it falls. It’s the biggest car I have ever driven yet, strangely, it is far from unwieldy.
Despite being enormous Ioniq9 is sleek and futuristic, with a streamlined silhouette, flush surfaces and array of LED lights all over the front and an arch of them at the back.
Behind the wheel it somehow manages to shrink to manageable proportions and as you sit so high in the driver’s seat your view is clear all around allowing easy judgements of gaps, obstructions and spaces, even on narrow country roads.
It is also amazingly sprightly as the weight is carried low down, the electric motor is Herculean in power and the chassis brilliant at controlling thrust and motion. How such a huge people carrier can feel so sporty beats me but it does.
You would imagine the Ioniq9 would feel at home on the motorways, which it does, but it is equally happy blatting down country roads where its massive levels of grip from the 21in alloys and agile handling can’t fail to delight. Who would have thought it? Not me.
It makes Ioniq9 a very easy car to live with as does its comprehensive specification.
It has everything you could possibly need or want, too much to list here, and it is all accessible even to die-hard technophobes.
The dash sees a welcome return to buttons, knobs and switches as the realisation dawns on designers of the distractive nature of all touchscreen set ups.
There is also amazing storage with cubbyholes galore, a charging pad for your phone and easy to reach cupholders making long journeys more pleasurable still.
It’s full electric vehicle so the elephant in the room is range and charging.
Claims are as high as 385 miles but you would have to be driving pretty slowly on the flat to achieve that.
For me 100 per cent equates to a creditable 311 miles and that’s enough to take the anxiety out of the range. Recharging at the supermarket is rapid too and 80 per cent seems to come up at the half hour mark with 100 per cent arriving around the hour. Not bad at all.
Ioniq9 can be all things to all drivers. It is a supreme load carrier, whether those loads are people or luggage, or both.
It is unexpectedly good around town for a vehicle of such girth but even more surprisingly rewarding when you are in the mood for an entertaining drive the through a country setting.
You can’t fail to be impressed. In a word, massive.
Factfile
| Engine: 110kWh electric |
| Power: 427PS, 700Nm |
| 0-62mph: 6.7 secs |
| Top speed: 115mph |
| Range: 311 |
| Transmission: automatic |
| CO2 g/km: 0 |
| Price: £64,995 |
