2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 Revealed, Looking Like the Future

• Hyundai has revealed the first photos of the 2024 Ioniq 6, an electric sedan.

• The Ioniq 6 will ride on the same E-GMP platform as the Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and Genesis GV60.

• Production will start in 2023 for the U.S. market, and the Ioniq 6 will be a 2024 model-year vehicle here.

A few years ago, Hyundai foretold its future: sleek and electric, with design cues pulled from classic and modern inspiration. That was the Prophecy concept, first shown in March 2020. As with all augury, there's room for interpretation. But our first look at the Ioniq 6, the production car based on the concept, reveals a smooth sedan that clearly references both retro and futuristic influences.

The Ioniq 6 follows the Toyota Prius–like Ioniq and the Ioniq 5, an SUV with 8-bit charm. The Ioniq 6 has a lot to live up to, as both the 5 and the Prophecy concept garnered rave reviews. All Ioniq models ride on the Hyundai E-GMP dedicated electric platform, shared with the Kia EV6 and the Genesis GV60. The Ioniq 6 rides a little higher than the Prophecy concept, a reality of transferring the vision to a production and street-legal platform.

To give the Ioniq 6 a distinctive look, Hyundai designers say they echoed the streamlined cars of the '30s. Modern influences seem to be Porsche and Tesla; there's a faint wisp of Taycan and Model 3 in the front end, and the rear spoiler kicks up like a nod to a ducktail Porsche 911. As promised, it's a mix of classic and contemporary.

Hyundai design chief SangYup Lee shared his thoughts on the pressures, and rewards, of melding brand personality with brand-new technology.

Lee has penned everything from Chevrolet Camaros and Corvettes to the Bentley Continental GT. He began his design career 27 years after leaving South Korea, following an education at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. Fifteen brands and eight countries later, in 2016, he returned to South Korea to head Hyundai and Genesis design. Along with Luc Donckerwolke, chief creative officer of Genesis and Ioniq, Lee draws novel designs with upscale flair to help Hyundai and Genesis stand out in both the mainstream and luxury markets.

We asked Lee, who's often overseeing dozens of projects at any given time, how he approaches a Hyundai car as opposed to an upmarket Genesis. Hyundai, he says, views its vehicles like chess pieces. "King, queen, bishop, and knight, they all look different and move differently, but they function as a team," he says. While a lot of OEMs create a design and then offer it in different sizes like Russian nesting dolls, Lee says Hyundai looks at its customers' lives: "A big family has different needs than Gen Z." Lee wants the styling to be distinct, too.