Hyundai Ioniq Concept THREE Previews a New Hatchback EV

No one is saying Veloster. Oddly, despite this design team occasionally enjoying a play on the company’s heritage, Hyundai is not drawing attention to its asymmetric 2012 coupé. You know the one: two doors on one side, one on the other. It was something of a guilty pleasure, yet the resemblance is hard to miss.

Hyundai Ioniq Concept THREE previews a hatchback EV

Looking ahead, this is the Hyundai Ioniq Concept THREE - with the capital letters supplied by Hyundai, not us. It offers a glimpse of ioniq’s hatchback EV due next year. For a direct rival, picture the Volkswagen ID.3.

Revealed at the Munich show, the production version is expected to reach both roads and showrooms soon afterwards. Black-plastic-clad prototypes are already being driven on public roads. And, yes, they use the usual five-door layout. Hyundai-Kia’s 800V electrical architecture will provide a long range and rapid charging.

Aero-focused styling and ‘art of steel’

Aerodynamics clearly shaped the design. Its rear tapers away to help air flow smoothly across the roof and tail, while a ducktail spoiler creates a clean breakaway point for the air. Hyundai’s well-known pixel lighting features prominently, now using brightness gradients to create a three-dimensional appearance.

The company calls this styling approach ‘art of steel’, referring to Hyundai’s unusually extensive vertical integration, which includes manufacturing its own steel. These materials include alloys capable of forming deeply drawn pressings, resulting in shapes the designers describe as “powerful but gentle”.

The cabin has a restrained, soothing appearance. Rather than relying on large, dominant screens, it presents information through numerous smaller display units.

You would not mistake this hatchback, inside or out, for any other. The Korean company’s assured design experimentation continues.

Pleos HMI and Hyundai’s European EV plans

The production car’s HMI will not be quite as radical, although it will improve on Hyundai’s present system, which is already fairly straightforward to use. A new underlying operating system, plus partnerships with numerous external developers - including several major consumer-app names - will support it. ‘Pleos’ also brings together many essential vehicle functions and connectivity features.

In an earlier news report, we outlined Hyundai’s reasoning for pursuing affordable EVs. Around 80 per cent of the cars it sells in Europe are built in Europe, and the firm wants to maintain that share for its electric cars in the region.

Perhaps “cheaper” is more accurate than cheap. Cheap is the Inster’s territory. In fact, Hyundai does not appear to have settled on an exact price for this car. We understand it could ultimately be named Ioniq 2 if the price is reduced sufficiently, or Ioniq 4 if it is not.

Pricing will also depend on whether it becomes the first EV produced at the company’s Turkish factory. Sources suggest that it may be - or may not be. Decisive, then.

With global tariff changes and EV demand both uncertain, Hyundai is revising its electric-car strategy. If its past record is any indication, however, once the company chooses its revised course, it will pursue it relentlessly.