Hyundai Ioniq 9 Preview – Consumer Reports

Hyundai compares the Ioniq 9 interior with a lounge, but the only vestiges of the open floor plan introduced in the Seven concept are a moveable center console in the front row (dubbed Universal Island 2.0 by the automaker) and optional captain’s chairs for the second row.

Most buyers, though, probably won’t care that their car’s interior doesn’t look like the waiting room of a mid-1960s advertising office or a sleeker version of a 1970s conversion van. What they’ll care about are cup holders and storage, and there are plenty of those. Under the hood where an engine lives in a gasoline-powered car, there’s a 2- or 3-cubic-foot “frunk” (with the all-wheel-drive model having a slightly smaller one). And there are also storage cubbies in the center console. With the third-row seats folded flat, there’s 47 cubic feet of cargo space; 22 cubic feet with the seats up.

The dash looks like what you’re likely to see in any number of other new cars: A large digital display panel, oriented toward the driver, occupies two-thirds of its real estate. The panel includes both the 12-inch center infotainment screen and the driver’s instrument cluster.

The seats look a little more svelte than other models on the market, perhaps another vestige of the concept design. Those who choose the seven-passenger configuration will get a conventional second-row bench, while six-passenger models will get two reclining captain’s chairs that look very inviting, indeed. 

All three rows come with 100-watt USB-C charging ports for phones, tablets, and even laptops. The Hyundai AI Assistant is a voice recognition system that Hyundai says is similar to home-based Siri and Alexa systems. An eight-speaker audio system is standard and can be upgraded to an optional 14-speaker, 5.1-channel Bose surround-sound system.