2026 Hyundai Ioniq 6 Looks Slightly Less Weird, But It's Still Really Weird, And That's Good
The Hyundai Ioniq 6 instantly became one of the most divisive new car reveals in a long time when the covers were taken off back in 2022, and since then it has remained one of our favorite EVs of any sort, even if it has been far outpaced in terms of sales by its Ioniq 5 crossover sibling. Now Hyundai has released the first details and pictures of the facelifted Ioniq 6, and while its updated nose makes it look slightly less weird than the outgoing model, this electric sedan is still weird as hell, and that's a good thing. We need more weird cars.
Unveiled at the Seoul Mobility Show in South Korea, the new Ioniq 6 is the latest car to get a split headlight design, ditching the expressive headlight housings of the pre-facelift model. Super thin running lights made up of four sections of square LEDs maintain the pixel design theme of every current Hyundai EV, with the actual headlights being small rectangular units at the top of the new front bumper, which looks like a robot fish mouth. A silver lip spoiler juts out like on a '60s muscle car, with large active aero flaps in the middle.
The side sills are now black, and black cladding pieces added to the bottoms of the doors help make the lower body look sleeker. New directional wheel designs are a lot more attractive than the last ones, too. The overall look is less friendly, but still has a personality. Hyundai hasn't released any photos of the rear end yet, but it says the old whale tail CHMSL spoiler at the base of the rear window is gone, replaced by "an extended ducktail spoiler."
Read more: All Aboard South Korea's New $100 Billion Baby-Making Trains
As with the updated Ioniq 5 that was revealed last year, the Ioniq 6 now gains an N Line variant with sportier looks that Hyundai says were inspired by the RN22e concept that was shown in 2022. The N Line's front bumper has a large lower grille flanked by wing-like elements, and a deeper side skirt design. It also gets more black sections at the rear, and a two-dimensional pixel light design.
The RN22e also served as a preview for the Ioniq 6 N, which Hyundai has now not only officially teased but given a reveal timeline for: July of this year. In the back of the image at the top of this story you can see the Ioniq 6 N's tail end, which has a dramatic bumper design and a fairly large wing on top of the tailgate. It looks, in three words, sick as hell.
The Ioniq 6 N should share its powertrain and performance tech features with the Ioniq 5 N, which would mean 641 horsepower, a drift mode, simulated gear shifts and engine noises, and all sorts of other goodies. I hope Hyundai gives the 6 even more power, though.
The interior design has seen fewer changes, but the improvements are meaningful. A redesigned center console has a cleaner button layout and new cupholders, and the climate control panel in the dashboard is bigger. Sadly Hyundai got rid of the two-spoke steering wheel in favor of a more normal one, but thankfully the door panels maintain their strange designs, though Hyundai says the materials have been improved. It'll also have an updated infotainment system and USB-C ports, finally. The N Line will probably get sportier-looking materials and seat designs, while the actual N should have some rad fixed-back seats like in the Ioniq 5 N. Hyundai, you should also offer the Ioniq 6 N with no back seat, like the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT.
And before you ask, no, we probably still won't get the side-view camera mirrors in the United States. In U.S.-spec Ioniq 6s, those interior displays will be replaced by wing extensions of the dashboard design as on the current model.
No specs or other details have been given by Hyundai yet; expect more announcements in the coming weeks, with a U.S.-specific reveal to come in a few months. As with the Ioniq 5 facelift, expect slightly larger batteries and other powertrain enhancements for an even longer range, and new tech and convenience features. It should also gain the Tesla-style NACS charging port, though like Hyundai's other 800-volt EVs, you'll be able to get faster charging times out of a non-Tesla charger.
While the Ioniq 6 is currently an excellent deal and we doubt Hyundai would raise its price much under normal circumstances — a 2025 Ioniq 6 starts at $39,045 — Trump's newly-enacted tariffs might be a problem for the Ioniq 6 in the United States. The facelifted Ioniq 5 is now built in the U.S. alongside the Ioniq 9, but the Ioniq 6 will still be built in South Korea. Hyundai already sells far fewer Ioniq 6s than Ioniq 5s here — 3,318 of the sedan versus 8,611 of the crossover in Q1 of this year, and 12,264 of the 6 versus 44,400 of the 5 in 2024 — so hopefully the brand will be able to justify keeping it around. At the very least, these updates should make the Ioniq 6 more appealing to more people.
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