Have you seen it? The Hyundai Ioniq 6, I mean. Have you seen its interior!? That neon-lit synthy, cyberpunky situation? Reader, I’m obsessed. I can hear these press photos and they sound like this.
On Tuesday, Hyundai unveiled the design for its upcoming Ioniq 6 electric sedan, the second of the Ioniq electric sub-brand. Like the Ioniq 5 SUV that came before it, the Ioniq 6 will sport a pixel motif as an accent to its lighting features. But look inside and you’ll see a spacious interior decked out in neon pink, blue, and purple accents.
In its release, Hyundai said that the car will have dual-color ambient lighting with 64 different colors to choose from, plus six dual-color themes “developed by color experts to help drivers and passengers feel relaxed and comfortable.” At this point in time I must ask: Did these color experts spend a lot of time hanging out in ’80s roller-skating rinks? Because these color combinations do not happen by accident.
Frankly, most of the Ioniq 6 photos don’t look like they happened by accident, either, but rather with extremely aesthetic intent. This isn’t allusion, as Patrick George pointed out this morning. This is the thing. The full-body shots look like screengrabs from Cyberpunk 2077 (may that dumpster fire of a game rest in peace because a singular aesthetic does not a good game make!!! Anyway.).
I know I’m just going off of photos for now, but I can’t help but be excited. Those neon lines streaking across the dashboard and how the passenger side flares up as it nears the door didn’t need to happen, but they’re happening anyway. The South Korean brands are currently killing it in the design department recently, with Ioniq doing its own retro-futurism thing. Compared to the conservative and predictable cabin designs from the closest European, American, and Japanese competitors, this stuff is so cheering to see.
Thanks to Hyundai’s E-GMP platform, the Ioniq 6 has a completely flat floor, which should lend itself to even more cabin space. I’m curious to find out how that translates for backseat passengers, but I can already see myself easily killing an hour in the driver’s seat, just flipping through all the ambient colors. I used to think customizable cabin lighting was a silly gimmick. It turns out I just needed to see the correct color combination.
Got a tip? Hit me up at kristen@thedrive.com