People Really Want Hyundai's Cool, Affordable Ioniq EVs

Despite some of the things you may read online, demand for electric cars both in the U.S. and globally is at an all-time high, and sales are increasing exponentially. More than one million EVs were sold here in 2023, and the price premium versus gas cars is lessening. While many new EVs are big hulking trucks and SUVs, what consumers are really hungry for are affordable, interesting cars and crossovers, and Hyundai is reaping the benefits of that desire — sales of its electric vehicles in March were up by 100 percent compared to last year, and Hyundai’s Q1 total increased by 62 percent year-over-year.

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The Ioniq 5 crossover had its fourth-best month of sales with 3,361 units sold in March, 58 percent up from last March and an increase of 68 percent compared to February. Year-to-date so far Hyundai has sold 6,822 Ioniq 5s in 2024, an 18 percent increase over Q1 2023.

For the last few weeks of the quarter Hyundai was running some seriously good lease deals on the Ioniq 6, which seem to have paid off in spades. (I personally know at least four people that went out and leased one.) Hyundai sold 1,984 Ioniq 6 sedans in March, its second-best sales month yet and double the amount sold in February. Compared to last March that’s an increase of 794 percent, and looking at last year’s YTD number Ioniq 6 sales are up a whopping 1,542 percent, as March 2023 was the first month of sale. In total 3,646 Ioniq 6s were been sold in Q1 2024.

Photo: Hyundai

Hyundai doesn’t break out sales for the Kona Electric specifically, but the whole Kona lineup was up 29 percent in March and 20 percent for Q1 YOY, and Hyundai was running some excellent deals on the EV model. The Tucson hybrid and plug-in hybrid also set sales records in Q1 2024, and Hyundai says its “eco-friendly” vehicles in general (hybrids, PHEVs, EVs and hydrogen cars) hit 11,485 units sold in the quarter, a 35-percent increase.

The Ioniq cars are far from traditional in terms of design, and therein lies one of Hyundai’s biggest strengths. Their combination of funky styling, seriously efficient powertrains, high-end feature content and excellent dynamics are unmatched at their price points — throw in the brand’s huge warranty, the $7,500 federal tax credit and other incentives, and people are eager to get a deal on a Hyundai EV.

It’s proof that people really do want to buy electric cars — they’ve just gotta be appealing, unique and reasonably priced. Best of all, Hyundai’s electric offerings will only continue to get better. A facelift for the Ioniq 5 is coming later this year with new features and better range, and the three-row Ioniq 9 SUV will follow shortly thereafter.