Thought you knew all the car companies? There’s a new one. Kinda. Hyundai is turning its Ioniq badge – familiar from its really quite good Prius rival – into a sub-brand that’ll specialise in electric cars.

In a move that may or may not take inspiration from other EV carmakers, each model will be named numerically, with odd numbers used for SUVs and even numbers for saloons. We’d expect far more of the former in Europe.

The first will be the Ioniq 5, a crossover based upon the fairly excellent-looking Hyundai 45 concept. Following that will be the Ioniq 6, based upon the even more excellent-looking Hyundai Prophecy concept.

By 2024, we’ll have the Ioniq 7, a big old SUV that – should the charging options work for you – could be a fine family vehicle if you’re willing to take the plunge into electric. And just look at its loooong light bar as it sits at the back of the teaser image above. Assertive.

We’re promised ‘more innovative’ models will follow, and we’d rather hope they’ll be numbered somewhere between 1 and 4. An electric hot hatch, perhaps? Hyundai’s N division has suggested it’ll skip hybrids and jump straight to electric when the time is right.

Now, there’s an inevitable amount of MARKETING to wade through. “Hyundai will offer customer-centric EV experiences centred on connected lifestyle solutions in line with Hyundai’s vision of ‘Progress for Humanity’,” we’re gleefully told.

Translated into good old-fashioned WORDS, you can probably expect some special treatment when you buy an Ioniq EV, with a bit of handholding to help you into the brave world of EVs.

Because standing in the rain prodding helplessly at an obscure phone app, in a vain attempt to charge your car just enough to get home, does not scream ‘premium sub-brand’.

And Ioniq models will all sit on a dedicated electric platform, too, ensuring they’re not just regular Hyundais with batteries shoved in. “The EV-dedicated platform will allow Hyundai to reimagine the vehicle interior as ‘smart living space’,” we’re told, “with highly adjustable seats, wireless connectivity and unique features such as a glove box designed as drawers.”

Excited?

STORY Stephen Dobie