Hyundai Ioniq 9 2026 review | Genuinely luxurious electric seven-seater
Hyundai IONIQ 9 cars for sale
5.0
Expert review
Pros
Plush and refined on the road
Masses of space and practicality
Good standard kit for the price
Cons
Some rivals are cheaper
Touchscreen for climate control is needless
Self-driving function isn't the most polished
The CarGurus verdict
The Hyundai Ioniq 9 is a truly brilliant luxury seven-seat SUV. And don’t be mistaken into thinking that it’s not luxury because it’s a Hyundai. This Korean brand – and its sibling, Kia – have really pushed into the territory of Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Volvo and co in the last few years.
It’s entirely reasonable and accurate to think of the Ioniq 9 as a cut-price Volvo EX90 or Range Rover in terms of the space and sumptuousness that it offers, rather than thinking of it as an expensive Peugeot e-5008. Viewed like that, it really is both good value and a fantastic car to own.
What is the Hyundai Ioniq 9?
The Hyundai Ioniq 9 is a large, seven-seat electric SUV, which has fairly few direct rivals. Its closest rival is also its platform-mate; the Kia EV9 shares the same E-GMP platform, but the Ioniq 9 gets a slightly larger 106kWh usable NMC battery capacity (110.3kWh total capacity), and as a result, a longer range. For now, anyway: the EV9 is sure to receive the same battery fairly soon.
Other seven-seat electric SUV rivals include the slightly smaller and more affordable Peugeot e-5008, the Skoda Peaq and the Mercedes GLB Electric, or the much more expensive Volvo EX90.
You can also have the Hyundai Ioniq 9 as a six-seater, with an executive seating layout that offers two fully adjustable ‘captains’ chairs in place of the sliding three-person middle bench row that most family buyers will favour. You have to go for a top-spec trim to get the six-seat layout, too, so it does push the Hyundai Ioniq 9 into a very punchy price territory of well over £70,000.
How practical is it?
The Ioniq 9 is fantastically practical. Even with all seven seats in place, there’s 338 litres of boot space, which is more than enough for a single buggy or a couple of cabin bags. With the two third-row seats folded flat into the boot floor, there’s a huge 680 litres, with a fairly low load lip and a smooth boot floor making it easy to load hefty items. You also get a frunk of up to 88 litres of space in the RWD version, or 52 litres in our AWD test car, which is just about enough for stowing away a charging cable or two.
Access to the third row of seats is good thanks to the outer middle seats that tilt and slide forwards in one movement, giving pretty decent space to squeeze into those back seats. When you’re in there, even an adult will be pretty comfortable, complete with cup holders, armrests and air-con vents, which ensure that you don’t feel like you got the short straw when you got put in the back.
The middle row seats recline and slide in a 60/40 split, and also feature a couple of pairs of Isofix fittings. Complete with the panoramic glass roof, charging ports, window blinds, climate control and even standard heated rear seats, the Ioniq 9 feels very First Class when it comes to passenger comforts. Your kids will be fully spoiled back there. And if you’re considering the Ioniq 9 more as a business express or even a limo (which is not a silly idea, at all, given the comfort it offers) then the six-seat layout brings a massage function and even more space and comfort for rear passengers with the individual, swivelling chairs in the second row.
Up front, space is predictably plentiful, and you sit high up in a traditional SUV position, with tall windows and an upright windscreen making it feel imposing and airy.
You can tow up to 1600kg with the Ioniq 9 RWD Long Range, but the AWD models can manage up to 2500kg, making this a good option for those after an electric tow car.
What’s it like to drive?
The Hyundai Ioniq 9 is a huge, pillowy car to drive. The RWD Long Range is the entry level version, with its single electric motor sending 215bhp to the rear wheels for 0-62mph in 9.4 seconds.
Most buyers will opt for one of the all-wheel drive, dual motor variants that get either 303bhp or 421bhp depending on whether you go for the Long Range AWD or Performance AWD model, which deliver 0-62mph in 6.7- or 5.2 seconds, respectively.
We’ve driven the Performance and also the mid-spec AWD Long Range, and the latter is definitely the happy medium and the one that we’d go for. It’s got plenty of response when you want to merge into faster traffic, but the defining characteristic is the cushy suspension and silky responses. The higher-powered Performance variant is obviously punchier, but the Ioniq 9 just doesn’t feel like a car that needs that much accelerative performance: it’s all about the comfort.
The Hyundai Ioniq 9 doesn’t have air suspension, but it feels like it does. We don’t know what witchcraft Hyundai has used, but it’s clever stuff, and it makes the ride feel luxurious and cosseting. The light but pleasantly consistent steering response is a real pleasure, too. It’s a fantastic long-distance cruiser, the Ioniq 9; serene, quiet and relaxed.
The variable brake regeneration, which you toggle through the settings for via steering wheel-mounted paddles, is also one of the best systems you’ll find. You can choose from three levels of regen’, as well as a one-pedal mode, and you can also choose to have the adaptive function active or not. It’s a very variable system that is very easy to get used to, and that always responds predictably.
You’re very aware of the huge size and weight of the big Hyundai, though. It leans heavily in corners, even in Sport mode, and it would certainly benefit from four-wheel steering to improve its manoeuvrability at low speeds.
In truth, you drive the Hyundai Ioniq 9 and can’t help but feel that Hyundai and Kia (with its EV9, which is very similar in the way it drives) have made an electric Range Rover before Range Rover. It really does have that level of calm, silky response, and it’s a lovely thing to spend time in.
Technology, equipment & infotainment
The Ioniq 9’s dashboard is dominated by a central 12.3-inch touchscreen, and a second screen of the same size in front of the driver, while a smaller (and unnecessary, if you ask us) climate control screen hides behind the edge of the steering wheel.
It’s a straightforward infotainment system to use, and while others have sharper graphics and fancier app-streaming functionality, the Hyundai’s system just works well. The nav and charger search function are easy to fathom, the wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connect reliably and automatically, and it does everything you want it to.
The Mercedes GLB Electric has a more impressive, modern system, and the 7-seat Tesla Model Y’s infotainment is arguably a bit simpler and easier to get used to. But the Hyundai’s combination of touchscreen and physical buttons is good, and together with some lovely materials and finishes, you really do feel very smug and satisfied spending time in the Ioniq 9.
The Hyundai Ioniq 9 gets generous standard equipment, with three-zone climate control, a reversing camera, a heated steering wheel, heated front- and rear seats, automatic LED headlights, adaptive cruise control and semi-autonomous drive mode, keyless entry and part-leather upholstery even on the entry-level Premium model. The mid-spec Ultimate is the one to go for, though, as it adds the panoramic glass roof, electrically folding third-row seats and mid-row tilt function for easier access, Bose sound system, ventilated front- and rear seats, blind spot warning, electric seat adjustment, and more.
Top-spec Calligraphy adds 21-inch alloy wheels, nappa leather and various style upgrades, as well as a ‘UVC’ tray that will disinfect your phone with ultra-violet light.
Every Hyundai Ioniq 9 gets an extensive suite of safety kit including ten airbags and a semi-autonomous mode. Mind you, if you do like to use the assisted drive functions, we found the semi-autonomous function in the Hyundai a bit unsettling. It seemed to struggle to centre itself in the lane even on well marked motorways, and would pinball gently from white line to white line. A Tesla Model Y certainly has a more cohesive and reassuring self-driving function, if that’s a priority for you: although the Tesla’s third-row seats are nothing like as comfortable as the Hyundai’s.
Hyundai Ioniq 9 running costs
The Hyundai Ioniq 9 will be much cheaper to fuel than a petrol or diesel alternative like the Land Rover Discovery or Skoda Kodiaq, provided you can charge at home most of the time. Using a cheap off-peak domestic electricity tariff, you’ll be paying around 5p per mile to fuel the Ioniq 9 rather than around 18- to 20p to fuel a big petrol or diesel seven-seater. Mind you, public charging is expensive in the UK and can bring costs for fuelling an electric car like the Hyundai Ioniq 9 up to the same – or even more – than for a petrol or diesel equivalent.
Even so, the Ioniq 9’s pricing is very competitive for what it’s offering, and there are often monthly deals with low-interest monthly payments, so by the standards of such a smug-inducing, flashy, big seven-seat SUV, the Ioniq 9 is quite reasonably priced.
Having said that, the Ioniq 9 is still too expensive to qualify for the Government’s Electric Car Grant (ECG), so you won’t get a contribution from the taxpayer towards your car. What’s more, you’ll also be liable for the higher rate of VED road tax, meaning that on top of the regular £200 annual flat rate, you’ll also be liable for an additional sum of £440 annually between years two and six of the car’s life.
Insurance premiums are, predictably, pretty expensive on the Ioniq 9. The RWD models sit in groups 42 or 43, while the AWD versions will be between 47 and 49. Since groupings run between 1 and 50, with 50 being the most expensive cars to cover, you get an idea of where the Ioniq 9 sits on the scale. Still, with a car of this price and power, that’s no real surprise.
And don’t forget that if you don’t want a fully electric seven-seat SUV, there’s always the plug-in hybrid Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento, or the Chery Tiggo 9 also offers a long-range PHEV powertrain in a big seven-seater for much less money than the Ioniq 9.
Hyundai Ioniq 9 reliability
The Hyundai Ioniq 9 gets Hyundai’s standard five-year, unlimited-mileage warranty, which felt like a hugely impressive warranty once upon a time. Now, however, with Toyota, Peugeot, Geely, MG, Chery and Kia all offering even longer warranties, it just feels like what you should expect, really. Mind you, it’s still a usefully better warranty than you get from VW, Skoda and others.
Otherwise, Hyundai generally has a good reputation for reliability and for dealer service. The brand placed 14th out of 30 carmakers in the latest What Car? Reliability Survey, which is about as middle-of-the-road as you can get, although the Ioniq 9 wasn’t featured in that study, and so didn’t contribute to the result. There’s not a huge amount of owner feedback on the Ioniq 9’s reliability generally, but it promises to be fairly hassle-free to own.
- The Hyundai Ioniq 9 is a full-sized SUV, at 5.06m long and around 2.6- to 2.7-tonnes, but the Korean brand has still managed to squeeze between 372- and 385 miles of WLTP range from this big family EV. The 800V platform enables ultra-rapid charging of up to 233kW, which is good for a 10-80% rapid charge in around 24 minutes.
- Every Ioniq 9 gets vehicle-to-load (V2L) charging, which means that you can charge your electrical devices from the car’s high voltage battery via a three-pin socket in the car’s cabin.
- Real-world range is surprisingly decent on the Ioniq 9. We saw around 330 miles in summer temperatures on a steady motorway run in the all-wheel drive model, and would expect that to dip to around 280 miles in winter, when all EVs are less efficient: even those like the Hyundai, which comes with a standard heat pump to help with cold weather efficiency.
- If you want the best value: Given that the Ioniq 9 is not a cheap car to be considering, we’d recommend going for the mid-spec Ultimate even if you are keen to get the best value. This mid-spec car adds a lot of the features that you’ll want for a car like this, especially that panoramic glass roof and the electrically folding third row, and one-press tilt-and-slide function for easy access to the rearmost seats. The Ioniq 9 Ultimate will also hold its value better than the lower-spec model, and may not cost much more on PCP or lease. Settling for the rear-wheel drive model will save you a useful chunk of money, though, and it’ll still be a really lovely car to drive.
- If you want the best company car: Again, go for the Ioniq 9 Ultimate, but we’d go for the AWD Long Range as the four-wheel drive does bring more peace of mind in poor weather and winter conditions. You won’t pay a huge amount more to get that four-wheel drive system, in terms of Benefit in Kind company car tax, either. You can always go for the six-seat Calligraphy model if you really want to impress the board members.
- If you want the best high-mileage commuter: As above! The Ioniq 9 AWD Long Range in Ultimate trim is our favourite in the range, balancing the luxury comforts that the big Hyundai feels very at home with, together with a reasonable price for such a big, plush seven-seater.
- If you want the best family car: Again, the AWD Long Range Ultimate is our choice. It’s got all the luxury, but still feels like decent value given the quality and features that it offers. Add the tow bar so that you can add a rear-mounted bike carrier, too.
