Hyundai’s super-modern Ioniq interior – with robots

Hyundai is throwing all of its considerable design smarts at its Ioniq EV range, and has attempted to reimagine what car interiors might look like in an all-electric world.

The company has just unveiled its stunning new Ioniq Concept Cabin, and it really does look like the kind of game changer former Apple boss Steve Jobs might have come up with, if he’d ever fully turned his mind to cars.

We’ve all been told repeatedly that the shift to EVs will inspire a reimagining of car design – Jaguar’s Ian Callum called it the biggest change in 100 years – and in some cases, arguably Tesla’s Model X for example, that has happened, while Jaguar’s I-Pace at least took a swing.

Hyundai plans to leverage the abundant interior space and vast power supply capacity of EVs to integrate home electronics and appliances in its future Ioniq models – rather than a car model Ioniq is Hyundai’s new battery electric vehicle sub-brand – all customisable depending on customers’ needs and lifestyles.

The Ioniq’s Concept Cabin is genuinely radical, featuring TVs, cabin-cleaning robots and plenty of room to kick back and not drive (clearly Hyundai believes its own version of Autopilot is inevitable).

The highlight of the cabin, built in conjunction with another Korean giant, LG Electronics, is a vast, 77-inch flexible, organic LED screen attached to the ceiling.

It is so big, in fact, that two people could watch two different things on it at the same time (a bit like when the person on the plane next to you is watching a different film, remember that?). Speakers in the headrests solve the problem of mixed dialogue by creating “personal sound zones”.

In these germaphobic times, Hyundai also added UV LED lights in the ceiling, a cleaning robot for the floor and even “Clothing Care” and “Shoe Butler” stations, so you can look snappy when you arrive at your destination.

Hyundai has suggested that at least some of this tech will actually make it into the Ioniq 5, which is set to launch early in 2021.

“The IONIQ Concept Cabin is one of a kind and an unprecedented approach to enhancing customer experience as it can be customised for different needs and lifestyles,” a Hyundai spokesman, Wonhong Cho, explained.. “Dedicated EVs will enable us to revolutionise the experience Hyundai delivers to its customers, empowering them to do more in and out of the vehicles.”

Hyundai has plans to become a leader in EVs with its recently launched Ioniq dedicated EV line-up. The vehicles will sit on the E-GMP (Electronic Global Modular Platform), Hyundai’s dedicated EV platform.