The Hyundai Ioniq Electric battery pack may get a boost from 28 kWh to 38.3 kWh in the coming new 2020 model year, according to a report from PushEVs.com in Europe. An increased battery capacity had been hinted by Hyundai but they have not yet officially stated the new size.
In what appears to be a European Hyundai document that was posted to an electric automotive forum site, the new estimated European NEDC (or NEFZ in German) range for the coming new model is said to be 378 km or 235 miles. The current model year NEDC range estimate is 280 km or 174 miles.
The implication is that the new 2020 Ioniq Electric EPA range might be around 167 miles versus the current 124 miles although Hyundai has stated no new EPA estimate yet.
Meanwhile, new design images have been publicly released by Hyundai in Europe for the Ioniq Hybrid but the North American appearance is likely to be very similar. The Ioniq Electric interior may be similar to the Hybrid except for the shifter and aspects of the driver information displays.
The new interior image shows an optional 10-inch infotainment screen rather than the default 8-inch version and the dashboard and ventilation has been updated from the current model year.
New 2020 Ioniq Hybrid interior
Old 2019 Ioniq Electric Interior
See also: Exclusive: details on Hyundai’s new battery thermal management design
Categories: General
Electric Revs 
There were indications on the web that the new Ioniq Electric will use in its battery the same cells used by Kona Electric, i.e. NMC 622 60Ah 3.63V nominal voltage. If this is true then the possible arrangement may be 176 cells in 88 pairs:
3.63V*88=319V nominal battery voltage
176*3.63V*60Ah/1000=38.3kWh pack.
16 cells less than the current Ioniq Electric.
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Interesting speculation. That seems possible but so far I’m not aware of any reliable details about what is inside the new Ioniq Electric’s battery pack or even what the pack looks like on the outside (size, shape, location within the vehicle, etc). Is it just basically new cells using the old pack size and location (as in the recently announced LEAF e+) or did the do a major change to the pack size and location within the floor of the vehicle. I know nothing right now. I had speculated last year that the Ioniq seems to have the right wheelbase and width to be capable of hosting the same pack being used in the Kona, Niro, and new Soul EV but I have no idea what they actually did.
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I think the Ioniq is too low to fit the larger pack that the others have. The Niro’s is a flat pack under the floor, but the Ioniq is under the rear seat and trunk, not under the floor, and there’s no space to expand it under the floor. I doubt that Hyundai will have redesigned the whole chassis to fit a larger pack, so my guess is it’s like the Leaf, just new cells inside the existing pack.
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That’s very possible. Right now I just don’t know what they have done with this new battery pack.
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Lower system voltage also means that DCQC charge rate will be more limited than the current Ioniq.
Say voltage at low SOC = 3.35V per cell = 295 V, nominal voltage = 319V.
125A “50 kW” CCS = 37 kW low SOC, 40 kW 50% SOC
200A “100 kW” CCS = 59 kW low SOC, 64 kW 50% SOC
Current Ioniq can sustain about 70 kW.
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Yes, if giora’s speculation that they are using the same cells as the Niro EV is correct then not only would the charge rate be potentially limited by the lower nominal battery voltage but also by the apparent lower charge rate capability of the Niro cells. Some people might not be happy with trading away slower charging to get longer driving range.
But, that’s all just speculation. It’s entirely possible that the new 38 kWh Ioniq is using a different cell that that we don’t know about yet.
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That will be a nice upgrade. Still it will be stuck competing with vehicles that have 200+ mile range which I think is an important threshold for the US Market.
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Agreed. I thought they would bring out a 64 kWh version using the same back as the Kona/Niro/Soul.
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Yes, this is a nice upgrade, and I think it’ll do well in Europe especially, where many buyers are comfortable with ~270km of range. It’ll be very interesting to see how many of each of all the new EVs coming out are available, in the sense of which manufacturers can keep up with demand.
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True. Hyundai and Kia seem to have put together a nice line-up of EVs and the real question now is how many they are actually going to build.
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I own a 28 kw ioniq I’m struggling to see the benefits of the larger battery size. Currently charging time is 25 mins for the 28 kw. For the relative small gain in range but longer charging time seems pointless.
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