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2018 Hyundai Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid costs $26,000, goes 29 miles on electricity

The Hyundai Ioniq hybrid and Ioniq Electric were two of the more pleasant surprises of 2017. Besides their lofty fuel economy and useful electric range, respectively, they boasted reasonable pricing, a useful interior and shockingly buttoned down handling. They could almost be deemed fun to drive. Yet, there was a missing member of the family for 2017. While we always knew a plug-in hybrid would be added — it was with its siblings when the Ioniq was introduced at the 2016 New York Auto Show, and we drove a prototype earlier this year — it wouldn't be until year 2 when the production car would show its face. And although that face is shared with the Ioniq Hybrid rather than the Electric, the 2018 Hyundai Ioniq Plug-in Hybrid obviously has its own set of facts and figures that have now been revealed. Chief among them is a 29-mile all-electric driving range, which, when depleted, effectively turns the Ioniq Plug-in into a regular hybrid capable of 52 mpg combined. It has a 119 MPGe estimate, for whatever that's worth. To put all those numbers into perspective, there's the Toyota Prius Prime (25 miles, 54 mpg combined, 133 MPGe), the Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid (48 miles, 42 mpg combined, 110 MPGe), Chevrolet Volt (53 miles, 42 mpg combined, 106 MPGe), and the Ioniq's mechanical sibling, the Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid (26 miles, 46 mpg combined, 105 MPGe). Pricing for the Ioniq Plug-in Hybrid starts at $25,835, including destination. The Limited trim level starts at $29,185. By comparison, the regular Ioniq Hybrid starts at $22,200 for its Blue trim and goes up to $27,550 for the Limited trim. However, keep in mind that the Plug-in Hybrid is subject to a $4,500 federal tax rebate plus whatever your particular state doles out. As such, the Plug-in Hybrid is effectively cheaper. That's also the case with the Toyota Prius Prime relative to the regular Prius. However, the Prime starts at just north of $27,995 (including destination). A regular Prius' base price is also only about $1,500 lower than the Ioniq Hybrid. In other words, the Plug-in Hybrid seems like a screaming bargain ... and if its siblings are any indication, it'll be a pretty appealing car, too. Other updates for the 2018 Ioniq lineup include paddle shifters added to the Hybrid (yay?), lane keeping assist added when lane departure warning is specified, and the availability of red paint for the Hybrid.

Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell CUV deliveries running behind schedule

Things are running a little bit behind on Hyundai's hydrogen-powered Tucson Fuel Cell CUV program in the US. The last time we checked in with the South Korean automaker's H2 project, we heard that the first deliveries were supposed to happen by the end of March. Speaking with Hyundai's Kevin Lee at the Hyundai booth at the SAE World Congress this week, we learned that deliveries are now going to happen closer to a month from now. Globally, there are roughly 70-100 of these hydrogen CUVs running in customer hands today. Lee told AutoblogGreen that the first US-bound units will be shipped from South Korea at the end of April or beginning of May but there is no actual date set for the first customer delivery. He said he expects 100 or fewer H2 powered Tucson CUVs to be operating in the US by the end of this year, all of them in Southern California. He said the customers in this first batch are being selected based on the location of the nearest hydrogen fuel station. While the number of stations is small today, more are on the way. Globally, there are roughly 70-100 of these hydrogen-powered CUVs (also known as the ix35) running in customer hands today, in places like South Korea, Germany, Norway, Austria and Italy. Some H2 stations charge Hyundai a flat rate per fill while others charge the automaker a general station maintenance fee. In the US, the Tucson Fuel Cell CUV leases for $499 a month (with $2,999 down) for 36 months, and comes with unlimited hydrogen refueling as well as Hyundai's Valet Maintenance. Lee told us that one reason for the "free" hydrogen is that even the small number of public hydrogen stations out there (nine in SoCal) does not have a cohesive set of rules for how to sell H2 to the public. The stations are not yet certified to charge customers based on dollar per kilogram in California, Lee said, since that regulation has not yet been set by the Division of Measurement Standards (DMS). Currently, "each station is different," he said, with some charging Hyundai a flat rate per fill and others charging the automaker a general station maintenance fee. This situation will likely change by the end of the year, he said. Lee said Hyundai is already busy working on the next-gen fuel cell vehicles and trying to reduce costs but was not able to share any details.

Genesis wins J.D. Power Tech Experience Study for third straight time

The results are out for the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Tech Experience Index (TXI) Study, which "focuses on the user experience with advanced vehicle technology as it first comes to market and is an early measure of problems encountered by vehicle owners." Its measurement metric is problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), same as with the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). The takeaway this year isn't that owners aren't using advanced technologies, as was the case with the 2022 study, or that they're having more problems with them overall. It's that owners of battery-electric vehicles are having more problems with advanced tech than owners of ICE-powered vehicles. According to the study, 17 of 21 features that can be had on both propulsion types — such as remote parking assistance and gesture controls — get lower satisfaction ratings by owners of BEVs, in some cases nearly 20 PP100.  The survey organization says this tracks with what its found in the IQS, where total vehicle problems were "46% higher among BEVs (excluding Tesla) than ICE vehicles and satisfaction is lower among owners of BEVs across nine of 10 APEAL categories than among owners of ICE vehicles." Findings regarding biometric measurements are among those that go against the overall study findings. Whether a fingerprint reader or an eye tracker, car owners in general said "they do not consider them to be useful." In terms of ease-of-use and satisfaction, plug-and-charge capability on EVs gets good marks. This allows EV owners to plug into a public charger and have payment taken care of automatically; the vehicle communicates with any charging station compatible with an automaker's plug-and-play system, so the vehicle can automatically submit a bill for the charging session to a central owner account with no further action needed at the station. Survey respondents noted a mere 6 PP100 and an 88.9% satisfaction.    Among manufacturers, repeat winners took the top prizes. Genesis earned the highest rank for innovation overall and among premium brands for the third straight year. Hyundai not only won the tech innovation banner for mass market brands for the fourth straight year, ahead of Kia, GMC, Ram and Subaru, Hyundai finished in second in the overall standings. On that overall chart, the top five are Genesis, Hyundai, Cadillac, Lexus and BMW. On the premium chart, Genesis is followed by Cadillac, Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the top five. It wasn't close from the first to the rest, though.