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It was an email I hoped I’d never have to write. “Hello [Hyundai PUBLIC Relations Manager], I hope you had a great 4th of July. I hate to have to write this email, but someone just stole the Ioniq he lent us.” Until then, my week with the little subcompact hybrid had been glorious. After all, what don’t I like about 55mpg (4.3L/ hundred km)? But it turns out there’s an unexpected hero in this story, vilified through a giant component of Ars Technica’s audience: a connected car service stored the day.
The Ioniq is not the last electrified vehicle in the Hyundai line; in fact, it debuted in 2016 and, in the following years, joined through plug-in, battery-powered hybrid versions. But for some reason, this Ioniq of the 2020 style year was the first time we tried one. Diversity starts at $23,200 for the maximum effective version, the maximum Spartan, the Ioniq Blue. But as with the press fleet, ours was a $31,200 Ioniq Limited with features like adaptive cruise control, LED headlights, a 10.25-inch infotainment formula with navigation (and CarPlay and Android Auto), to name a few.
The biggest replacement for this gender year is a quarantine update, with a new, more streamlined taste and revised interior. The Ioniq runs on a 1.6-liter Atkinson direct injection four-cylinder engine that generates 104 hp (76 kW) and 109 lb-ft (148 Nm), which works in conjunction with 43 hp (32 kW), 125 lb-ft (169 Nm) permanent- Synchronous electric motor with magnet that, Together, it will send up to 139 hp (104 kW) to the front wheels via a six-speed dual-clutch transmission. The battery is a 1.56 kWh lithium-ion package, and is helping the Ioniq achieve this combined average of 55 mpg, or 58 mpg (4.1 l/hundred km) if it’s the blue finish, thanks to this car’s 15-inch wheels (unlike Limited’s 17-inch alloys).
The car is well designed to live as an urban fugitive. It’s easy to get in and see, and the journey is smart on damaged streets that seem to be an inescapable feature of 21st century life in an American city. The Ioniq is also remarkably full of life, with the electric motor chalk that is in a position to send its torque to the wheels.
The first sign of the next tragedy was at noon on July 5. Ioniq had been parked for a few days, thanks to the long week and the pandemic, and I sought to pass out and have lunch, but for my life. The car keys could not be located anywhere. We spent an hour looking in the space and our parking lot has been left empty. Feeling a little stupid, I emailed the company that runs Hyundai’s press park, informing her that the driving force brought the spare key when she picked up the car Monday at the end of our week with her.
At 6 p.m., I won a disturbing email from a neighbor, who alerted me to a young boy, probably no older than 14, whom he saw acting suspiciously near the car. I went out the doors to check, but there was no one to see. According to security camera footage, the boy returned 22 minutes later, armed with keys he may not find. They should have fallen out of my pocket while I was bringing groceries a few days before, and instead of returning them, he used them to unlock the car and get away.
Let me tell you that getting a stolen car isn’t a lovely feeling. Mortified, I informed the corporate fleet and Hyundai, and called the police, who might not have understood that the crime had happened literally, because they didn’t send anyone until the next morning. (Also, seeing that the car belonged to Hyundai and had manufacturer plates that didn’t look like in its database was a laughing challenge.)
Connected cars have a bad reputation on this site. Citing privacy and cybersecurity issues, the highest of our audience only needs to know when it’s a security feat or an embarrassing hack. Since 2017, 3 years of Hyundai’s loose Blue Link service has been a popular feature in Ioniqs. Some features are only available for your convenience, such as the ability to start the car remotely via a smartphone or smartwatch. But many of Blue Link’s features focus on protection or safety, connecting you to a twist of the destination’s reaction center. And if your car is stolen, Blue Link can locate it and prevent it so the police can get it back. This is what ended up falling in this case: it was even discovered intact, unfortunately I have no additional main points on where it recovered.
From that experience, I learned several things. First of all, the Ioniq is a smart little hybrid, and 55mpg is nothing to smell. Secondly, I want to make sure that the key to every press car is connected to my kit, which has at least one tile tracking beacon. Thirdly, I appreciate it didn’t take place a week earlier, when the car was a $238,000 McLaren and not a $31,000 Hyundai. And finally, connected cars can have merit, and other people know it.
Image of the ad through Hyundai
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