Not that long ago we obtained a set of spy photos of a mysterious testing vehicle that we already have seen but it was still unkown to which brand came from, but today we have a new set of spy pictures of this prototype that confirms we are in front of a next-gen Hyundai all-electric SUV. Next question, what for? The new car is internally codenamed as “OE” (remember that IONIQ 5 is CE, IONIQ 6 is NE) so this could be a new IONIQ model or a China-only model?.
Regarding the planned Hyundai “OE”, we have previously released spy photos of the car and we received a claim back from a Hyundai parent company called Mando, this company is specialized in automobile oem parts and apparently they were testing the prototype at the time it was spied. This car will be based on the E-GMP dedicated electric platform and is positioned slightly lower than the IONIQ 5 and as you can see, its wheels looks very similar to the one on the IONIQ 5.
The name is still unknown, there are rumours that could be named as IONIQ 3 or 4, but if is slighty lower than IONIQ 5, it should be called IONIQ 4 instead as the 3 could be similar to KIA EV4 in terms of size, with this prototype being mode close to Kia’s EV5. As a curious thing, EV5 is codenamed as “OV”, so we are wondering if all China-made cars from Hyundai and KIA starts with an “O” on its codenamed or this letter just represents the segment of the vehicle.
In the tire also you can see “OE” codenamed written
Despite the vehicle is still under heavy camouflaged state, and we cannot see its detailed design yet, there are few details that cleary placed it as a IONIQ model. First the wheels, second the exterior mirrors and third the interior door handles which are exactly the same as IONIQ 5. Looking inside the prototype and despite is also heavly camouflaged, the door panel clearly resembles what you can find inside the IONIQ 5.
About powertrain and sharing its underpinnings with the IONIQ 5, it is expected to have up to 325 hp in dual motor configuration with a base model having a 170 hp single motor. Battery pack’s borrowed from the IONIQ could offer 58 and 77,6 kWh or could be even better and add the 82 kWh battery pack of Kia’s EV5. The “IONIQ 4” should be revealed in early 2024 in China and it is still unknown wheter it will be available.
