Hyundai Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) has announced two new variants for the Hyundai Ioniq 6 family in Malaysia including the Ioniq 6 Lite RWD and Ioniq 6 Plus RWD. The two new options joined the Ioniq 6 Max RWD and Ioniq 6 AWD that were launched in our market back in July.
In general, the addition of these new variants has lowered the price barrier for the Ioniq 6 in Malaysia. Of course, there is more to the Ioniq 6 Lite and Plus than just a lower price tag, so let’s dig into the finer details.
Ioniq 6 Lite and Plus Malaysia pricing, warranty
With the addition of Lite and Plus variants, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 family in Malaysia has now grown to four different options. For easy reference, we include the other higher-end variants in the price list below:
- Hyundai Ioniq 6 Lite RWD: RM219,888
- Hyundai Ioniq 6 Plus RWD: RM249,888
- Hyundai Ioniq 6 Max RWD: RM289,888
- Hyundai Ioniq 6 Max AWD: RM319,888
Do note that the pricing above is on-the-road (OTR) before insurance.
The colour options for the new variants remained the same as per Max RWD and Max AWD which include the Abyss Black Pearl, Nocturne Gray Matte, and Biophillic Blue Pearl. These colours are also inclusive of bottom cladding in Medium Silver Metallic.
Customers can also choose to obtain the Ioniq 6 Lite and Plus in Dive Blue Solid and Gravity Gold Matte which are also paired with Black Metallic bottom cladding. While both of them still have black interiors, the Lite variant is fitted with cloth seats while the Plus option still has leather seats just like its Max counterparts.
Just like the higher-end variants, the Ioniq 6 Lite and Plus comes standard with an 8-year/160,000km warranty for the battery while the vehicle themselves have a standard 2-year/50,000km warranty. Customers can opt for the extended warranty package that increases the warranty duration to 5 years/100,000km and includes 3 years/50,000km of free service for an additional RM10,000.
HSDM is also offering a free 1-year subscription for Shell Recharge Gold membership for the first 30 owners of the Ioniq 6 Lite and Plus. With the membership, it allows them to obtain discounts on confirmation and charging fee when they use Shell Recharge chargers throughout Malaysia which has power output as high as 180kW.
Performance, range, battery, charging time
In terms of performance, both the new Ioniq 6 Lite and Plus are actually identical to each other. Aside from being fitted with a rear-wheel drive (RWD) setup, they also feature the same 111kW (149hp) electric motor.
Despite the lower power output, the motor produces 350Nm of torque which is similar to the 168kW (228hp) motor on the Ioniq 6 Max RWD. As for acceleration, the Lite and Plus can go from 0 to 100km/h in 8.8 seconds alongside a top speed of 185km/h.
Another big factor that separates the Lite and Plus from their Max counterparts is their battery capacity which is 53kWh. With a smaller capacity, that means their WLTP range is also much shorter although still quite respectful at 429km.
Both of the new variants still feature the 800V architecture which allows them to be charged from 10% to 80% in 18 minutes when using a 350kW DC fast charger. When plugged into a more common 50kW DC charger, it would take around 58 minutes instead.
As for the onboard AC charger, both the Lite and Plus options were fitted with an 11kW charger. Given that they have a slightly smaller battery, it takes them around 5.5 hours to be fully charged through AC charging as opposed to around 7.1 hours for the Max RWD and Max AWD variants.
Here are the features missing from Ioniq 6 Lite RWD and Plus RWD
It is quite clear that the performance and battery are among the main factors that made the Ioniq 6 Lite and Plus cheaper than the Ioniq 6 Max RWD and Max AWD. In addition to that, some features have been removed from them as well.
Let’s start with the Lite variant. As mentioned earlier, this option was fitted with cloth seats instead of leather.
Also gone from the Lite variant are the powered driver and front passenger seats as well as the auto-recline Premium Relaxation Seat functionality. Furthermore, there is no EV Active Sound Design (e-ASD) too which provides virtual driving sound to the Ioniq 6.
The SmartSense ADAS suite on Ioniq 6 Lite is also missing quite a number of features. Among them include the Blindspot Collision Avoidance Assist (BCA), Forward Collision Avoidance Assist 2 (FCA 2), Parking Collision Avoidance Assist (PCA), and Surround View Monitor (SVM).
The Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA 2) which is a pretty nifty and fun feature to use is not available on the Lite variant either. There is no Head Up Display (HUD) on this variant while it has been fitted with a 6-speaker system from an unspecified brand instead of having the usual Bose 8-speaker sound system.
On the other hand, the amount of features removed from the Ioniq 6 Plus variant is rather minimal. For one, there is no Premium Relaxation Seat feature for the front seats while there is also no HUD and RSPA 2.
Here’s our review of the Hyundai Ioniq 6 RWD Max:
