Is Hyundai's new electric minivan "Aerodynamic?"

[Xist]

Hyundai’s first three-row fully electric SUV is finally almost here. The “game-changing” IONIQ 9 can drive further, charge faster, has more than enough interior space, and much more.

Powered by a massive 110.3 kWh (NCM) battery, the range-topping IONIQ 9 has EPA-estimated driving range of up to 335 miles. On the WLTP scale, it’s rated with up to 620 km (385 miles).

With an advanced HVAC system, the SUV can still travel nearly 250 miles (400 km) in extremely cold temperatures as low as -7°C (19.4°F), certified by Korea’s Ministry of Environment.

The ultra-efficient system includes a heat pump and independent rear-row HVAC setup that deactivates when nobody is sitting in the rear to save energy. It also has a new active air flap that opens or closes to improve airflow.The SUV features a 3D-shaped underbody cover, new wheels, and hidden antennas, all of which help increase driving range.

With a drag coefficient of just 0.259 Cd, the Long-Range RWD model has a low energy consumption of just 194 Wh/km.

https://electrek.co/2025/03/05/hyund...ng-range-more/

[freebeard]

Is Hyundai's new electric minivan "Aerodynamic?"

0.259 Cd is middling good (but there's room for improvement), but the A will be atrocious(but there's not much you can do without losing interior space). [shrug].

Those double-stacked fender flares are weird.

[ECO-AKJ]

Unless this vehicle has sliding doors, it is considered a 3-row SUV.

Well, at least to me, but my opinion is meaningless!

[Piotrsko]

Even if it has sliding doors, the three row seating is a clincher. We had pacificas with sliders on both sides.......Although not on both at the same time.

Fenders like that are all the offroad big tires flinging mud on your car rage. Pretty sure you cant get a popular car with less than 20" and wide rims anymore

[aerohead]

It's almost proper K-form, and with full skirts, would probably hit Cd 0.23, as Kamm/Koenig-Fachsenfeld achieved with the FKFS' K-3.
The KIA EV6 and Hyundai IONIQ 5 are both Cd 0.29, so, it is a lower Cd, but as mentioned already, must be considered along with its larger frontal area.
With an integrated hitch-mounted tail extension, it could easily approach the Hyundai IONIQ 6's Cd 0.209.

[Xist]

Someone commented "Flat like edges but still has fender flares, awesome!"
Okay.
"The blacked out wheel arches look much better than the body-colored ones:"

"OK, this at least makes that part of the design sorta makes sense. I feel like the cutouts in the body-colored arches don't need to exist"
"I think the cutouts make it too busy regardless of body color or black. Just do one solid fender with no lines."
https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/commen...massage_seats/

So, they are interchangeable for some reason?
Change them! Quick!

I had hoped it would be easier to add removable skirts to them.
I hoped that LLMs would be advanced enough to draw a vehicle in a wind tunnel, but I tried 4, but what the heck is this, Clod?!

I couldn't figure out how to elicit anything reasonable.
One looked like there was a vortex in the wall behind it--which may have been alive.

The 9 is 70.5" tall and 199.2" long.
My image is 333px tall and 1,330px long
So, there are 4.7234042553191489361702127659574px per inch, and with a full boat tail would be 287.6" long, so a full boat tail would add 88.4", 7'4.4", but of course, nobody tapers the back end to a sharp point.

I started thinking about single-wheel trailers with my Prius camper thread because if you add enough weight to the back, not only would the back sit lower, but if you just got stiffer springs, you would affect weight distribution--and we are usually at least considering modifying FWD cars.

In theory, you could get a front hitch and install a cargo box there, but how much would that cost?

You would need to have it made custom!

[freebeard]

You want weight on the drive wheels? This is a single pivot hitch but something similar could be fabricobbled together.

RV Lifestyle Magazine
Understanding the Equalizing Hitch… | RV Lifestyle Magazine
Learn how an equalizing hitch can improve your trailer towing stability, ride comfort and safety. See the key components, proper installation and adjustment, and common mistakes to avoid.
...
A properly connected equalizing hitch is a simple but amazingly effective piece of equipment. It transfers about 50% of the trailer’s hitch weight to the front wheels of the tow vehicle. The effect of transferring this weight creates an improvement in stability, ride comfort and safety that are hard to over emphasize. Every full size trailer should be connected with one but even some smaller trailers like hardtops tow much better with an equalizing hitch.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by ECO-AKJ

Unless this vehicle has sliding doors, it is considered a 3-row SUV.

I guess you forgot the 1st generation of the Honda Odyssey, which had a much conservative minivan profile, yet it had conventional-hinged doors.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by freebeard

You want weight on the drive wheels? This is a single pivot hitch but something similar could be fabricobbled together.

For some reason, that link shows up as "https://www.rvlifemag.xn--com%20%20understanding-the-equalizing-hitch-yz50a/"

The %20 automatically converts to a space.
Do spaces work in URLs?!
What is with the xn--?!

https://www.rvlifemag.com/understand...alizing-hitch/

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

I guess you forgot the 1st generation of the Honda Odyssey, which had a much conservative minivan profile, yet it had conventional-hinged doors.

The 1966 and 67 Type 2 Microbus were available with normal or sliding doors, although sliding doors became standard in 1968.

I don't remember minivans with two sliding doors until around 2000.

I remember another ad from around that time where a delivery driver parked on a hill, his van door kept sliding down when he was trying to get the product, and then a kid got out of some other minivan with conventional doors, he asked the driver why his doors did that, and the driver just gave a frustrated shrug.

After our conversation yesterday, I tried to find a definition of minivan versus SUV and just found pages asking "Should you spend $50,000 on a minivan or an SUV," like this one, and annoyingly, I can't figure out how to view it on one page:

1. Price: The cheapest three-row SUV is the Volkswagen Tiguan, which costs a couple hundred dollars less than the cheapest minivan, the Chrysler Voyager, which starts at a little over $27,000, but the Tiguan is much smaller.
2. Minivans have better safety ratings
3. Minivans are bigger and specifically designed to be comfortable, generally with a convenient sliding door.
4. They have comparable technology (which may fail).
5. Only a Suburban, which starts at $63,495, is comparable to the size of a larger minivan.
6. They consider minivans to have better performance and handling and criticize the truck-like handling of SUVs, although I have enjoyed driving the Rams I have rented.
7. SUVs with their greater ride height are better off-road. I would also think that the truck frame would help.
8. They claim that they tie for MPG, but the top large minivan on this list is the Odyssey, and since the only SUV with comparable space to a larger minivan is the Suburban, I compared them, and it is absurd: https://carbuzz.com/cars/largest-minivans
9. Somehow, the Suburban with its 5.3- or 6.2L engine, pickup frame, and accompanying terrible MPG tows better than the Odyssey with a 3.5L engine and car frame. Shocking!
10. J.D. Power rates SUVs more reliable than minivans, but "the minivan category is dominated by Chrysler, where the Pacifica scores just 63 out of 100 for predicted reliability. Still, the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna score well for minivans, at 77 and 74, respectively."

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/suvs-vs-minivans



It seems like SUVs are taller with pickup frames.
It seems like they are assumed to have sliding doors, but there are definitely exceptions.
Also, it sounds like SUVs generally have larger and more expensive tires, and "full-size three-row SUVs sometimes require larger or specialty (all-terrain/off-road) tires that cost more and wear more quickly."
Not all minivans have sliding doors, but all vehicles with sliding doors are minivans?
https://www.theautopian.com/hold-up-...oors-a-minivan
This new Century is called an SUV and is built on the same basic platform as the Highlander, Camry, and Toyota Sienna minivan.
I am currently discussing the word "Versatile" with my clients.
It applies to this Toyota platform, but I am going to stick with Swiss Army knives and Gerbers.

I couldn't find a list of minivans with conventional doors, just the previous article, and: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/th...riant-66da4b22

[freebeard]

RV Lifestyle Magazine

https://www.rvlifemag.com › understanding-the-equalizing-hitch

Understanding the Equalizing Hitch… | RV Lifestyle Magazine
Learn how an equalizing hitch can improve your trailer towing stability, ride comfort and safety. See the key components, proper installation and adjustment, and common mistakes to avoid.

Here's the copy-pasta from DDG. I copied the URL and pasted it over the article title. I think vBulletin choked on the ' > '.

I don't remember minivans with two sliding doors until around 2000.

FYI:



https://www.sunsetclassics.com/1959-...r-van-551.html