The Smallest Hyundai Ioniq EV Will Also Be The Craziest-Looking

• Hyundai teases Ioniq 2 concept, which features a big whale tail-style spoiler.
• The production model will be built on the cheaper 400-volt version of the E-GMP platform.
• It will likely be a Euro-only model when it enters production next year.

Hyundai is expanding its lineup of Ioniq electric models with the smallest yet, expected to be called the Ioniq 2. It’s set to enter production sometime next year, but it will be preceded by a concept that gives us a pretty good idea about the series model’s design, which is shaping up to be quite bold.

The manufacturer has started teasing the concept ahead of its debut at IAA 2025, less than two weeks away on September 9, and there’s one design detail that really got our attention. Hyundai shared two images, one showing part of the study’s front fascia and another giving a glimpse of the vehicle’s rear.

Photo by: Hyundai

Photo by: Hyundai

While the front doesn’t hold any surprises since it follows the design trend set by the facelifted Ioniq 6, the rear is unlike any other Ioniq model. It appears to have a big ducktail spoiler that looks so big it could almost be called a whale tail, like the rear wings on old Porsche 911 Turbos. It will likely integrate the rear light clusters and really make the Ioniq 2 stand out.

The front has a very large and aggressive-looking air intake, which will be considerably toned down for the production model, since it’s fully electric and doesn’t require that much airflow. It gets a correspondingly big fake diffuser in the back, both of which will become a lot more stylized for production.

The Ioniq 2 will be built around the cheaper 400-volt and front-wheel drive version of the Hyundai-Kia E-GMP platform. There likely won’t be a hot all-wheel-drive N version of this, although there surely will at least be an N Line variant, with sporty design touches but no performance gain.

It will sit above the Inster in Hyundai’s EV lineup, offering slightly more space, range and performance. Hyundai may offer multiple battery pack options, but we don’t expect the Ioniq 2 to get anything much bigger than a 60 kilowatt-hour pack, which should be good for over 200 miles (320 kilometers), of real-world range. The Inster with the larger 49 kWh battery has a WLTP range of 224 miles (360 km), and it can hit 190 miles on one charge in normal driving conditions without excessive effort to drive economically.

The Ioniq 2 isn’t coming to the United States since it’s too small for American tastes. It’s likely a Euro-only model, although it may also be sold in its native South Korea.