Hyundai IONIQ Electric tops eco ranking by Europe’s largest automobile club

• ADAC EcoTest ranks Hyundai IONIQ Electric as cleanest car
• Hyundai Kona Electric and fuel-cell electric vehicle Hyundai NEXO also among the leaders
• Test results confirm Hyundai's leading role in future mobility

Hyundai Motor has gained another major accolade for its diverse eco-car line-up, taking the lead in this year’s EcoTest ranking conducted by the ADAC. With over 20 million members, the ADAC is the largest European automobile club.

The German automobile club has been running the EcoTest's high score list continuously since 2003. Every year the result of each new vehicle test is added. In the current ranking Hyundai is represented by no less than three models. Still at the top is the IONIQ Electric, which has already passed the ADAC's standardised test in 2017 and immediately took the top position in the high score list with 105 of a maximum of 110 possible points. The Hyundai Kona Electric achieved eighth place and the Hyundai NEXO is also ranked among the top 20.

Hyundai is a pioneer in alternative powertrains

Hyundai offers a variety of technologies to reduce vehicle emissions and prevent air pollution in cities. In addition to its mobility concepts, the brand already has a wide model range with different alternative power systems: electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell drive systems. This makes Hyundai the only car manufacturer to offer all major electrified powertrains in production cars.

Hyundai IONIQ Electric once again in first place

ADAC EcoTest evaluates pollutant and CO2 emissions both on the test bench and in real road traffic. For electric vehicles, ADAC calculates the CO2 emissions on the basis of the German electricity mix (based on the value for 2013: 579 g/kWh). The Hyundai IONIQ Electric performs to a high standard in all test criteria: ADAC experts rewarded the exemplary low pollutant emissions with the maximum score of 50 points, and 55 out of 60 possible points for CO2 emissions. This drops to zero if the lithium polymer battery is charged exclusively with renewable electricity. Currently, the Hyundai IONIQ Electric still tops the overall list with 105 points.

Hyundai Kona Electric also among the top performers in the EcoTest

In addition to the IONIQ, Hyundai also has the Kona Electric, the first purely electric sub-compact SUV, in its eco-friendly portfolio. Of 109 vehicles tested by ADAC in 2018, the Kona Electric came in fifth. As with the IONIQ Electric, the ADAC testers gave the Kona Electric a full 50 points for locally non-existent pollutant emissions and 46 points for CO2 emissions. Here, too, the following applies: if the battery of the Kona Electric is charged exclusively with renewable electricity, CO2 emissions drop to zero. The electric lifestyle SUV is in eighth place in the ADAC EcoTest ranking.

Hyundai NEXO third vehicle of the brand among the top 20

Leading the way in the industry, Hyundai already launched its second-generation hydrogen-powered vehicle, NEXO, in summer 2018. Fuel-cell vehicles, just like battery-electric models, do not produce any harmful emissions while driving – only water vapour is emitted. This earned the Hyundai NEXO the maximum of 50 possible ADAC points for non-existent pollutant emissions. Among the vehicles tested by the ADAC in 2018, the NEXO has reached the ninth place with a total score of 88, placing it among the top 20 in the continuously updated list of the most eco-friendly cars.

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