Hyundai says it plans to unveil the first of its new Ioniq lineup, the Ioniq 5, next week, February 23. The 5 is the Korean automaker’s first production model to sit atop its new modular electric platform (E-GMP).

The Ioniq 5 is based loosely on the Hyundai 45 concept from the Frankfurt motor show, a car styled as a nod to the Giugiaro-penned 1974 Hyundai Pony hatchback. Hyundai’s global design boss SangYup Lee has said the Ioniq 5’s design elements—the clamshell hood and 20-inch aerodynamic wheels—are meant to “put Ioniq in a position that establishes a new standard against which all BEV designs will be measured.”

A midsize crossover, Ioniq 6, taking design cues from the Prophecy concept, follows the 5 in 2022. The Ioniq 7 arrives in early 2024. Hyundai is using odd numbers for crossovers and even numbers for sedans. The brand is offering no hybrids or plug-in hybrids. It’s all EV. Last September Ioniq’s director of product strategy, Yuval Steiman, told Autoweek that the Ioniq brand is “meant to symbolize the company’s global goals toward expanding electrification. It’s a symbol of where the company is going moving forward, long term.”

The Ioniq 5 has a short front overhang (since there’s no engine under the hood) and a long wheelbase with wheels pushed out to the four corners. The automaker says the E-GMP means the cabin has plenty of room because the battery sits low in the floor between the two axles. The low battery means a low center of gravity for surefooted handling (E-GMP could also be the platform we keep hearing Hyundai is trying to get Apple to use, but we’re speculating). Ultra-fast charging promises to replenish up to 62 miles of range in as little as five minutes, Hyundai says.

Hyundai also says the spacious interior is customizable, “offering personalized mobility with flexible configurations to comfortably accommodate both passengers and cargo.” The company said the interior is furnished with sustainable materials such as eco-processed leather, bio paint, and natural and recycled fibers. The seats are dyed and treated with plant oil extractions from flaxseed the company said, while other soft surfaces are made from textiles derived from “sustainable fibers such as sugar cane bio components, wool and poly yarns, as well as material woven from fibers made from recycled PET plastic bottles. Surfaces such as the dashboard, switches, steering wheel, and door panels are coated in a polyurethane bio paint composed of oils from rape flowers and corn,” Hyundai said.

The company also said the driver and passengers can freely enter and exit the cabin on either side when parked in a narrow spot, and that since the floor is flat, the center console can slide back and forth. “This resulted in a fundamental rethink of the conventional center console and to offer greater function than a static storage box,” the company said, adding that the “newly developed ‘Universal Island’ replaces the center console and becomes the centerpiece of the IONIQ 5’s living space experience.”

We’ll have to wait until the 23rd to see the final design, but Steiman told us each Ioniq has a distinctive and different design though they’ll all have the 45 concept’s pixel headlights. He also said all Ioniqs are being designed and engineered as EVs from the ground up. Ioniq 5 is “roughly the size of our Tucson,” while the Ioniq 6 is going to be a “very sporty EV sedan.” He said Ioniq 7 will be a larger SUV, adding there are “no styling indication of that yet.”

We’ll also have to wait until the 23rd to hear more about the production model’s battery and power specs, and how many motors are going to be doing the work. We have speculated that a 200+ mile range should be a given, but likely less than 350 miles.

Hyundai has said repeatedly that by 2025 it intends to launch 16 new EVs to increase its annual EV sales to more than half a million with the Hyundai Group, including Kia, selling a million by then. “This is just the beginning,” Steiman told us. “The company is in it for the long haul in terms of electrification and alternative vehicle strategy. This is really just the start.”

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