Hyundai Ioniq tops mileage rating in the U.S.

Ioniq Hybrid of Hyundai Motor has become the most fuel efficient car in the U.S. market, returning higher mileage than any other combustion-engine and hybrid vehicles.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday local time, the Ioniq Hybrid Blue offers 58 MPG rating (based on 15-inch tire), meaning the sedan can travel 58 miles per gallon of fuel. In other words, the Ioniq Hybrid can drive about 24.65 kilometers per liter of fuel.

In the meantime, Toyota’s new Prius Hybrid Eco has received a rating of 56 MPG in mileage eval‎uation. To sum up, the Ioniq has become the most fuel efficient car in the U.S., beating Prius, which had claimed the top spot on a mileage raking. Also in the January test in Korea, the Ioniq recorded 22.4 kilometers per liter of fuel, beating the fourth generation Prius that recorded 21.9 kilometers per liter.

“In addition to mileage, the Hyundai Ioniq has also received higher ratings in driving functions such as acceleration and horse power than the Prius,” said Hyundai Motor.

The leading German vehicle magazine “Auto Bild” reported in October that the Ioniq took 10.4 seconds to drive acceleration from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour, while the Prius required 10.8 seconds to do so.

Sung-Gyu Kim sunggyu@donga.com