The biggest Hyundai ever built has landed: this is the three-row Ioniq 9

Hyundai’s mission statement for its newest, biggest product is simple: to bring the world together. Presumably, all together under one big, panoramic roof. The panoramic roof of the Ioniq 9.

Of course, Hyundai doesn’t explicitly say that, noting only that this massive three-row SUV is built to appeal to “today’s consumer who is hyper-connected yet feels more isolated than ever”. All aboard the Friendship Express, then.

There’s so much space. ‘Superior’, according to Hyundai. There’s seating for up to seven passengers depending on configuration, and not just any seating, but Comfortable Seating. First and second row ‘Relaxation’ chairs can fully recline and offer a massage that stimulates blood circulation.

Want to bicker over how bad the driver is? If you spec the six-seat option with two captain's chairs in the second row, they can both swivel to face the third – when stationary, mind – to allow better “interaction and communication among passengers”. Like noting how they should have gotten there already.

Speaking of which, the driver – in their own postcode inside the Ioniq 9 – will have the meat of a 110.3kWh usable battery to feast on. That's a fair chunk bigger than the 99.8kWh unit in its Kia EV9 sibling, and in this iteration it's married to either one single 215bhp rear motor (Long Range RWD), or that plus a 94bhp front motor (Long Range AWD), or really very that via two 215bhp motors front and back (Performance AWD).

This latter version can accelerate from 0-62mph in just 5.2s which we’re obliged to remind you is roughly what an E46 BMW M3 used to achieve. Other versions are slower. Spec the RWD single-motor car though, and Hyundai claims up to 385 miles of listening to your passengers complain that you should have taken the previous left.

And you’ll hear them more clearly. Sound-absorbing tyres absorb… sound. The 9’s structure – featuring heavy use of aluminium – reduces that low-level ‘booming noise’ when you’re on poor roads. There’s active noise cancellation. Acoustic, laminated glass. Triple sealing and reinforced A-pillars to lower NVH levels inside.

Though because the driver uses a different currency to the second and third rows, they can put the Ioniq 9’s self-levelling suspension to good use. And the torque vectoring. And traction control. Or just sling it into ‘Auto Terrain’ mode to use AI that scans the road ahead and adjusts the dampers accordingly.

Platform enthusiasts might like to know this amicable leviathan sits on the E-GMP platform, offering lots of advanced tech – 400V/800V, V2L etc – and a floor-mounted battery that keeps the interior floor flat, for more – that’s right! – space.

And toys. There’s “ample” storage including a slidable ‘Universal Island 2.0’ – literally, a sliding island inside an island – a panoramic curved display made up of a 12in digital dial display and another 12in infotainment screen, and high-output USB-C ports that run off the high-voltage battery for rapid 100W phone charging. Then comes fancy climate control, a steriliser, an eight-speaker stereo or the option of a 14-speaker BOSE setup, and the option of buying digital upgrades like interior light patterns, content streaming (Amazon Music, Soundcloud, that sort of thing), and even different displays.

And assistance. Too much to note here, but it includes stuff like collision avoidance, lane keeping, blind-spot, safe exit warning, speed limit, attention, high beam, park distance and so on. Want to park the contents of your neighbourhood into the 9? Fold the third row down and it’ll swallow up to 1,323 litres of stuff. Plus there's an 88-litre frunk in RWD models, reducing to 52 litres if you stick a motor up front for AWD.

It's a distinctive front end too, honed for aerodynamic performance and contributing to the 9's drag coefficient of just 0.259 Cd. There's an active air flap, 3D-shaped underbody, aero wheels, and optional fancy camera wing mirrors. There's stadium lighting up front too thanks to the pixels integrated into the LED units. And rather than offering a slab-sided profile, the 9’s roofline curves and tapers off to what Hyundai is calling a ‘boat tail’ rear. Wheel options are plentiful and large, up to 21in. Ditto the colour palette on offer.

Hyundai will roll out the Friendship Express first in the US and Korea in early 2025, while Europe and other parts of the world will come later. No word on prices just yet, but consider how big it is, what you’re getting and how much of the world you can fit underneath that panoramic roof.