SEOUL — Just how slippery is Hyundai's new Ioniq 6 electric vehicle?
When the four-door fastback sedan arrives in the U.S. early next year, it will have the same platform and long-range powertrain as the Ioniq 5 compact crossover. But the Ioniq 6 will get a big boost in battery range — thanks mostly to its super sleek, air-shedding silhouette.
In fact, the Ioniq 6 is the most aerodynamic vehicle ever produced by Hyundai Motor Co. It achieves a 0.21 drag coefficient, compared with 0.29 for the Ioniq 5, which landed this year.
Hyundai is loath to label the Ioniq 6 a mere sedan. To its designers, the jelly bean-shaped EV is a "streamliner," a name that harks back to the rounded styles pioneered in the 1930s.
The rear-wheel-drive version with the 77.4-kilowatt-hour battery achieves a range of 381 miles under the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure cycle. That's a jump from the 315-mile range of the Ioniq 5.
The Ioniq 6's pinched…