BMW i4 vs Hyundai IONIQ 6

The BMW i4 costs £6,355 more than the Hyundai IONIQ 6. For that premium it adds 28 miles more WLTP range, 69 litres more boot space and 82 kW more power. The Hyundai IONIQ 6 is not just cheaper - it also offers 150 kW faster peak rapid charging. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Hyundai IONIQ 6 comes out ahead overall.

The Hyundai IONIQ 6 is £6,355 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £152 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Hyundai IONIQ 6 comes out roughly £6,475 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 261 miles for the BMW i4 and 282 miles for the Hyundai IONIQ 6 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Hyundai IONIQ 6 goes roughly 21 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 31 minutes in the BMW i4 and 18 in the Hyundai IONIQ 6, so the Hyundai IONIQ 6 loses less time at each stop. That makes the Hyundai IONIQ 6 the stronger long-distance car.

The two are within 28 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 548 mm of total clearance for the BMW i4 and about 520 mm of total clearance for the Hyundai IONIQ 6. The Hyundai IONIQ 6 also turns in a 0.5 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the BMW i4 and 89% for the Hyundai IONIQ 6. That gives the Hyundai IONIQ 6 a modest edge in retained real-world range. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.