There's a new kid in town by the name of Hyundai Ioniq and it hasn't wasted any time in locking horns with the best hybrids and EVs around. In the case of the Toyota Prius, official figures for the Ioniq hybrid has put it ahead of the world's best-seller.
With 55mpg combined (54mpg highway, 55mpg city), the Ioniq is more efficient than the regular Prius which manages 52mpg combined (50mpg highway, 54mpg city).
The Prius Eco returns 56mpg combined (53mpg highway, 58mpg city), but the Ioniq Blue goes further at 58mpg combined (57mpg highway, 59mpg city).
But the iconic Toyota hybrid isn't the only vehicle that loses out in the efficiency game against the Ioniq. The market's new golden boy Chevrolet Bolt also looks like a chump next to the Ioniq Electric, which has been named the most efficient electric car ever rated in the US.
Whereas the all-electric Hyundai has a combined equivalent fuel economy rating of 125MPGe, the Bolt has 119MPGe. The closest contender to the Ioniq Electric is the BMW i3 at 124MPGe combined. The Nissan Leaf, which still stands as the world's best-selling all-electric vehicle, is rated at 112MPGe.
As a testament to how well consumers have taken to the Hyundai Ioniq, its Electric variant has already found more than 1,300 buyers in South Korea, dominating 57 percent of total EV sales for that market.
It would be a different story stateside, but we can expect the new Korean nameplate to be a strong underdog against the likes of the Toyota Prius, Chevrolet Bolt, and Nissan Leaf in the US.