If convincing the general public of the merits of electric vehicles was the sole goal of the Hyundai Ioniq, it does an impressive job. Even if it wasn’t the cheapest EV currently available, its well packaged interior, sporty performance, generous range, and genuine practicality makes it one of the best fully-electric offerings in the limited Aussie market. While it features steering that lacks crispness at dead centre and suffers a common EV issue of a lack of charging infrastructure, the Ioniq Electric delivers an intriguing argument for ditching hydrocarbons and converting to electric mobility.

The Ioniq Electric brings to the forefront the latest in EV battery technology and puts Hyundai at the front of the pack in terms of energy diversity options. Hyundai now offers petrol, diesel, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and hydrogen vehicle options, with their electric vehicles consistently delivering accurate energy consumption and high efficiency. The design of the Ioniq may not appeal to some, but for those there’s also the Hyundai Kona Electric to look at, which will set you back an additional $7500, but comes with a bigger battery and more driving range. If you’re not fussed by the design, this EV presents a far more compelling purchase proposition than the similarly priced Nissan Leaf. It’s incredibly efficient and comes with similar remote connectivity options to more expensive German vehicles.

Like the rest of the Hyundai range, the Ioniq Electric is tuned for Australian tastes and it shows: this is a car that drives quite well. You can never escape the feeling that it’s a heavy beast due to the battery packs, but it’s agile enough, and the ride quality is well tuned. The steering also feels more natural than other electric vehicles.

While the Ioniq is a little more sedate than the wacky angles of the current Prius, there's no getting around the fact it's not exactly a cool shape. You could say it's interesting, perhaps, in the way it warps the low-drag box to Hyundai's styling cues, but dorky nonetheless. The LED headlights help lift it a little, but the filled-in grille and small 16-inch wheels hardly lend this car extra street cred.

The handling of the Ioniq Electric is balanced and neutral. In fact, it’s considerably better to drive through corners than its conventional hybrid sibling – which starts at a much cheaper $34,790 (an in-betweener plug-in hybrid, with 63km of range, starts at $41,990). The Electric is the best because even though its big battery makes it quite heavy, that weight is very low in the car, making the Ioniq feel very foursquare.