Hyundai has opened Belgian order books for the Ioniq 3, pricing the compact electric hatchback at a competitive €29,995. It undercuts its Kia EV3 sibling by a wide margin. First deliveries are scheduled for October 2026.
Hyundai’s Belgian importer, Astara Western Europe, has landed close enough to make the Ioniq 3 one of the most aggressively priced B-segment EVs on the market.
In the base trim, Select, the price starts at €29,995, for which customers get the smaller 42.2 kWh battery with a 147 hp front motor and a WLTP range of 344 kilometers.
Unusually generous equipment
That range is good enough for smaller commutes, but won’t suffice for everyone’s needs. The sweet spot Long Range version (61 kWh) extends that to 497 kilometers, and is priced from €33,995. However, the larger battery powers a slightly less powerful 135-hp motor. In the top N Line Evo, customers need to pay €43,695 more.
Especially encouraging is that standard equipment is unusually generous for the money. Even the entry model Select gets the new Pleos Connect infotainment system running on Android Automotive OS, supporting wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Adaptive cruise control, parking sensors, a reversing camera, and the full SmartSense assistance suite are also on the list. Clearly, Hyundai is pitching this as a deliberate move to avoid the stripped-out base-model trap that still catches some legacy brands.
More premium
Moving up the ladder, the Trend starts at €33,495 with the 42.2 kWh pack or €38,495 with the 61 kWh unit. It adds the Winter Pack as standard, 17-inch alloy wheels, a digital instrument cluster, the larger 14.6-inch central display, and electrically folding door mirrors.
Buyers can also add an EV Pack for €1,750, which includes a 22 kW onboard charger, Vehicle-to-Load capability, and preparation for future V2X functions. The more premium N Line and Prime add goodies like 18-inch wheels or Bose audio.
Genuine practical proposition
The pricing strategy for the Ioniq 3 undercuts the Kia EV3’s Belgian list price by a significant margin (starting at €37.590). It places it in competition with the Renault 4 E-Tech (€29.900) and Volkswagen ID. Cross (expected: €27.990).
It’s actually cheaper than a Volkswagen Golf with a combustion engine. However, the Kia EV3 uses different battery capacities (58 and 81 kWh) and offers a better range of 436 to 605 kilometers. Nonetheless, it shows how newer EVs are lowering the threshold considerably.
To keep that price down, the Ioniq 3 relies, among other things, on a 400-volt network rather than the groundbreaking 800-volt system used by the Ioniq 5 and 6. But DC fast charging from 10% to 80% still takes only about 29 minutes, and battery preconditioning is included to keep winter sessions from dragging on.
At 4.16 meters, the Ioniq 3 is a compact hatchback, yet Hyundai claims 441 liters of luggage space. That is crossover territory, and it makes the car a genuine practical proposition rather than a style-over-substance city runabout.
Orders are open now. Showroom arrival is scheduled for October.
