So, how do you help save the planet and look pretty cool doing it? If you said drive a new, all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 6, go to the top of the class, smarty pants.

Fascinating car this. Before the Ioniq 6 came along, Hyundai had a perfectly lovely EV called the Ioniq 5. Still has. Cool-looking too, albeit in a boxy, sharp-edge, folded-paper way.

So just because they could, Team Hyundai decided that to stand-out in the EV crowd, and grab more of the Tesla Model 3 sales action, it would go a little wild, design-wise.

So they took the cereal-box-on-wheels Ioniq 5 and added a completely new body inspired, seemingly, by a Dove bar of soap.

See it out on the street and it’s an absolute stunner. The way the roof cascades down to the rear, the way the waistline droops to meet a light bar of over 700 racy red and white LEDs, the smooth, soft, organic lines. Just gorgeous.

It’s a shape that’s futuristic and retro at the same time. It’s super-aerodynamic body reminds me of those old streamliner cars of the ’30s and ’40s. Yet it could also be an extra out of some futuristic Harrison Ford Blade Runner movie.

There’s also a ton of function that comes with all this form. Like being able to achieve up to a 361 miles on a charge.

And being one of the few EVs with standard 800-volt architecture, you can hook up to a 350kW DC ultra-fast charger and re-juice the battery from 10 per cent to 80 per cent in as little as 18 minutes.

There are four Ioniq 6 flavors to pick from – SE Standard, SE, SEL, and Limited with a slightly complex pick ‘n mix of power options. All but the SE Standard get a beefy 77.4 kWh battery pack, with a choice of single or dual motors, and ranges from 240 miles to 361. You’ll need to study.

But the big news here is Hyundai’s announcement a couple of weeks ago, that it was chopping the prices of its 2024 Ioniq 6 models.

It includes a $4,000 price drop on the entry SE Standard, which now starts at Tesla Model 3-rivaling $38,615. Most other models see a price cut of between $2,450 and $3,050. Did anyone say “Blue Light Special”?

I’ve just spent an electrifying week piloting the flagship Ioniq 6 Limited Dual Motor AWD that’ll come with a $54,765 sticker for the 2024 model year.

Fully charged, the digital dash display was showing a range of 270 miles, while the dual motor set-up was offering-up a combined 320 hp of available power. Let’s go.

As we’ve come to expect from EVs that aren’t golf carts, acceleration is rock-out-of-a-catapult zippy. And the Ioniq 6 is no exception. Red light to green, and you’ll see 0-to-60 mph sprinting in a whisker over five seconds.

But what impressed me the most about the way the Hyundai whooshed down the street, was it’s astonishing refinement. This thing makes Marcel Marceau sound like a loud mouth. Sleeping kittens make more of a racket.

Normally with an EV you hear plenty of wind noise, or tire roar, or the whine of the electric motors. The Ioniq 6 is just spookily quiet.

And it’s a blast to drive. With that battery pack mounted low, the center of gravity is down somewhere in Australia. Add to that grippy 20-inch Pirelli P-Zero rubber at each corner, and precise, nicely-weighted steering, and it carves curves as if running on invisible rails.

While the cabin isn’t as futuristic as the exterior, it’s a cool place to hang out. The showstopper here is the rear seat space, which is positively limo-like. The amount of legroom is just remarkable. Less generous is the so-so trunk space.

This new Ioniq 6 is, without doubt, one of the best electric cars out there right now, and arguably the best-looking. It’s bold, it’s brave, and has a terrific EV powertrain. It’s the Model 3 Tesla’s biggest challenge yet.