No one could accuse Hyundai of dragging its heels on electric vehicles. While some of its legacy rivals have been a little slow to embrace EVs, the South Korean brand continues to grow its fleet of battery-powered cars at an impressive rate, and it’s already working on at least two more.

One of these all-new EVs will be the Hyundai Ioniq 7. For quite some time, the brand’s flagship electric SUV and compatriot to the Kia EV9 was referred to as the Ioniq 7, but it ended up launching as the Ioniq 9. Wearing the Ioniq 7 name will be a new SUV positioned between the Ioniq 5 and the Ioniq 9.

Read: Hyundai Strips The New Ioniq 3 Down To Its Cleaner, Cheaper Self

Like most other EVs from Hyundai, the Ioniq 7 should launch with an 800-volt electrical architecture and be sold in both single- and dual-electric motor configurations. Although prototypes have yet to be seen testing out in the wild, AutoExpress understands this model will be closer in size to the Ioniq 5 than the Ioniq 9.

An Elexio Alternative

If so, then it may end up being similar in size to the Chinese-built Elexio, which we drove earlier this year. If that’s the case, the Ioniq 7 may inevitably snatch some sales from the Elexio in markets where both are sold. Crucially, Hyundai’s ‘Ioniq’ branded models are positioned as slightly more premium offerings, helping to differentiate the two. In addition, the Elexio uses a 400-volt system and front-wheel drive, so the Ioniq 7 will have it beat on the powertrain front, too.

A Kia EV3-Sized SUV Is Also Coming

Hyundai isn’t just working on the long-awaited Ioniq 7. The company is also developing a smaller EV that may be badged the Ioniq 4. It’s expected to be similar in size to the new Ioniq 3 hatchback, but unlike that model, it will be a slightly more conventional SUV and similar to the Kia EV3.

In morphing the Ioniq 3 into an SUV, Hyundai’s designers are believed to have given it a boxier, more upright design, so it may hold slightly broader appeal than the somewhat odd Ioniq 3. In addition, it’ll offer more interior space than the Ioniq 3, so it should be better for young families.

Hyundai will probably use the same battery packs and electric motors as the Ioniq 3 in the new Ioniq 4, meaning 42 kWh and 61 kWh batteries will be available.

Hyundai has an all-new generation of interiors, introduced first on the Grandeur in Korea and since carried over to the Ioniq 3, Avante/Elantra, and Tucson. Every one of them is built around Pleos Connect, a large central infotainment screen that borrows its layout and its logic from Tesla, and there is no shortage of processing power behind the glass. On the cheaper trims, though, one piece of hardware got left off the list.

It has now emerged that the new 2027 Avante/Elantra, which just launched in Korea, and the global-market Ioniq 3 go without a digital instrument cluster in front of the driver in base trims, an item which has been standard-fit on most of Hyundai’s current-generation cars.

A Cluster You Have To Pay For

According to Motor1, Korean buyers can add a slim 9.9-inch cluster to the Avante, though it costs 350,000 won (US$255). No such option box appears to exist for base Ioniq 3 models, leaving owners to read everything off the central touchscreen. The Ioniq 3 also goes without a head-up display, exactly like a Tesla Model 3 or Model Y. In the UK, the entry-level £22,245 (about $30,000) Ioniq 3 Advanced arrives without the cluster, while the £25,595 (roughly $34,500) Premium trim and above include it.

Read: Hyundai’s Radical New Tucson Makes The RAV4 Look Half-Asleep

It’s hardly a secret that screens are the cheaper option for manufacturers. A panel of glass and the software behind it costs less than the gauges, bezels, wiring, and physical switchgear it replaces, which explains why the industry has moved this way with so little resistance. Cost is not the whole story, though. Buyers have been asking for this kind of interface, the tablet-style layout with app menus and over-the-air updates, and Hyundai’s new setup answers that request.

Hyundai Should Know Better

Even so, it’s pretty poor form from Hyundai to make such a small screen an optional extra, rather than fitting it as standard equipment. The display includes important functions like speed, speed-limit signs, range figures, and efficiency details. We’ve yet to try out the new Pleos system, but having to glance over to the infotainment display to check your speed is a bit of a nuisance.  

The new Elantra and Tucson will be the first Hyundai models sold in the US with the Pleos Connect system next year. Here’s hoping we get slightly more well-equipped versions that include the cluster screen as standard equipment.