Ioniq was built on a special chassis, which was created specifically to host three ultra-low emission powertrains. 53% of its entire construction consists of Advanced High Strength Steel, while other parts, the non-structural bodywork – such as such as the hood, tailgate and suspension components – were cast from aluminum, thus saving over 12.5 kg of weight. To achieve highly responsive, stable cornering and handling prowess, engineers created a low center of gravity by positioning the car's batteries low and forward.

As stated before, buyers will be able to choose between electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid powertrains, however, during the presentation in Namyang, the company only revealed the hybrid version of the car. The basis of the car is formed by a new 105-horsepower 1.6-liter Kappa GDi engine, which was developed exclusively for Hyundai Motor's hybrid engines.

It will run together with a 45 horsepower electric motor. Within the engine, the constructors managed to reach a thermal efficiency of 40%. The head and block were split in order to optimize cooling, while the amounts of fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions were reduced by injecting fuel at 200 bar high pressure via 6-hole direct fuel injector. The electric motor draws juice from the Lithium-Ion battery and the Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT), optimized especially for hybrid powertrains, provides class-leading power transmission efficiency.