Price: £23,595
Engine: 1.6-litre petrol, plus 32kW electric motor
Power: 139bhp
0-62mph: 10.8 seconds
Top speed: 115mph
MPG: 83.1
CO2: 79g/km
Hannah leans over and sprays me in the face with a concoction she calls Seaside Smell. Shortly afterwards she cranks up some heavy metal on the stereo and then pops a very sour sweet into my mouth… Passengers can be such an aggravating bunch. But Hannah is, in fact, doing all this in the name of science.
Some vehicles are already fitted with clever technology that will monitor your head and eye movements for signs of drowsiness. If it thinks you are getting sleepy it will recommend you take a break – which could be a life-saving intervention. Now imagine a car that could also sense if you were angry or frustrated, bored or distracted, and then take action to make your journey more pleasant by, say, giving you a seat massage or filling the cabin with the smell of cut grass. That’s exactly what Hyundai is attempting to do with its Driving Emotion Test.
The experiment is being overseen by Patrick Fagan, an expert in behavioural psychology from Goldsmiths, University of London. He’s wired me up to a heart monitor and galvanic skin response recorder. On the dashboard is a camera fitted with eye-tracking and facial-coding software. There are wires and gadgets everywhere. It feels very Matrix.
After taking the test, Patrick crunched the data and told me I had average “emotional intelligence” as a driver. He also said I showed signs of being “inconsiderate on the road” and suffered from “cognitive overload”. That’s rather rude, I thought. I like to think of myself as an unselfish driver. Still, help was at hand. Patrick advised me that I’d be best to “drive alone” and that “eating chocolate” at the wheel would keep me calm.
Sadly, the car that will pop a Minstrel in your mouth when it detects signs of road rage has yet to be invented, so to cheer me up after my poor showing in the test, Hyundai offer me a drive in their new Ioniq.
It’s their latest hybrid and the first car in the world to offer three electrified powertrains in one model: hybrid, full electric and plug-in hybrid all encased in a very pleasant and competent family saloon. Being “inconsiderate”, I was all set to get even and give it a kicking but, sadly, it’s a perfectly decent car. Efficient, comfortable and very smooth around town. Its biggest selling point, however, will be its price. It undercuts Toyota’s Prius by a chunk.
As I swooshed along in silence in the Ioniq, I thought to myself, all I need now is a little bit of chocolate. Hyundai clearly knows me better than I realised…
Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @MartinLove166
