Last week, Hyundai announced pricing for its Ioniq series of hybrid and electric cars. I reckoned that Toyota would have a heck of a fight on its hands if the Ioniq turned out to be as good on the road as it looked on paper. I've since driven the Ioniq in all three of its electrified flavors and can report that things are still looking pretty good for the Korean challenger to the hybrid throne.

Hyundai's Ioniq will eventually be offered in Hybrid, Plug-in Hybrid and fully Electric configurations. The compact hybrid hatchback has thrown every trick in the book at the problem of getting down the road just a bit more efficiently -- and for its efforts it's ended up with better stated fuel economy than its Prius rival.

The fully electric variant also proves to be a solid contender. The price and performance are right, but how much does that matter in the face of the Chevy Bolt's overwhelming range?

The Hybrid and the Plug-in Hybrid

The hybrid variant of the Ioniq is not a particularly powerful car, but it offers decent performance. Under the hood, you'll find a 1.6-liter Atkinson-cycle gasoline engine generating 104 horsepower and 109 pound-feet of torque. Joining the powertrain party is a 32-kW electric engine that makes 43 horsepower and 125 pound-feet of torque and draws its power from a 1.56 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Total system output for the Ioniq Hybrid is estimated at around 139 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque.

Interestingly, the Ioniq's hybrid powertrain uses a six-speed dual clutch transmission rather than the more-conventional continuously variable setup. This makes the hybrid feel more like a regular gasoline car on the road.

The Blue trim-level base sips fuel at a seriously impressive 58 combined mpg -- that's 57 mpg in the city and 59 mpg on the highway. Hyundai claims that weight savings, improved efficiency of the gasoline engine and a slippery low-drag body design help it to achieve this Prius-hunting fuel economy. The Blue is the lightweight of the lineup, but the SEL and Limited trim levels feature more equipment and, as a result, more mass and a slightly lower 55 combined mpg estimate.

Meanwhile, the Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid features an identical 1.6-liter gasoline engine and gearbox, but steps up to a significantly larger 8.9-kWh battery pack and a slightly more powerful 44.5-kW (60-horsepower) electric motor. The PHEV also gains a J1772 port that, when connected to a level 2 charger, allows the battery pack to be charged in just 2.25 hours. Hyundai claims that the bigger battery gives the PHEV an estimated full-electric range of 27 miles on a full charge, but I only managed 22.1 miles of cruising before the gasoline engine kicked in.

Both Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid models feature multi-link rear suspensions which make for decent handling. The steering reminds me of the Elantra -- that's not a huge surprise and no bad thing. I'm a fan of the Hyundai's responsive and non-fatiguing handling. There's not much difference in the on-road feel of the two hybrid models, likely due to the slightly more powerful e-motor on the plug-in making up for its additional curb weight and keeping that extra mass nice and low to the ground.

Hitting the road in all three 2017 Hyundai... See full gallery

Going fully Electric

The third member of the Ioniq family is the fully-electric Ioniq Electric. This model completely ditches the gasoline engine in favor of an 88 kW e-motor -- at 217 pound-feet of torque, it's the most powerful e-motor of the three Ioniq models. It's also got the biggest lithium ion battery pack at 28.0 kWh.

Hyundai says that the Ioniq Electric will cruise for 124 miles on a single charge of that battery pack, which will take 4 hours on a standard level 2 EV charger. (The automaker wouldn't give a charge time for 110V level 1 charging, stating that the included wall outlet trickle charger should only be used for emergencies.) The 124-mile range would be more impressive if Chevrolet hadn't just hit the road with the Bolt last month claiming 240 miles, but Hyundai's numbers are still respectable considering its car is a bit more affordable.

DC fast charging a standard feature on the Ioniq Electric -- a paid option on competitors like the Leaf and Bolt -- which allows the EV to rapidly juice to an 80-percent charge in just 30 minutes at a compatible station. Also interesting is the use of a compact combo charging port, which Hyundai says saves space relative to the CHAdeMO DC fast charging port.

The EV boasts very good amounts of instant torque when I needed to pass and smooth acceleration thanks to its single-speed transfer case -- the power is never interrupted by shifting. The larger battery pack takes up more room beneath the Ioniq's body, so Hyundai chose to equip the EV wit a more compact, but less sophisticated, torsion beam rear suspension rather than the same multilink that underpins the hybrids. Somehow, the EV managed to still feel composed enough on the twisty bit of wet road that I was able to test it on. Overall, I enjoyed my time behind the wheel of the Ioniq Electric.

Perhaps the weirdest element of the Ioniq Electric's on-road performance is use of paddle shifters on the steering wheel to adjust the amount of regenerative braking. There are four levels going from Level 0, which is almost none when lifting from the throttle pedal, to Level 3, which kicks in so much regenerative braking that you can practically drive the Ioniq with one pedal. In practice, it's actually very easy to get used to and feels more natural than the Chevrolet Bolt's weird full-regen paddle pull.

I finished my 30-mile leg in the Ioniq Electric with the trip computer reading an average of 5.2 miles per kilowatt-hour. Doing the math, that works out to about 175 miles per gasoline equivalent (mpge). That's significantly higher than the automaker's own estimate of 136 mpge, so I'm taking that estimate with a huge grain of salt until I can do further testing.

BlueLink talks to Alexa

All Ioniq models feature the same BlueLink infotainment system in the dashboard with standard Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity. The display is either a 7 or 8-inch touchscreen depending on whether you've chosen to add the optional onboard navigation.

Overall, the BlueLink software is quite good. It's simple and easy to understand, features smooth minimal animations and crisp graphics and generally stays out of its own way. If I have one complaint, it's that the USB port doesn't put out enough amperage to charge my phone when using Android Auto. I ended every trip with my phone's battery 10-20 percent lower than I'd started at. And yes, I know that's like the most millennial complaint ever.

This generation of the BlueLink hardware features an always-on data connection that allows the status of the Plug-in Hybrid and Electric models to be remotely monitored. Hyundai also uses this connection for in-car Wi-Fi hotspot, the bi-direction integration with Amazon Alexa and, soon, Google Home systems. Owners can ask Alexa for their Ioniq Electric's battery level before heading down to the garage or tell the service to turn off their web-connected appliances and lights while on the road.

The Ioniq is also available with a modest range of standard and optional driver aid technologies. Base models include a basic standard rear camera, but the SEL and Limited models gain standard blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alerts and optional packages that add automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and lane departure warning.

Other tech treats at the Limited with Ultimate Package trim level include a Qi wireless phone charging pad on the center console and an eight-speaker Infinity audio system.

Availability and pricing

The 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid should be arriving in dealerships now (February 2017), starting at $22,200 for the lowest trim, most efficient Blue model. The SEL model steps up to $23,950 before an optional $1,000 Tech package. And the top trim Limited model runs $27,500 before its optional $2,500 Ultimate package.

Though prototypes were available to drive, the Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid won't actually be available to buy until the fourth quarter of 2017. Pricing, packaging and even final fuel efficiency numbers have yet to be announced.

And the Electric model comes online in April 2017, but only in California for the foreseeable future. It will be offered in two trim levels: A base Electric trim for $29,500 and a better equipped Limited model for $32,500 before its optional $3,500 Ultimate package.

Add $835 to all Ioniq models to get the drive-away bottom line, but don't forget that the EV is eligible for up to $7,500 in Federal tax credits and a $2,500 California Clean Vehicle Rebate. With these credits, the Ioniq Electric could roll off of the lot for as low as $20,335. Not bad at all.

Two last interesting tidbits to consider are the warranty and Hyundai's experimental EV leasing program. All Ioniq models feature a lifetime warranty (non-transferable) on their lithium-ion battery packs, which lives alongside the 10-year powertrain warranty. Secondly, the automaker is experimenting with an "Ioniq Unlimited" leasing program that includes all maintenance and reimbursement for charging costs for 36 months and up to 50,000 miles final pricing for this program hasn't been announced, but we expect to hear more before the April launch window.

Editors' note: CNET accepts multi-day vehicle loans from manufacturers in order to provide scored editorial reviews. All scored vehicle reviews are completed on our turf and on our terms. However, for this feature, travel costs were covered by the manufacturer. This is common in the auto industry, as it's far more economical to ship journalists to cars than to ship cars to journalists. The judgements and opinions of CNET's editorial team are our own and we do not accept paid editorial content.