Hyundai Ioniq 5 Review

Familiarity and time dull a car’s styling – what looked out-of-this-world on a motor show stage soon becomes regular traffic. But the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is different: even a few years after it launched, it still looks so different to anything else. Get it in silver and there are definite DeLorean vibes about it.

Doc Brown never had this much technology, though. The Ioniq 5 boasts some of the fastest charging times of any EV and can even charge other small electricals – so you could power a coffee machine or a camping fridge from the car. Whether you’ll ever do so is another matter, but it’s nice that it’s there.

Also available are cameras instead of wing mirrors (avoid this option – the aerodynamic benefits aren't worth the useability trade-offs), Level 2 semi-autonomous driving capability (even at 88mph), self-parking tech, smart regenerative braking and wireless phone charging. They certainly didn’t need that in 1985.

All this technology is packaged in a way that’s quite easy to use, in an interior full of different textures and materials. It manages to feel airy and cosy at the same time, with soft upholstery and some extra space that’s facilitated by its EV-specific platform – there’s no centre console in the front and there’s a flat floor in the rear.

Entry-level Ioniq 5 models manage 238 miles to a charge, but most Ioniq 5s have a larger battery that offers 300 miles or more. Not enough to let you drive to the other end of the country without charging, but plenty for daily journeys and the odd long trip – especially given how fast it can charge.

So it has tech from the future, styling inspired by the past and as much range as most of its rivals at present. You could feasibly expect to have to spend a lot of money on it, but early cars are now under £20,000, with big-battery Ioniq 5s not too much more. What are you waiting for? Go go go!

A lot of the Ioniq 5’s futuristic feel comes from its interior, which brings state-of-the-art tech and lovely materials. Certainly, if you’ve not experienced a Hyundai in recent years, you’re going to be in for a pleasant surprise.

The screens and controls are encased in a pod that juts out towards you, giving an uncluttered and organised feel. And, with the gear selector switch poking out from the side of the steering wheel, there’s nothing in the middle of the car – instead there’s a space between the seats and a sliding centre storage console.

Touch panels are used for the steering wheel and climate controls, which look smart but aren’t quite as easy to use as pressable buttons. Hyundai has kept proper buttons for the infotainment system shortcut keys, however.

They help to make an already user-friendly infotainment system even easier to operate. The screen's home menu is laid out in a grid of tiles and it doesn’t take long to find what you’re looking for. Similarly, the digital instrument cluster is clear and concise.

While there are some cheaper materials lower down – good for wiping clean if you’ve sullied the interior with dirty boots – the touchpoints all impress. The switches feel solid, most cars have sumptuous leather upholstery and everything’s screwed together well.

Opening the Ioniq 5 range is the SE Connect trim, which arrived later than other editions. Even so, you get the two 12.3-inch screens – with built-in sat nav and phone mirroring – as well as two-zone air con, 19-inch alloy wheels and a whole host of driver assistance features.

SE Connect was then replaced by the Advance trim, which gained a couple more bits of kit, such as a standard-fit heat pump for better cold-weather efficiency.

Mid-range Premium trim adds heated seats, a heated steering wheel – both good additions as they use less energy than the climate control system – plus an electric bootlid and extra driver assistance tech. Then there’s the comprehensively equipped Ultimate trim, with heated outer rear seats, cooled front seats, a Bose sound system, a head-up display and the Vehicle-to-Load function that can charge other electricals.

More recent additions are N Line and N Line S, which take the kit from Premium and Ultimate respectively, wrapped up in a marginally more sculpted body kit.

You’ll know this if you’ve seen an Ioniq 5 up close, but in the metal they’re much bigger than they look in photos. It’s like a Ford Focus that’s been blown up to 120% scale. The result is that the Ioniq 5 is a very practical car, with plenty of space for a family of four.

Hyundai has also made great use of the Ioniq 5’s underpinnings, with the wheels pushed right out to the corners to maximise interior space. Wherever you’re sitting, you’ll enjoy acres of legroom and plenty of headroom. Even someone sitting in the middle seat has enough space, thanks to a fairly flat rear bench and a completely flat floor beneath their feet.

Sliding rear seats allow you to free up a bit more luggage space, but we doubt you’ll need to do it too often. Open the bootlid and you’re met with a 520-litre space that matches a host of midsize SUVs, even if it’s a bit short of what you get in the Skoda Enyaq or the hybrid Hyundai Tucson.

The space is long and wide, but quite shallow, so you might struggle to pile items high. The upshot of that is that there’s no load lip to overcome. You don’t have to keep the charging cable in the boot if you don’t want to, either, because there’s an additional 57-litre space under the bonnet.

Back inside, the glovebox is a good size and there’s enough space in the centre console storage zone for a rucksack. And the shelf by the infotainment system looks perfect for a fast food meal. Just clean the grease off afterwards, you animal.

Anything bad? Well, the door bins aren’t really the right shape for drinks bottles or coffee cups, while the useful-looking cubby below the dashboard is a bit far away to comfortably reach. Annoying if you’ve got a packet of Starburst on the go. Oh, and many Ioniq 5s don’t have a rear wiper, so as soon as the roads get grimy you’ll have next to zero rear visibility. Post-2023 versions add a digital rear-view mirror, which is fine so long as the camera doesn’t get dirty…

Don’t get carried away with thinking that this spaceship will manage 2,000 miles on a charge. The Ioniq 5 offers competitive range figures which’ll be plenty for all but the longest-distance drivers.

Small-battery 58kWh versions return 238 miles on a full charge (expect 200 in the real world), which increases to 273 miles with the 63kWh battery that replaced it. Earlier big-battery cars came with a 73kWh lump that enables a range of between 260 and 300 miles, depending on spec and whether the car is driven by two wheels or four. Newer 84kWh cars promise up to 354 miles, which is very good – although it’s worth asking yourself if you need that extra range, because 73kWh cars will be cheaper (and small-battery cars are cheaper again).

Where the Hyundai is ahead of the opposition is in its charging tech. The Ioniq 5 supports both 400v and 800v charging infrastructure, and can plug in to the very fastest chargers you’ll find in the UK. A 10-80% top-up takes just 18 minutes, with a five-minute stop adding up to 62 miles.

Powering the wheels are a choice of motors – 170hp with the smaller battery, or 228hp with the big battery and two-wheel drive. Accelerate flatout from 0-62mph and it’ll take 8.5 seconds for the former and 7.5 for the latter. But go for the all-wheel-drive model and Hyundai clips on an extra motor, for a total output of 325hp and a 0-62mph time of 5.3 seconds. That’s Tesla fast.

Actually, we can’t talk about power without mentioning the Ioniq 5 N. It’ll get its own review soon, but the headline figures make a good appetiser. We’re talking 650hp, a whipcrack 0-62mph time of just 3.4 seconds. And simulated drift modes, gearchanges, exhaust noise and launch control. It's a riot, and one of the most entertaining cars of recent years – even eclipsing plenty of petrol wannabes in the fun stakes.

We’d argue that the Ioniq 5 drives as nicely as it looks. It’s not a sports car, but its acceleration is linear and smooth, and its priority is comfort over sportiness.

Most impacts and bumps are smoothed off and it’s generally very comfortable. Long journeys are relaxing and refined. Turn off onto a barely maintained road and you’ll be bounced around a little, and it can sometimes become a little unsettled if you hit a nasty pothole mid-corner – with the dampers taking a couple of attempts to bring everything back under control.

Like most electric cars, the Ioniq 5 is heavy, and its suspension has to be slightly firmed up to take the brunt. Most of the time the weight is masked well, because it’s all in the floor of the car, so it corners relatively flat and without a lot of body roll.

The light steering is a good match for the car’s calm character, dissuading you from driving like a wally. On country roads the Ioniq 5 feels wide, which might also make you take it easy.

With highly tuned traction control, even the standard rear-drive versions have bundles of grip – we wouldn’t feel it necessary to upgrade to the all-wheel-drive Ioniq 5 unless you want the faster acceleration it offers.

You can disregard most of that for the Ioniq 5 N. The most convincing electric hot hatch yet – some going when it’s really a 2.3-tonne crossover. It brings much firmer suspension, bespoke tyres and kerb-unfriendly 21-inch wheels, plus 650hp and a host of engaging drive modes and gimmicks to play with. What’s most impressive is how natural everything feels – the gearchanges and exhaust note both feel in keeping with a petrol car, giving the Ioniq 5 N the petrolhead engagement that most electric cars can’t offer.