Hyundai Ioniq 5 review

Make and model: Hyundai Ioniq 5 Premium
Description: Mid-sized hatchback, electric motor
Price range: £45,900 (plus options)

Hyundai says: “The Ioniq 5 doesn’t just herald a new era for electric vehicle design, but for performance and capability.”

We say: The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is one of the best new EVs you can buy. It’s quiet and smooth to drive, while the sharp styling is still a stand-out feature.

• Hyundai Ioniq 5 (2021 onwards) – Expert Rating
• More Hyundai new car reviews, Expert Ratings, news and features

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Introduction

There’s a lot of noise in the media about Chinese EVs at the moment, but it’s the Korean car brands that are currently leading the way in broadening the electric marketplace with a range of market-leading models. And although Hyundai had offered worthy models for several years, it was the launch of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 in 2021 (followed by its closely related cousin, the Kia EV6) that pushed the Hyundai group – which also includes premium brand Genesis – to the front of the pack.

It’s been three years since the Ioniq 5 was launched and it’s mid-life facelift is imminent, but it remains one of the highest-rated new cars on sale according to our award-winning Expert Rating Index. Media reviews have been positive, while it also scores top marks for its safety rating and low running costs.

So what makes the Ioniq 5 so popular with media reviewers? We spent a week with a middle-of-the-range Ioniq 5 to find out.

What is it?

As with many electric models, pigeon-holing the Hyundai Ioniq 5 in comparison to conventional petrol or diesel cars is a bit tricky because the packaging of an electric vehicle is laid out differently. Instead of an engine, gearbox, fuel tank and exhaust, we have a compact electric motor but a bulky battery.

Size-wise, it’s slightly shorter than a BMW 3 Series or Audi A4 overall, but the wheelbase (the length between the front and rear wheels) is much longer and the overhangs (in front of the front wheels and behind the rear wheels) are shorter. That means you have significantly more cabin space, allowing five adults to travel comfortably.

You sit a bit higher than you would in a conventional saloon or hatchback – almost as high as SUV or crossover family cars.

So it’s a mid-sized car with the cabin space of a bigger car. You sit higher than a normal car but not as high as an SUV. It’s available in either rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive versions, with a range of trim and performance levels. And it’s getting a light mid-life upgrade in the second half of 2024 – nothing dramatic, but the usual minor exterior redesigns and trim changes, plus improved battery capacities for slightly longer driving range.

Who is this car aimed at?

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is right in the middle of the EV family car market, pitched against a growing number of rivals from almost every major car manufacturer.

Underneath its retro-futuristic surface, the Ioniq 5 is closely related to the Kia EV6 and Genesis GV60; all are about the same size and share most of their hardware. It’s no coincidence that all three brands are part of the same family – the Hyundai and Kia are almost direct rivals in the mainstream family market, while the Genesis is aimed a more premium audience.

Who won’t like it?

The majority of people who won’t like the Ioniq 5 are the sort of customers who are unlikely to even consider it.

With any electric car, you’ll get people who are simply not interested. That’s unfortunate, as most of the anxieties car buyers have about electric cars are more perception than reality. It’s slowly changing over time, but there remains a large minority of car buyers who claim that they will ‘never’ drive an electric car.

In addition, there will be people who won’t be able to come around to the idea of paying £45K for a Hyundai, regardless of the powertrain. They’re likely to prefer a £45K petrol Audi/BMW/Mercedes and that’s that.

First impressions

It’s been around for three years already, but the Ioniq 5 is still one of the most distinctively styled new cars on sale. It’s also bigger than it looks, being basically crossover-size without the butch SUV styling.

Hyundai and Kia have taken huge steps in their design over the last decade, with bold vehicles that chart their own styling direction, rather than looking like cheap knock-offs of European models. The Ioniq 5 has been a statement car for Hyundai, with its sharp, retro-futuristic lines combined with EV proportioning.

The 1980s-inspired detailing is done beautifully, being distinctive without kitsch, although one wonders how well it will age as the current Eighties pop-culture revival fades.

Inside, the first impression is one of spaciousness. Being an EV, the space between driver and passenger is very open (there’s no automatic or manual gearbox that normally fills the space), so you have plenty of room for storage – and on certain trim levels, a centre console that can slide forwards and backwards.

The dashboard layout is an exercise in minimalism, which looks wonderful but does have practical weaknesses that we’ll come to a bit later.

What do you get for your money?

Once we’ve got the first impressions out of the way, it’s time to look a bit harder at exactly what you’re getting for your money with the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

As this is being written, the Ioniq 5 is about to get a mid-life update here in the UK. Visually, you won’t notice a lot of difference although there will be a new N Line trim that looks sportier. There will be slightly redesigned bumpers and new alloy wheel designs, along with a couple of new colours.

Mechanically, the most important part of the update is that the Ioniq 5 will get slightly bigger batteries (the smaller goes from 58kWh to 63kWh, while the larger grows from 77kWh to 84kWh) for better driving range, along with standard heat pumps and pre-conditioning systems. We’ll cover those below.

From launch, there have been three trim levels for the Ioniq 5 – SE Connect, Premium and Ultimate – as well as a special edition Namsan Edition last year. As part of the mid-life update, SE Connect becomes Advanced, while N Line and N Line S trims have been added to the range.

Trying to decide which is the best model for your needs means working your way through a matrix of five trim levels, three levels of electric motor performance, two battery sizes and two drive options (rear wheels only or all four wheels). For example, lower-spec Advance and Premium models are only available in rear-wheel drive, with either of the two batteries (and which come with different power outputs), while N-Line and Premium models are only available with the larger battery, but with a choice of rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, which again are linked to different motor outputs.

Pricing starts at £40K, which gets you an Advance-spec car with the smaller battery and rear-wheel drive, and runs up to £56K for an N Line S model with the larger battery and all-wheel drive.

If you’re looking at a used pre-facelift Ioniq 5, there’s a different trim and specification matrix to consider. For example, we drove a Premium-spec car with all-wheel drive and a 325hp motor – which is no longer available in the facelifted range.

Overall trim levels are good across the board. We’re not going to get into the detail here because there are too many variations to cover. It’s all a bit confusing and feels unnecessary – Tesla manages to sell plenty of Model 3 and Model Y electric cars with a very limited number of choices…

Spend some time looking at the spec sheet or used car listings to make sure any model you’re thinking about has all the key features you want before making a decision.

We like: Facelift models get battery conditioning and heat pumps as standard (previously optional)
We don’t like: Too many combinations of performance, battery, specification and driving wheels

What’s the Hyundai Ioniq 5 like inside?

If you’re stepping into the Hyundai Ioniq 5 from a similarly sized petrol or diesel car, the biggest difference you’ll notice is the abundance of space in every direction. Combined with a minimalist approach to the controls – most things are managed from the central touchscreen – it gives the cabin a very open feel.

The battery is laid out like a big pancake under the floor, which means you sit higher than a conventional car – more or less a similar position to most SUV or crossover family cars. The motor takes up much less space than an engine and gearbox, freeing up a lot of room in the front of the cabin.

A lack of gearbox means no wall between the driver and passenger, and the footwell area is also largely open. The centre space is used for a storage console that can also be slid forwards or backwards depending on how you want the space to be arranged. The drive selector is located on the steering column, freeing up even more useful space in the centre console. With the console pushed back, the driver can exit from the passenger side relatively easily to help in tight parking situations.

Rear-seat passengers also benefit, with plenty of legroom and no central tunnel for the middle passenge to straddle. In fact, Hyundai claims the cabin is similar in size to what you’d usually find in the next category up (so the space of an Audi A6 or BMW 5 Series in a car the size of an Audi A4 or BMW 3 Series). The rear seats also slide forwards and backwards to let you choose between more legroom or more boot space. Head room is good, and better than its Kia EV6 sibling.

The seats are comfy and sofa-like, rather than heavily bolstered in the typical German fashion. We found them comfortable enough for a couple of hours, but seating is always a personal preference so you should test drive yourself before making any buying decision. We also wish the steering wheel had just a bit more reach adjustment so you could pull it out further.

Boot space is good at just under 530 litres, with the hatchback shape providing more space and better accessibility than a saloon but not as much as an estate or SUV. There’s a hidden tray under the boot floor as well as a small frunk (front trunk) for additional storage space, either of which are a good place to keep your charging cables but not much more.

The dashboard is dominated by a pair of 12-inch wide screens mounted side by side. The driver’s screen replaces traditional gauges, while the central screen is a touchscreen for controlling almost all the car’s functions. There’s also a row of buttons for key functions under the screen (although no overall ‘home’ button, annoyingly), and dedicated air-conditioning controls.

The driver’s screen is generally good, although some of the screen is blocked by the steering wheel. The fonts are also fairly small and difficult to read, so we’d prefer to see less information and larger fonts. Most car manufacturers tend to do the same thing – presumably it looks good in the design studio, but it’s not always easy to read on the move. At least the key speed information is large and smack in the middle of the screen.

The central touchscreen is clear and easy to read, although all the usual caveats about trying to operate touchscreens on the move apply here as they do in any car – it’s simply not as easy or safe as physical buttons. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both standard, although in wired form only so your phone has to be plugged into a USB port in the front footwell at all times.

Some models offer the option of digital wing cameras instead of traditional mirrors, but these tend to prove divisive among reviewers. Our car didn’t have them so we can’t offer an opinion.

Finally, the facelifted models will get a rear windscreen wiper. For whatever reason, the original versions don’t have this and the rear window gets dirty quite easily.

We like: Abundance of space in well-laid out interior
We don’t like: Frunk is too small to be really useful, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto not wireless

What’s the Hyundai Ioniq 5 like to drive?

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is definitely configured for comfort rather than handling, which is likely to be just fine for most families.

The Ioniq 5 is a heavy car, thanks to the battery pack, but this is placed along the bottom of the car so it keeps the centre of gravity low, helping to reduce roll in cornering. However, it does make the ride feel lumpy on poor quality roads and over potholes or speed humps. To be fair, that’s also the case on most executive saloons or SUVs with ‘sports packs’ or large alloy wheels. A back-to-back comparison with our usual family car, a Volvo V60 estate with R-Design sports suspension and 19-inch wheels, resulted in the Hyundai feeling more comfortable for both front and rear occupants.

Assuming that you’re happy to keep your driving within the confines of the speed limits on any given road, the Ioniq 5 is generally a very comfortable car to drive. There are three driving modes – eco (which is default on start-up), normal and sport – plus a snow mode if it gets icy.

Acceleration will very much depend on which model you’re driving. The entry-level SE Connect only offers about 170hp, which is fine for urban driving but will feel a little underdone when overtaking on a country road with four people and luggage on board. The 228hp motor will be fine for most people, while the 325hp twin-motor set-up with all-wheel drive offers strong performance in every situation.

Our car was the 325hp version. Immediate response is very strong, especially in normal or sport modes where the accelerator pedal is more sensitive. Fortunately, there’s none of the queasiness that you get from flooring the throttle in a Tesla, which will keep your passengers happy (and your upholstery clean).

We spent most of the week in eco mode, which requires pressing harder on the accelerator to get a response but is good for normal day-to-day driving. Sport mode, on the other hand, felt mostly unnecessary. Having tried it once, we immediately switched back to normal mode and never felt the need to try it again.

Steering is very light, as it is in most modern cars, but nicely direct so you don’t have to turn the wheel endlessly like you do in many older cars. That doesn’t mean the car likes changing direction suddenly, however, so it’s not really a car for enthusiastic driving. It’s definitely more suited to cruising than hustling.

Braking feel is well judged, which is not always the case in electric cars. In lighter braking applications, the car doesn’t actually use the brake pads to slow down – the electric motor does that instead. This is used to generate electricity to eke out a few more miles of battery range (and reduces brake pad wear significantly), but on some EVs it makes the brakes feel a bit unnatural when you stand harder on the pedal and the brake pads are called in to slow the car more rapidly. Pleasingly, the Ioniq 5 doesn’t suffer from this at all, so the brakes feel perfectly normal.

We like: Comfortable ride in most situations
We don’t like: Sport mode likely to be fairly irrelevant for most people, ride crashes over speed bumps and potholes

How safe is the Hyundai Ioniq 5?

It’s all good news on the safety front. Euro NCAP tested the Ioniq 5 in 2021 and awarded it a five-star rating, and that score is still valid today. On top of that, all the safety kit is included as standard rather than costing extra. That means top marks from us.

It scored well in all the crash tests, with good protection for both adults and children in the event of a collision. There are ISOFIX child seat mounting points in both outer rear seats, but not in the middle or in the front passenger seat.

In terms of avoiding an accident in the first place, the Ioniq 5 also performs well. Although autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems are now compulsory on all new cars in Europe, the level of performance varies. The Hyundai scored well in all of these tests.

Accident avoidance systems – like advanced cruise control, blind-spot assist, lane-keeping assist and so on – are standard on all models, which is something we particularly like to see. They all work well, without trying to pull the car in different directions like you get on some other vehicles.

Hyundai Ioniq 5 economy, battery range and charging

The Car Expert’s unique Expert Rating Index pulls running cost data from across the entire new car market, and the Ioniq 5 performs very well here, scoring an A-grade from us overall.

One of the most important factors for an EV is its electrical efficiency – the equivalent of fuel economy for a petrol or diesel car. The Ioniq 5 scores a C-grade here, which is fairly middling. The lower-performance, rear-wheel drive models are better as they use less electricity, although they tend to come with smaller batteries so you don’t really get longer range.

Official driving range figures vary from 238 miles with the smallest 58kWh battery to 320 miles on the largest 80kWh battery. Call it 200 miles to 300 miles and you’ll be pretty safe. All-wheel drive models lose about 13 miles of range compared to the rear-wheel drive versions, which isn’t much of a penalty given the additional performance on offer.

Standard on all facelift models is a battery heating system with pre-conditioning and heat pump, which provides better battery efficiency in all temperatures. This was introduced last year on the original model and it’s worth looking out for if you’re buying a used Ioniq 5.

When you want to charge up, the news is good. With a maximum 350kW charging rate, the Ioniq 5 can support the fastest chargers currently available in the UK. However, these chargers are currently rare and are more expensive to use than other chargers, so it’s not a big deal at the moment. But once more of them start rolling out, this will become a more useful advantage over many other EVs.

The charging flap is located on the right-rear corner of the car, which means you will probably need to reverse into most public charging bays to connect the cable. The Ioniq 5 comes with two charging cables; a 5.0-metre Type 2 cable for wallbox or fast chargers, and a 6.5-metre Type 3 cable for plugging into a regular three-point plug. This last-mentioned cable is not recommended for regular use, however, as it would take you more than a whole day to charge any of the batteries on offer…

Verdict

It’s more than three years old now, but the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is still one of the best new EVs you can buy. It’s no surprise that it’s one of the highest-rated cars in our Expert Rating Index, with excellent scores for safety, running costs and obviously zero exhaust emissions.

The new car warranty on the Ioniq 5 is good as well, covering you for five years with unlimited miles. The battery is covered for eight years, although with a 100,000 mile limit. This is one area where the Kia EV6 is better, as it comes with a seven-year new car warranty.

The Hyundai is whisper-quiet, smooth and relaxing to drive. The sharp styling is still a stand-out feature and looks like nothing else on the road without being wacky. The tech is good and everything works well, so your EV learning curve should be relatively short.

Charging is pretty much future-proof, as you’ll be able to take advantage of the growing number of ultra-rapid charging points across the UK in coming years.

We drove the Kia EV6 recently and raved about it. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is every bit as good, and in many ways even better. Underneath, the two cars are very similar so your preference will likely be dictated by styling, specific key features on the model you’re looking at, and any deals on offer. Overall, we’d say the Ioniq 5 is a better family car thanks to its comfier seats, better rear headroom for adults and larger boot. But it’s a narrow victory and will depend on your priorities.

Right now is a good time to buy either a new or used EV, as prices are much better than they have been previously and there are good deals around as well. If you’re looking at changing your car and are in the market for a new or near-new EV, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is one of the finest around.

• Hyundai Ioniq 5 (2021 onwards) – Expert Rating
• More Hyundai new car reviews, Expert Ratings, news and features

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If you’re looking at the Hyundai Ioniq 5, you might also be interested in these alternatives.

Audi Q4 e-tron | BMW iX3 | Ford Mustang Mach-E | Kia EV6 | Mercedes-Benz EQA | Nissan Ariya | Polestar 2 | Skoda Enyaq iV | Tesla Model Y | Volkswagen ID.4 | Volvo EX40

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