Hyundai Ioniq 5 review

Category: Electric car

Fast, good to drive and roomy – a thoroughly recommendable electric car

Hyundai Ioniq 5 2023 front
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 2023 front
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 rear cornering
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior dashboard
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior rear seats
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior infotainment
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 right tracking
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 right tracking
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 wheel detail
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 headlight detail
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 rear light detail
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 badge detail
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 charging socket
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior front seats
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior dashboard
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior buttons
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior detail
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior detail
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 boot open
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 front boot open
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 2023 front
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 rear cornering
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior dashboard
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior rear seats
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior infotainment
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 right tracking
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 right tracking
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 wheel detail
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 headlight detail
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 rear light detail
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 badge detail
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 charging socket
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior front seats
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior dashboard
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior buttons
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior detail
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior detail
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 boot open
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 front boot open
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by
Neil Winn
Updated16 December 2022

Introduction

What Car? says...

If you've only seen the Hyundai Ioniq 5 in photographs, you might assume that it's a family hatchback, but that's where looks can be deceiving – it's actually a really big electric SUV.

Indeed, at 4.6 metres long and 1.6 metres tall, the Ioniq 5 is almost as big as an Audi Q5. In fact, the three-metre distance between the front and rear axles is the same as you’ll find in the A8 limo, and gives passengers a remarkable amount of space.

Hyundai gives you lots of choice within the Ioniq 5 range, and you can pick between two battery sizes and rear or four-wheel drive. Likewise, there are three trim tiers, along with several optional extras designed to take the stresses out of electric car ownership (and life in general).

It's not a budget option, but it does promise a respectable range between charges. It can charge up again really quickly, too.

Few would argue that the Hyundai Ioniq 5 doesn't look the part, but is it a good electric car in more objective terms? What's it like to drive? Is is good value for money? Read on and we'll tell you everything you need to know.

We'll also rate it against the main rivals, which include the Genesis GV60Kia EV6Skoda Enyaq iV, Tesla Model Y and VW ID.4.

Whichever model of car you ultimately decide to buy, remember we can help you find it for the lowest price if you search our free What Car? New Car Deals pages. They have lots of the best new electric car deals.

Overview

The Ioniq 5 combines standout looks with a good range, peaceful cruising manners and a spacious and practical interior. The best value is represented at the bottom of the range in the form of the rear-wheel drive model with the larger battery (RWD 228PS) in Premium trim. In this specification it undercuts the closely related Genesis GV60 and Kia EV6.

  • Very quiet on the move – as long as you avoid 20in alloys
  • Super-fast charging speeds
  • Enormously spacious interior
  • Not as quiet as the Genesis GV60 at a cruise
  • Not as sharp to drive as the EV6
  • Interior quality could be better
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Our Pick

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Hyundai Ioniq-5 168kW Premium 77 kWh 5dr Auto [Part Leather]
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Performance & drive

What it’s like to drive, and how quiet it is

Engine, 0-60mph and gearbox

The entry-level Hyundai Ioniq 5 is called the RWD 170. It's fitted with a 54kWh (usable capacity) battery and a 168bhp motor, which drives the rear wheels and gives the car a 0-62mph time of 8.5sec. One rung up the ladder is another rear-wheel-drive model (RWD 228), with a larger 77kWh battery and a 225bhp motor. The more powerful motor ensures that it feels much quicker than the entry-level car (0-62mph takes 7.3sec), and it's our pick of the range.

At the top sits the AWD 325. It has the same 77kWh battery but adds a second electric motor on the front axle, making it four-wheel drive and giving a total of 321bhp. With 0-62mph officially taking just 5.2sec, it's a bit quicker than the Ford Mustang Mach-E Extended Range AWD and much faster than any VW ID.4. In fact, performance is roughly on a par with the dual-motor Kia EV6. Of course, you pay for that extra performance with a slightly shorter range, but only by around 15 miles.

Hyundai IONIQ 5 image
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The Ioniq 5's range depends on which version you go for. Official figures suggest up to 238 miles for the RWD 170, up to 298 miles for RWD 217 and 285 miles for the AWD 305, but you won't get that far in real-world driving. In our tests, the efficiency of the RWD 217 suggested a maximum range of around 250 miles. You'll get a few extra miles in the EV6, and even more in the Tesla Model Y Long Range or Mustang Mach-E Extended Range RWD.

Suspension and ride comfort

The soft suspension makes for a relatively comfy ride. On 19in alloys, the Ioniq 5 wafts along, smothering most bumps really well – especially by electric car standards. It’s only on faster undulating roads that things can get bouncy.

The 20in alloys fitted to Ultimate trim and Namsan Edition cars don't do comfort any favours, causing the car to thump more noticeably over potholes.

The closely related Genesis GV60 is better in that respect – with slightly tighter body control, it feels a little more settled at speed and doesn’t tend to trip up over larger abrasions. That said, the Ioniq 5 is far comfier than the fractious Model Y and more settled than the Nissan Ariya.

Hyundai Ioniq 5 rear cornering

Handling

The Ioniq 5 doesn't handle quite as well as the GV60 or the EV6. Hyundai has opted for relatively soft suspension, which makes the car feel a bit woolly when you’re out of the city limits. It also leans rather noticeably when cornering quickly and can feel a little unwilling to make quick changes of direction. 

That said, there is always plenty of grip on offer and the steering is accurate enough to allow you to position the car with confidence at all speeds. The AWD versions have more traction, so they feel more stable and planted when you're accelerating hard out of corners, especially in the wet.

The Ioniq 5, then, isn’t the kind of car to plaster a smile across your face with its delicate handling balance. But it’s important to remember that the same goes for pretty much every other electric car on the market (the notable exception being the Porsche Taycan).

Noise and vibration

As an electric car, the Ioniq 5 has an obvious advantage over petrol and diesel alternatives because there’s no engine chugging away under the bonnet.

However, we'd avoid opting for 20in wheels because they drum up quite a bit of road noise. With 19in wheels fitted (standard on Premium trim cars) there's far less road noise and hardly any wind noise. Only a few clonks from the suspension disturb the peace.

If you really value quiet cruising manners, we’d recommend looking at the GV60. Aided by foam-filled tyres and optional noise-cancelling technology, it's noticeably quieter on a motorway, as is the wonderfully hushed Audi Q4 e-tron.

Interior

The interior layout, fit and finish

Driving position and dashboard

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 isn't styled like a traditional SUV, but the driving position still feels lofty rather than low-slung and sporty. The driver’s seat has electric adjustment as standard, including for the lumbar support, and there's a good range of movement in the steering wheel.

The only real drawback concerns the digital instrument display behind the steering wheel. It looks suitably snazzy but our testers found that, depending on your driving position, the top of the wheel can block some of the graphics.

The climate controls are also touch-sensitive, and require more of your attention while you’re driving than the physical controls in the Genesis GV60. It's not all bad news, though: they are at least in a separate panel beneath the touchscreen, so they're always on show, rather than hidden in sub-menus (we’re looking at you Tesla...).

Visibility, parking sensors and cameras

The Ioniq 5’s relatively upright driving position contributes to a terrific view of the road ahead, while big windows and door mirrors also help with visibility. Plus, a clever monitoring system is fitted to Ultimate versions that shows the view in your blind-spot on a display in the instrument binnacle.

It is frustrating, though, that you don’t get a rear windscreen wiper. The car has supposedly been designed so that water is pushed off the back of it by the airflow at high speeds, but in winter we've found that the screen still gets obscured with muck. Thankfully, when it comes to parking, all versions come with a rear-view camera to mitigate the problem.

Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior dashboard

Sat nav and infotainment

The Ioniq 5’s 12.3in touchscreen is responsive and the graphics are sharp. Even though some of the icons are a little small and fiddly to use on the move, you do at least get some helpful physical shortcut buttons along the bottom of the screen, plus voice control and simple switches on the steering wheel.

It’s a much better infotainment system than the one in the VW ID.4 and has slicker graphics than the display in the Nissan Ariya.

The Ioniq 5 also gets Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring and wireless phone-charging as standard across the range. A premium Bose sound system and a head-up display with augmented reality (to project information on to the windscreen) are added on the top Ultimate trim.

Quality

The interior undoubtedly looks modern and is mostly well laid out, but that's not matched by the quality of the materials. Some plastics aren’t especially tactile – including those used on the passenger’s side of the dashboard and the lower doors – and a few bits even wobble when you prod them.

The Kia EV6 and Tesla Model Y have better quality interiors, as does the class-leading GV60. You’ll be hard-pressed to find any hard or scratchy plastics in the latter car; most of the surfaces are covered with soft-touch materials, synthetic leathers and attractive metals. You can even pay extra for Napa leather and different colour schemes.

Passenger & boot space

How it copes with people and clutter

Front space

There’s lots of space in the front of the Hyundai Ioniq 5. You’d have to be incredibly tall to have any problem with leg room, and the wide interior adds to the sense of spaciousness. There's enough head room for six-footers, too. 

There are lots of cubbyholes dotted around the interior, and you can slide the centre console forwards and backwards to alter the position of the armrest.

Rear space

Rear leg room is ridiculously generous – there’s as much as you’d expect in a limo. Even with a six-footer driving, a passenger of the same size can sit behind and really stretch out, but the same can also be said for the Kia EV6. The seats in the EV6 also place you in a slightly more natural, low-slung position and provide a little more side support. 

Head room isn’t quite as impressive as in the Tesla Model Y or VW ID.4 but there's still enough for most adults to sit in comfort without getting to know the roof lining intimately.

Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior rear seats

Seat folding and flexibility

The Ioniq 5 stands out for its seating flexibility, but not in the way you might think. The rear seats split in a 60/40 arrangement rather than the more practical 40/20/40 way that lets you fold down each of the seatbacks individually. They also slide back and forth, and can be reclined.

If you go for Ultimate trim, you can add the Premium Relaxation Seats option (standard on Namsan Edition cars). That allows you to recline the front seats almost completely flat, with a leg rest that extends as you recline to give you the full first-class experience as your car charges up. The same feature comes as standard on most versions of the EV6.

Boot space

The generous passenger space doesn’t come at the expense of a practical boot, and the Ioniq 5 is roughly on a par with the EV6 for luggage carrying. We managed to slot seven carry-on suitcases below the load cover, compared with nine in an ID.4 and 10 in a Model Y's front and rear boots combined. 

The Ioniq 5 has only a tiny amount of storage space under its bonnet, with even less on four-wheel-drive versions. There’s just enough underfloor space in the main boot to stow a charging cable.

Buying & owning

Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is

Costs, insurance groups, MPG and CO2

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 has a much lower starting price than the closely related Kia EV6 but that's mainly because it's available with a smaller (54kWh) battery. If you choose the larger (77kWh usable) battery, there's less in it.

The 77kWh cars feature a maximum charging rate of 238kW, so you can theoretically get a 10-80% charge in 17 minutes. The same 10-80% charge takes a similar time on the smaller (54kWh) battery model, at speeds of up to 175kW.

It's worth noting that because of the fairly low number of super-fast public chargers in the UK right now, you’re more likely to be charging at 50-100kW. At the lower end of this range, a 10-80% charge will take around 70 minutes. There will be more fast-charging points in the future, but it will be quite some time before they are as common as the fantastic Supercharger network currently available to all Tesla drivers.

Equipment, options and extras

Our pick is the rear-wheel-drive Ioniq 5 with the larger battery (RWD 228PS) in Premium trim. That keeps the price respectable and still gets you a decent amount of standard kit, including dual-zone climate control, a heated steering wheel and heated front seats, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror and a powered tailgate.

Top-spec Ultimate and Namsan Edition versions come stuffed with equipment, but push the price worrying close to the plusher Genesis GV60. Disappointingly, Premium and Ultimate trims don’t came as standard with a heat pump for more efficient warming of the interior in cooler weather. To get one of those, you'll need to pay extra or go for range-topping Namsan Edition.

All cars do get the clever V2L (vehicle to load) function – a small device that plugs into the car's charging socket and turns the Ioniq 5 into a mobile 3.5kW three-pin plug socket. You can use it to boil a kettle, power a lawnmower or even (very slowly) charge another electric car.

Hyundai Ioniq 5 interior infotainment

Reliability

Hyundai has an excellent track record for reliability, so the Ioniq 5 should be a dependable car. In our 2022 What Car? Reliability Survey, the South Korean brand ranked joint fifth out of 32 manufacturers. 

You get a five-year unlimited mileage warranty on most parts and an eight-year/100,000 miles warranty on the battery.

Safety and security

The Ioniq 5 achieved a full five-star rating for safety when it was appraised by Euro NCAP – not least because it comes with plenty of active safety kit to help you avoid accidents in the first place.

All models have automatic emergency braking (AEB) that can recognise pedestrians and cyclists as well as cars, along with lane-keeping assistance, intelligent speed-limit assist, blind-spot assist, rear cross-traffic alert and a system that monitors the attentiveness of the driver.

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FAQs

  • The Ioniq 5 was too new to be included in the 2022 What Car? Reliability Survey but the signs are encouraging, because Hyundai finished joint fifth out of 32 manufacturers in the brand table. The Ioniq 5 comes with a five-year unlimited mileage warranty, plus its battery is covered for eight years.

  • Two battery options are available, with the smallest giving the Ioniq 5 an official range of 238 miles and the largest taking the total up to 315 miles.

  • The RWD 228 model strikes the best balance between range, performance and affordability. We’d recommend pairing it with mid-rung Premium trim, which comes with plenty of kit.

  • The independent experts at Euro NCAP awarded the Ioniq 5 their maximum five-star rating. It performed well in crash tests and comes with some advanced active safety aids, including automatic emergency braking (AEB) and lane-keeping assistance. Read more here

  • Infotainment functions are mostly controlled through a touchscreen, and some of the icons on it are a little small and hard to hit on the move. The screen itself responds quickly, and there are some proper shortcut buttons to make it easier to move between menus. Read more here

  • The Ioniq 5 has a 527-litre boot capacity, which allows it to take seven carry-on suitcases. There’s also space for the charging cables below the boot floor, and another luggage area under the bonnet (although that’s very small on four-wheel-drive versions). Read more here

At a glance
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Target Price from £41,312
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RRP price range £43,445 - £57,945
Number of trims (see all)3
Number of engines (see all)3
Available fuel types (which is best for you?)electric
Available doors options 5
Warranty 5 years / No mileage cap
Company car tax at 20% (min/max) £87 / £116
Company car tax at 40% (min/max) £174 / £232
Available colours