Hyundai Ioniq 5 Review & Prices

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is one of the most striking-looking electric cars out there, but it is more than just squared-off lines and sharp angles – it’s out to take on the likes of the Volkswagen ID4 and Ford Mustang Mach-e.

Those ‘late ‘80s videogame’ looks create a trick of the eye. The Ioniq 5 hides its size well, as it actually has the dimensions of a family SUV, which means you get loads of room inside for people and luggage alike. 

Those futuristic looks aren’t restricted to the outside, either, with the interior continuing the stylish minimalist theme. There are two large, high-res screens up on the dash and a load of really nice feeling materials dotted around. Sure, some aren’t quite up to the same standard – the odd button here and there and the ‘gear’ selector up by the side of the steering wheel to mention a couple – but the overall feeling is that this is a really posh cabin.

It’s certainly not all style and no substance, though, as the driving position is great (a little more wheel adjustment could be nice though) and there is loads of space for taller passengers in the second row. 

Hyundai Ioniq 5: Electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 238-315 miles
Efficiency: 3.3-3.7 miles per kWh
Battery size: 63kWh / 77kWh
Max charge speed: 180kW / 240kW
Charge time AC: 5hrs 50mins, 0-100% at 7kW / 7hrs 35mins, 0-100% at 7kW
Charge time DC: 18 mins, 10-80% at 240kW
Charge port location: Left rear
Power outputs: 168hp / 225hp / 320hp

The flat floor means you can get three adults in the back and the doors open nice and wide to help you get a child seat in and out. The only quibble is that the floor is relatively high in relation to the seat cushion so taller occupants might feel that their knees are bending more than they would in a conventional seat.

At 527 litres the boot is a good size, and there is some extra space under the floor to add to the small compartment under the bonnet. The boot isn’t as big as some rivals – the Skoda Enyaq and VW ID4 beat the Hyundai on this front. But it is much better than the space in the Ford Mustang Mach-e.

There is a choice of two battery packs – a 58kWh or a 72kWh option – and one or two electric motors with rear-wheel or all-wheel drive models offered. Depending on which combination of these factors you go for, you will get an official range of at least 238 miles or up to 298 miles. Performance is good, too.

The Ioniq 5’s steering is light, while the big windows and cameras mean there is a great amount of visibility. This, and the soft suspension, means it is easy to live with around town and on the motorway. The suspension does occasionally feel a little stiff on some of the bigger bumps though.

Put your foot down and there is a good level of grip, particularly in the all-wheel drive version, but it isn’t as much fun to drive down a twisty road compared to some other EVs. The same can't be said of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, though – that's a proper high-performance electric car.

There’s a good deal of active safety systems here too, just for added peace of mind. All cars get lane-keep assist as standard, as well as adaptive cruise control too.

All-up, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is a stylish, comfortable and practical electric SUV with competitive range that means it stands up well against the competition and will help many people make that first step into EV ownership.

If it sounds like the car for you, head on over to our Hyundai Ioniq 5 deals page to see how much you can save through carwow, while you can check out used Hyundai Ioniq 5s on carwow as well. You can also check out used Hyundai models, while you can also change your car entirely with sell your car.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is not hugely dissimilar to the Kia EV6 in many ways – the two cars share many bits underneath – which means it will come as no major surprise that the pricing is not a million miles apart between the two. The Hyundai shades it though, coming out fractionally cheaper when you look at the entry-level price. However, that cheaper Hyundai gets a smaller battery than the Kia.

That model fits into a lower insurance group, too, but the others are all much the same as one another. It is competitive with the comparable versions of the Skoda Enyaq and VW ID4.

The Ioniq 5 is comfortable and impressively refined, but it’s not especially sporty and alternatives offer more range

In town

A jacked-up driving position and big windows make the Ioniq 5 an easy car to see out of, which is handy when you’re trundling down tight lanes or trying to navigate busy car parks. It’s light, accurate steering also steps in to make things a lot easier here; as do a range of sensors and cameras. Generally speaking, the Ioniq 5 feels like a car that’s easy to keep out of trouble.

There are four levels of regenerative braking to choose from, and the most powerful setting will let you bring the car to a stop simply by lifting off the accelerator. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you’ve wrapped your head around it chances are you’ll use it all the time.

Its softer suspension set-up makes it a comfortable car to drive, too. There can be a little bit of agitated fidgeting at low speed on poorly surfaced roads, and really big ruts will send a bit of shock back into the cabin, but generally this is a cushy, quiet car to waft around in. It’ll certainly take the stress out of the school run – that’s for sure!

The cameras on the Ioniq 5 are brilliant, producing really high definition pictures on the screens. You can zoom in on the overhead image, too, and use it to look all around the car, which is really handy for parking. The only downside is that the rear camera is positioned quite low down, and there is no dedicated cleaning system so you might need to wipe it off in grotty weather.

On the motorway

The Hyundai is composed and pretty quiet at higher speeds on the motorway, with automated cruise control and lane-keeping assist helping to up the levels of relaxation. There is a bit of tyre noise but not much else at higher speeds.

Eco mode might be good for keeping the range high but it does really dial back the responsiveness of the throttle so it’s more for cruising than overtaking slower vehicles.

The seats might have plenty of adjustment but aren’t necessarily the comfiest on longer journeys for all drivers – make sure you test them on a longer trip if you can.

On a twisty road

Trundle out of town and onto the open road, and it keeps its cool. At a cruise there isn’t much road roar or wind noise at all, and that soft-edged ride really comes into its own.

Pop it into Sports mode and the throttle response gets much sharper and the suspension gets a little stiffer. But even with that it doesn’t feel quite as composed around the corners as the Kia EV6 and it’s not as much fun on a twisty road as a Ford Mustang Mach-e. But there’s good grip, and it doesn’t wallow about too much. The lightweight steering means it doesn’t really feel all that sporty though. Still, in terms of ride comfort you’ll definitely find that it’s the easier car to live with.

If you like the idea of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 but would prefer it be sportier to drive, the Ioniq 5 N could be the car for you. It's incredibly quick and has had loads of upgrades that make it great fun to drive down a twisty road. You can even make it sound like a petrol car, complete with fake gear shifts...

With plenty of adjustment you can get comfortable very easily in the cabin, but the boot space is down on the closest alternatives

The sliding ‘Universal Island’ centre console up front in the Ioniq 5 has a couple of good-sized cup-holders, as well as some larger cubbies and trays for various odds and ends. The door bins are a bit on the small side though, so fitting in larger drink bottles and the like might take a bit of careful coordination. The glovebox is a great space, though, and is better described as a drawer as it slides out to give you a huge amount of storage.

The design of the centre console means that there is a lot of room around the footwells and, because it can be slid forwards and backwards, it means that either of the front occupants can slide over to get out of the car on the opposite side if you end up parked in a tight spot. It doesn’t add much more in the way of storage, but it does add to the general feeling of space in the cabin.

The entry-level car has to make do with manual seat adjustment, while the Premium and Ultimate models get varying levels of electric adjustment. Only the range-topper gets electric height adjustment.

As a result, it’s generally pretty easy to get comfortable behind the wheel. Our one gripe is that the steering column could do with a bit more in the way of reach adjustment, if only so you could set your seat slightly further back from the pedals. Hardly a deal-breaker, though.

Space in the back seats

In the back there is loads of headroom, and loads of legroom. Higher-spec models get control buttons on the front passenger seat too, which means you can slide it forward from the comfort of the back seats if you want.

Because the floor is totally flat, you can easily fit an adult in the middle seat too. Even taller adults sitting here will still find there’s a good amount of space between the tops of their noggins and the roof lining. Should you want to fine-tune your levels of comfort even more, then you can do so by reclining the rear seats. The only quibble is that the floor is relatively high up, so taller passengers might find that their legs are more folded up than they would like.

The ISOFIX car seat anchors are easy to find too, and the back doors open up fairly wide – so loading in a car seat or strapping in an unruly toddler shouldn’t be more stressful than it needs to be.

There are storage pockets on the front seat backs, where kids can keep things like books or, more realistically, iPads and other tech. Again, there are doorbins where you’ll be able to stash smaller drink bottles, and if you don’t have anyone sitting in the middle row you can fold the armrest down to reveal two further cup holders. Handy.

Boot space

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 doesn't have the biggest boot among similar electric cars – the Skoda Enyaq (585 litres) and VW ID4 (543 litres) are both larger overall in the boot area – but it still has a decent 527 litres of luggage room to play with. That's also more than the 402 litres you get in the Ford Mustang Mach-e. The motors under the floor mean the boot isn’t as deep as would be ideal, but you get a wide opening and a shallow loading lip. On higher-spec models you get a hands-free tailgate, too.

Up front there is a good storage compartment under the bonnet, providing you go for the rear-wheel-drive model, which gives you 57 litres of space. Go for the all-wheel-drive model and this drops to just 24 litres, which isn’t good for much beyond the charging cables.

With a unique look, the Ioniq 5's cabin is very lounge-like and modern, but there are some materials that don't feel too great

The cabin of the Ioniq 5 is unlike any Hyundai we’ve come across before, because it just looks and feels (for the most part) pretty cool and minimalistic. The quality is decent all round, and the seats and steering wheel can come covered with a soft-touch, eco-friendly leather upholstery while the extensive ambient lighting on the doors and dash adds to the Ioniq 5’s lounge-like appeal.

Other smart-looking touches include the graphite-effect trim inlays in the doors, and the metallic covers that have been fitted to the ends of the indicator and washer stalks, which are cool and smooth under your fingers.

Not all of the plastics are great, with the shortcut buttons that run below the infotainment screen feeling a little bit on the cheap side, but things like this are smartly balanced out by other neat details.

Unsurprisingly, Hyundai goes heavy on the tech, with all versions of the Ioniq 5 getting a pair of crisp 12.3-inch digital screens mounted on top of the dashboard. The first is in place of an old-fashioned instrument cluster and holds all of your driving data, while the other is the touchscreen and the focal point of the infotainment system.

It is straightforward to use with a series of handy shortcut buttons along the bottom edge that help you get from one function to another without having to delve into the menus. That said, they are touch-sensitive buttons rather than physical ones and there isn’t anywhere to rest the heel of your hand while you are using it so you might find it easier to alter things while you are parked up anyway.

The graphics are slick enough, and fairly responsive too. You might find the massive, portrait-orientated screen in the Ford Mustang Mach-e to be a bit more visually impressive, but the Hyundai’s set-up is still good overall. You get satellite navigation, Bluetooth connectivity, DAB radio, a wireless charge pad, and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity all included as standard.

Range-topping models get a head-up display that can project directional prompts from the satellite navigation into your field of vision using augmented reality.

There are USB sockets in the front and back, although somewhat strangely they are the older versions, rather than the more modern USB-C connections.

The Ioniq 5 also comes with a Vehicle-to-Load charging function. Basically, this means you can use it as a massive mobile battery pack to charge up e-bikes and scooters, camping equipment, laptops – practically anything you can think of. It should, theoretically, be able to charge another electric car, but you’ll be waiting some time if you go down that route.

Hyundai has kept things pretty straightforward here, so you’ve only got a choice of three different battery and engine combinations for your Ioniq 5.

The entry-level model has a 58kWh battery that’s paired with a single electric motor. This sits at the back of the car, and generates a modest 170hp and 350Nm for a fairly brisk 0-60mph time of 8.5 seconds. With that smaller battery in place, Hyundai says you’ll be able to cover up to 238 miles on a single charge.

Sitting above that car is the single-motor, 78kWh model. This car gets a slight power boost (up to 217hp for a 0-60mph time of 7.4 seconds); but the main attraction here is that it gets considerably more range than the 58kWh model – up to 298 miles from a charge.

Then, there’s the range-topping model. This version has the same 78kWh battery, but instead of just one electric motor it has two – one at the back and one at the front.

Together, these motors produce 306hp and 605Nm, which means this version of the Ioniq 5 can really get a shift on. The run to 60mph takes just 5.2sec – which is practically as quick as some of the faster hot hatchbacks you can buy these days, and our tests managed even quicker than that

The additional performance is certainly nice, but because there are two electric motors for the battery to keep running instead of just one, range takes a bit of a hit. Hyundai reckons you should be able to do up to 285 miles on a charge.

That said, during our tests we managed 237 miles from the battery of this range-topping version, which is 83% of its capacity. During the same test, the Kia EV6 and BMW iX3 both achieved 91% of their claimed range, with the Hyundai on par with the Ford Mustang Mach-e percentage-wise. In terms of efficiency, the Ioniq 5 managed 3.4m/kWh, which is good but not great.

And as for charging? Well, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 can charge at up to 350kW, making it one of the fastest charging cars on sale right now. That means a 0-80% charge will take about 18 minutes if you can find one of the few chargers that can hit this speed. Plugged into a 7kW home wallbox you’ll top the biggest 78kWh battery up overnight very comfortably. On a 100kW public charger you can expect to get 80% of charge back in around 35 minutes. Regardless of which model you go for, you will get fast charging capability included as standard.

It is worth noting, however, that alternatives such as the Ford Mustang Mach-e and Volkswagen ID4 can both be configured with batteries that offer even more range than the Ioniq 5. The VW can have up to 320 miles, while the Ford ramps it up to 379 miles of claimed range.

As an electric vehicle, you don't have to pay Vehicle Excise Duty because it doesn't produce emissions. With that in mind, the Ioniq 5's company car tax rate is very low - making it a smart option if you have a regular place to charge it.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 has the full five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP, which means it not only performs well in a crash versus its rivals but it also comes equipped with the sort of safety kit that is required to get a high score these days.

It scored well in the adult and child crash tests and also got a high rating on the technology front too. Lane-keep assist, intelligent speed limit assist, emergency braking, navigation-based cruise control and a driver fatigue warning system are all included as standard.

Security-wise, all versions get much the same kit including an alarm and remote locking and a smart key with keyless entry and a power on/off button. Said key can also be used to remotely park the Ioniq 5 slowly without anyone in it.

The Ioniq 5 gets Hyundai’s standard warranty cover, which, at five years, isn’t as long as the Kia’s cover but it is above the three years most manufacturers offer, and you get the added bonus of unlimited mileage. It's also fully transferable so you still benefit if you are the second owner.

It’s too soon in the Ioniq 5’s life to draw many conclusions on reliability, and it hasn’t been subject to any major recalls in the UK.