Embodying a fusion of Hyundai’s past, present and future, the Ioniq 5 is an eclectic mashup of ’80s cyberpunk, Art Deco, and even bits of Bauhaus architecture. But beneath that retrofuturistic skin is an *electrifying* powertrain delivering over 450 kilometers of plug-in range. Not something you would have expected from an electric vehicle at this price just five years ago. But even with a more affordable price and greater performance, can the Ioniq really electrify the masses? Or is it just another toy for the 1%?
Styling
Meant as an homage to the Hyundai Pony, the Ioniq’s muscular silhouette instead resembles the Lancia Delta Integrale, with lights and paint more evocative of the DeLorean DMC-12. All Giorgetto Giugaro designs, fair play. Slotted Art Deco fender flares and body cladding bisected by bold diagonals give an architectural feel, especially in the silvery matte Gravity Gold finish on this car. Hyundai’s Sensuous Sportiness design does indeed impart a sense of speed, but also disguises the car’s sheer size. The Ioniq 5 is longer and wider than the Tucson, and nearly as tall, but it doesn’t look it. Huge two-tone 20-inch wheels further hide the Ioniq’s bulk, the polished steel rims floating against the black webbed center in the dark.
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Parametric pixel LED lights combine Bauhausian purity and 8-bit arcade playfulness. The rear panel frames the nameplate, rendered in matching typeface, while the front panel’s three-dimensional cubic lenses frame a blank panel where the grille should be. Unlike other EVs, there’s no fake radiator grille here. The actual cooling vents are hidden under mechanical flaps. Along with the hidden door handles, these reinforce the kinetic sculpture motif. Oh, and they make for good aerodynamics, too.
Interior
The interior features bold, clean lines and shapes accentuated with small flourishes of style, such as the asymmetric grilles on the speakers and overhead control panel. A large horizontal glass panel housing twin 12-inch LED displays sits over a grille insert that bisects the dash, pushing the lower controls further forward towards the occupants. Asymmetric vent placement means that the driver and center vents are a bit too low for full cabin circulation, but vents built into the center pillars take up the slack.
Material quality overall is excellent, with firm but pliable leather seats and soft-touch surfacing everywhere you are expected to touch. Granted, some of it is barely disguised vinyl or hard plastic, but Hyundai keeps those as far away from your eyes and fingers as possible.
Where the exterior evokes the time-traveling DeLorean, the interior is more of a time-travelling TARDIS: much larger inside than out. The huge 3,000mm wheelbase and flat floor give it acres of carpeted floor for feet, bags, odds and ends. There’s a glovebox the size of a dresser drawer, a bin under the center dash for large water bottles, and a huge sliding center console tray with a floating armrest compartment as big as some floor-mounted boxes. Out back, you get 527 liters of extra storage, only hampered by the high load floor. The rear motor housing takes up most of that underfloor space, with the tire repair kit, charger, and reverse charger crammed into the nooks and crannies around it. The AWD version features an extra motor up front, but without it, this RWD variant has an extra 57 liter storage frunk up front, crammed between the fluid reservoirs and the 12V accessory battery.
Engine performance
Still, that single motor feels potent enough, delivering 350Nm of torque and up to 214hp to the rear wheels. Good for 0-100kph in 7.4 seconds in Sport Mode. Initial acceleration feels undramatic, only to pin you to your seat a half-second later, with an energetic shove that doesn’t let off until highway speeds. Top speed is electronically limited to 185kph, but with our terrible roads, that feels fast enough.
Slotted back into Eco mode, the Ioniq is a smooth operator. The backwards column shifter is a bit confusing, twisting forward for Drive and back for Reverse. Even the Tucson’s odd push-button shifter gets this right! Thankfully, the regenerative braking paddle shifters are more intuitive. Left for more braking, right for less. At Level 0, the Ioniq coasts forever off-pedal. At Level 1, regeneration feels much like gasoline engine braking. Levels 2 and 3 give increasing levels of braking, and the maximum setting, i-Pedal mode, allows one pedal driving. Takes some getting used to, but it is smoother than the one-pedal mode on the Kicks.
The 77kw/h battery slung under the floor features 72.6kw/h of useable charge. Over the course of a week, we managed to achieve 488km on 100% charge. Well, simulated charge. We picked up the Ioniq with 70% battery and never found the time or need to charge it completely. The bundled 2.2kw wall charger takes about 10 hours to give you 25% charge. If you buy the car, Hyundai will install a free 7kw Level 2 charger at your house, which will give you 100% battery in the same amount of time. A number of malls around the country also have Level 2 charging, but even with the faster 20-22kw chargers, the Ioniq caps charging to 11kw. And smart charging slows down the rates as you get closer to 100%, to preserve the battery.
Level 3 is much better, the Ioniq’s 350kw charging capacity means it can safely max out the 180kw hypercharger at Shell Mamplasan on SLEX, juicing up in under twenty minutes. But at about 28-30 pesos per kilowatt - nearly three times residential rates, it’s much more expensive than home charging.
As a mere 25% charge is worth 100-150km of range, we never felt the need to add more than 20-30% charge at any single time—typically two hours at a *free* mall charger. We averaged 6.5km per kilowatt over that 488km; 120km of that was spent in miserable Tagaytay tourist traffic, at a miserable 4.5km/kwh, though we did regenerate about 2kwh coming back down. Excluding that trip, we averaged around 7km/kwh over the week, with lows of 5-6km/kwh in traffic and highs of 8.5km/kwh on the highway at 80kph. In cooler weather, with limited A/C use, you can even maintain 7-8km/kwh in traffic in i-Pedal mode, thanks to the regenerative braking. And even with the AC off, you still get some cool air, as it seems to be tied into the active battery cooling circuit.
Overall, that 6.5km/kwh is much better than the 5km/kwh average I got the last time I did a long term EV test. The leaps in EV efficiency and convenience over the past few years are incredible.
Ride and handling
But the Ioniq 5 is more than just an electric sled. The Long Range model comes on enormous 255/55 R20 Michelin Pilot Sport EV tires that provide more grip than the smaller tires on the regular model. The steering is sharp and direct, minus a bit of squidge from the wide tires, and the low-slung batteries and long wheelbase make it very stable on fast sweepers. That said, you feel every single kilogram of that two ton weight as you flick through switchbacks, and the brakes—even with the regenerative electric assist—are not meant for canyon carving shenanigans.
In more sedate driving, the heavy wheel and tire package mar an otherwise incredibly quiet and refined ride. The suspension does a heroic job of smothering the juddering caused by low speed ruts and bumps, but it can get tiresome on pockmarked provincial roads. This is one case wherein the base 19-inch wheels might be the better choice. We also wish that the Ioniq 5 did a bit more to live up to the SUV tag: the middling 168-175mm of ground clearance may be more than enough for most urban obstacles and humps, but the low stance and long wheelbase had us scraping on the odd steep parking ramp with a full load.
But in ordinary use, the experience is serene. The Ioniq is so quiet that Hyundai includes ambient sound effects to keep tinnitus from deafening you on long drives. The driver’s seat is upright, giving you a good view. The wide flanks are a bit daunting at first, but after a while, your biggest concern will simply be finding parking spots wide enough to keep from curbing those giant wheels. And with a rather large 12m turning circle, you’re glad for the big glass and high definition 360-degree cameras and proximity sensors, which help you edge up as close to those curbs as humanly possible when parking in tight spots.
Extra features
Aside from these simple parking aids, the Ioniq has a full complement of driver assists, active lane keeping, blind spot warning and collision avoidance—which will tug at the wheel if you try to merge into an occupied lane—and forward collision warning and radar-assisted cruise control. Beyond this, you get multiple drive modes, as well as an automatic parking brake and hill-hold assists, though we ended turning these off, as the Ioniq often lurches forward when the brake disengages. Besides, in one-pedal mode, you need no brake assist. In terms of safety, you get front, side and side curtain airbags, electronic remote child locking, and the expected dual ISOFIX mounts in the rear bench.
On the luxury side, versus the standard variant, the Long Range Ioniq gets a full-length fixed moonroof with powered cover, heated and ventilated power front seats with an extra leg bolster for the driver, rear window shades, privacy glass, and an automatic tailgate. You get two 12V power outlets, four USB ports, one wireless charging pad, and a USB data port for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The infotainment system features a six speaker Bose setup, which is powerful, but does require quite a bit of tuning to get right. There’s also a 3.6kw reverse charging socket, which allows you to run appliances while out camping, or even an air-conditioner or two. If you can find the cargo space to lug them around.
Verdict
The Ioniq 5 is so far removed from the ordinary car that it is difficult to condense the experience into a single review. Unlike other EV makers, Hyundai is not afraid to cast us totally adrift into this alien sea to witness the freedoms allowed by electrification. Alas, this P3.7 million long range variant is still beyond most buyers. The standard variant is slightly more affordable, but if you’re buying into an otherworldly experience, why settle for less?
The Ioniq is not merely a diesel SUV alternative. It is, instead, a credible alternative to a luxury crossover, with the added convenience of electrification. Whether it pays for itself depends on how you use it. With the price differential of electricity and gasoline, you can expect to save over P350,000 every 100,000 kilometers versus a comparably spec’d gasoline vehicle, or around 700k before the 200,000km warranty runs out. More if your office or destination features a free charger.
Several years ago, that math was a lot different. But while electricity costs have remained stable, gasoline prices have risen 50%, and will keep rising as geopolitical tensions continue and supplies remain tight.
So, while the business case for EVs remains marginal, it won’t always remain that way. But whether or not it makes sense financially, the Ioniq 5 represents an intriguing luxury alternative. And unlike earlier EVs, the rest of the package—from styling to build quality—fully matches the price tag.
Specs: Hyundai Ioniq 5 Long Range 2WD 2023
Price: P3,698,000
Motor: Permanent-magnet synchronus
Power: 214hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Shift-by-wire
Drive layout: RWD
Seating: 5
Score:19/20
