Hyundai has revealed the bold new Ioniq 5, a mid-sized crossover and the first car to be launched under Hyundai’s Ioniq electric sub-brand, which is designed to spearhead a renewed push into electrification for the Korean brand.
Featuring 800V battery technology that gives the potential for ultra-rapid charging, the Ioniq 5 supports up to 220kW DC charging, taking the battery from 10% to 80% in 18 minutes. Previously, 800V cabling has been available on only high-end sports cars like the Porsche Taycan.
Two battery sizes will be available: 72.6kWh and 58kWh, both available with either rear- or all-wheel drive. The maximum range is 292 miles.
The most powerful version, a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive Ioniq 5 with combined power of 302bhp and a total of 446lb ft, will cover 0-62mph in 5.2sec and is capable of 115mph. The slowest version, with a 58kWh, 167bhp rear-wheel-drive set-up, manages 0-62mph in 8.5sec.
Underpinning all this is the new Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP). Built specifically as an electric platform, the flexible underpinnings will also be used for the upcoming saloon-shaped Ioniq 6 and an SUV called 7. As with most battery-specific platforms, it features a skateboard layout giving a flat interior floor.
Rather more uniquely, the Ioniq 5 has the facility for vehicle-to-grid charging, a rarity in current electric cars. Not only does this mean that the car will be able to charge laptops or electric scooters from a plug socket under the rear seat, but it also allows the 5 to act as a mini generator. Assuming the local grid could support it, it’s possible for the 5 to push electricity back into the grid when it’s plugged in at an owner’s home. Doing this when electricity is expensive, and then drawing back out of the grid when it’s cheaper, could lead to significant savings for customers.
Featuring retro-inspired styling that borrows heavily from the 45 EV concept car, the Ioniq 5’s looks are a marked departure from those of previous Hyundais, including the clamshell bonnet (a first for the Korean firm) and pixelated front and rear lights. The clean lines are a deliberate tactic. Hyundai Group chief creative officer Luc Donckerwolke told Autocar he wanted “the reduced design language to reflect the silence of EVs.”
The 5’s looks will also be unique within the Hyundai family. Donckerwolke is keen for there to be minimal family resemblance between this car and the subsequent 6 and 7 models. “You will not see clones in the Hyundai family any more. We have a huge amount of vehicles, and if you have so many generations that overlap, you have a problem of defining which is the old collection and which is the new collection. So we will apply a specific design to each vehicle that targets a customer. And it’s less boring as well!”
Hyundai is reluctant to talk about rivals for the Ioniq 5, but at 4635mm long and 1605mm tall, it sits neatly in the mid-sized crossover sector. A Volvo XC60 is ever so slightly taller and longer, but with the Ioniq’s long wheelbase and efficient packaging (at 3000mm, its wheelbase just 70mm shy of a BMW 7 Series'), interior room should match it. The boot volume is either 531 or 1600 litres, depending on seat arrangement. The rear seats slide and also fold 60:40.
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Wow. Absolutely jaw dropping style.
I am sure that I will be called a Curmdugeon here.
But say I buy this externally attractive (internally ugly and stupid) car and wish to drive from London to visit my daughter at uni in Birmingham, will it make the round trip at motorway speeds without me spending hours searching for a charge station before returning home?
And having asked that question I know that I couldnt drive from London to Birmingham and then to Cambridge to visit my other daughter and then home without anxiety, waiting and/or it stopping.
Thee things are JUST NOT UP TO THE JOB.
Everything I like about this car becomes irrelevant due to one thing; the price.
It's also why I didn't bother getting excited about it in the run up to today because I knew, like all EVs, it would be ridiculously priced and make no financial sense at all.
The bottom line for me is this: why do I want to pay £45,000 for a machine that gets me to work, carries my shopping and transports me to places I want to go just like one that used to cost around £15,000 not that long ago (before car makers began artificially raising prices of ICE cars dramatically to close the gap wth EVs)?
New car purchases these days are a mugs game, even on finance, but especially for compromised EVs.
This statement contradicts itself, nobody likes the price of a car, we all try to get a car cheaper than the sticker price on the car,and today, a Family car, a new Family car probably will cost you £45K in this spec, this is an introductory model with nearly every conceivable extra stuffed into it, when the Breadn butter models come out they'll be £10K+ cheaper, I don't think you could buy a new car with the same level of options for £15K, boring old saying coming, your choice, your money,and, you live with it.
Gavsmit comment is doubly relevant because unlike ICE cars that can last 20 years or longer, BEV's have a pojected life of 8-10 years due to battery deterioration. This makes them spectacularly bad value to buy new, as their mid-term depreciation will be much higher even than an ICE car of similar intial price.
However, your comment is also relevant, in that if it's your money, do with it as you please.
It's like people buying the latest iPhone model, ridiculously expensve and unnecessary, but if you want it and can afford it, why not?
No they don't. Even the *warranty* on a new EV's battery is 8 years - and does your engine fall apart the moment it's out of warranty?
Currently, the oldest Tesla Model Ss on Autotrader (2014) are listed for £27-40k, compared with £11-30k for a Mercedes CLS of the same year, or £10-18k for an Audi A7, or £12-28k for a Jaguar XJ. Nissan's Leaf famously has the worst battery of any EV, due to lack of active thermoregulation, but there are still 9/10-year-old cars on sale and all range between £4-7k.
Looking at how many cars are still taxed on Howmanyleft, it's around 70% of the Tesla Roadster, 74% of the original 2011-13 Leaf, and 90% of the UK's first-wave 2014-16 Model S. Most of these older cars are still on the road.
I stopped reading at this point, 8 years, utter drivel
Wasn't there a published life, by manufacturers, of around 8-10 years life expectancy of a car in general? Obviously ice cars and EVs are capable of lasting longer, but I do recall something along these lines and it wasn't the production life as that is generally shorter nowerdays.
A Q5 diesel or 2 litre petrol would be so much better, more practical and relaxing than this thing.
If I felt a little more experimental, I could had over to Alfa Romeo or consider loads of other attractive options.
45 grand is the top model with 4 wheel drive, longer range etc. The top spec Audi A3 (not S3 or RS3) TDI comes in at just under 40 so what's to say the cheaper models start more around 30K? If I can get a reliable 200 miles range out of it I might well consider leasing one.