As some of you know, I am working in the IT department and to “survive” the job I need to have a favor for scientific and extraordinary stuff…, but who could have known that the IONIQ 5 gives you the full future and many hints for the good old days in one package?
Our test car for this review was an IONIQ 5 – HTRAC with 305 HP.
Before we start with the exterior check we want to give you a small overview of the incredible technique this car has under his “belly”.
– 800 volt electrical system (like the Porsche Taycan has)
– 72,6 kWh battery (can be charged to 80% in around 18 minutes if the charger gives the full 350-kW)
– Vehicle-to-load (V2L) function to load external equipment (camping, e-bikes and other stuff) with your Ioniq 5
– Wheelbase of 3 meter (9,84 feet) which is nearly identical (+5mm) to an Audi Q7
– Solar-roof which generates around ~2000 km a year
Exterior part one – standing flow
The IONIQ 5 looks small if you see it on pictures or in real life without other cars or persons for scale, but this car is “huge” and thanks to the clever design it still retains its slim and somewhat sporty appearance.
If you take a look at the picture below you will see the 19 inch rim with rather big tires. Due to the subdued carvings, in the front and rear fender, towards the movement direction, it generates some kind of fluent and dynamic style (and looks futuristic).
The retractable, small door handles and the Polygon/Z-shaped door/bodyform boost the feeling of a dynamic forward moving car, even when it just parks at the side of a street.
Our test car was a black one, and the Z-shape does not show off easily on pictures, that is the reason we use pictures from a matte-gray one, color name: “Shooting Star Grey” (again from our local dealer).
To shorten the text, if you look at the car, you can see and feel some kind of momentum in the design even when there is zero movement.
Exterior part two – pixel by pixel
The term “pixel by pixel” has a meaning and for the Ioniq 5 it means from the front till the rear.
The front and rear design of the car are strongly leaned towards the concept of the Hyundai 45 from the IAA 2019 which, IMHO, was a great concept.
The front headlights are two rectangular U’s which contains several “bricks” who are illuminated by LEDs and can even change the color. They are responsible for the daytime running, your turn and hazard lights. The sidewalls of the headlights are also filled with rectangles which give you the feel of looking into an 8-Bit styled video game headlight.
The rear end has even more rectangular bricks from one side over the trunk to the other side. If you brake your two rectangular driving lights will get filled with a bright and one-brick-wide break light. Additionally the third break light in the spoiler of the ioniq 5 (where the wiper is hidden) starts to light and it has the look of two small (surprise!) rectangular led tapes.
The overall look is awesome, brave and unique, but it is dangerous to drive such an eye-catcher for daily driving, since many people will rubberneck this car.
Interior – The clean, the big and the fancy
The armrest and the backseats can be slide in their position and gives you the full customization of the space you need. You also have several USB ports for mobiles/tablets in the front and rear, so there are enough possibilities for entertainment while using the relax front seats. The whole floor of the interior is flat and Hyundai is calling this new system “Living space”. There are not many cars who have such a clean and modern interior… For example, the steering wheel has not even a Hyundai badge on it, I am not sure if I have seen something familiar in a stock car.
As I said in the beginning of this article, this car has an impressive wheelbase for its length. This directly leads to an huge (big) interior space. Even with the driver seat placed back to the max, even with an height higher than 1,90m you will still have enough room in the font for your knees. Additionally the seats are very comfortable and this gives you the feeling of a comfortable livingroom instead of a car.
The fancy Infotainment system and speedometer is the next big thing compaired to other cars in this price range. You have two huge displays 12,25 inch screens with a pretty good resolution. The left screen is your normal speedometer which has a nice optik while driving.
The whole energy/battery loading and energy release are designed with some kind of waves which fits perfect the flow-design of the whole car. The right side is your navigation and radio screen. This screen is a touchscreen with the updated system/software and if you are familiar with our Hyundai´s and KIA´s you will not have a big problem in adapting to the system.
Full 3D camera with touch and free changeable angle of view
Performance
We did not drive the Ioniq 5 long enough to give an accurate info about the energy consumption. But there are enough predictions and small reviews which gave the Ioniq 5 a pretty good range and good battery duration.
Our car with the 305 HP option has a very strong acceleration and this is not reduced to low speed, even over 100km/h if you press the pedal, the car starts moving forward like there is no tomorrow… The sprint from 0-100 km/h (0-60 mph) took around 5.4 seconds (three persons). The official 0-100 is, depending on the model, 5.2 seconds for the Ioniq 5 – 305 HP HTRAC.
The car is super quiet in the inside, you only here a minimum noise of the VESS (Virtual Engine Sound System) which now, other than before, even creates a bit sound while standing.
The path (price) to the future
There are many pathes to the future, and it starts at 41,900€ (german MSRP)
The options:
58 kWh / 170 HP / RWD + 0€
72,6 kWh / 217 HP / RWD + 3200€
58 kWh / 235 HP / HTRAC – 4WD + 3800€
72,6 kWh / 305 HP / HTRAC – 4WD + 7000€
In germany you have 4 different packages as an option, but since they will most likely be different in other countrys we do not want to get to specific here.
I will just give you the names and small overview of it:
– Efficency-package (includes battery-pre-heating and heat pump)
– “DYNAMIQ”-package (QI-charging, many security options and electrical driver-seat)
– “TECHNIQ”-package (MUST HAVE! This is the package which give the car the specific “Pixel-look” with the LED head/rear-lights, slideable interior and the V-front in LED light)
– “UNIQ”-package (Bose-Soundsystem, Ambiente-light in 64 colors, 230v sockets, AR-Head-up-display, electrical door-handles and cooled fron-seats)
Final words
If you compare the Ioniq 5 to previous cars there are not many words who can even describe the progress Hyundai is achieving. The technique of the car is state-of-the-art, the design is stunning, the price is very competitive and everything together will be a game-changer. Hyundai is truly aiming for the leadership in alternative drivetrains and this car is the first hint, to not underestimate them. We now can not wait for the KIA EV6 and the other Ioniq models.
TL;DR
Stunning design, huge space inside and an electircal technique system on the same level of cars with way more than double the price.
Thanks to https://www.instagram.com/bjoern_project_c/ and https://www.instagram.com/jackxbo/ for providing additionally pictures.
