Hyundai, once an unassuming little Korean manufacturer, has risen up, proving to be a master in creating top quality vehicles, with tremendous value and beyond competitive pricing. Just look at anything in their Genesis line-up. Well, it would appear that Hyundai is at it again, only this time, they’re tackling a fresh frontier, with all-electrics. Introducing the 2022 Ioniq 5, the small SUV-like, kinda crossover, 4-door, 5-passenger EV we’ve been waiting for.
This futuristically styled Hyundai, looks like those wildly stylized concept cars you’d see at an auto-convention in the early 2000’s. The dream-child of the vividly imaginative, ultimately to be extremely watered-down for production. Only, the Ioniq 5 missed the ‘watering-down’ part, and stayed conceptual and cool! The inside feels just as edgy as the outside. Open and spacious up front and in the back. Airy and full of natural light. With leatherette trimmed seats, a flat-bottomed, leather wrapped steering wheel and nicely placed ambient interior lighting. A big, 12.3” display displays bright, beautiful graphics and was a breeze to navigate around in.
It also performs well. Producing 320 hp from its Dual Electric Motor. With HTRAC all-wheel drive, set in Sport Mode, this capable EV will accelerate with aggressive purpose. It may not be the Ludicrous Mode in a Tesla Model S, but it’ll let you zip around slow traffic and overtake with ease. What’s equally impressive is how smooth and comfortably the Ioniq 5 rides. Quietly floating you down the highway in futuristic, funky style.
A full charge will allow you to travel a little over 250 miles. Not a bad range, but greatly effected if you can’t stop surging forward at full speed from every stop light. To mitigate this, the Ioniq 5 has a great regenerative braking system. When you’ve lifted off the accelerator, the drive motors serve as generators, returning power to the battery back. With the paddle shifters, you actually have the ability to select between four different levels of regenerative breaking. Lv 4, called i-Pedal, basically removes the need to use the brake pedal at all under normal driving conditions. Taking you all the way to a complete stop. This helped to stretch the battery life and range, but took a few days to adjust how I was driving.
My Limited trim model is well worth the extra few thousand on the price tag. As it adds a long list of extremely desirable extras, like: Ventilated front seats, a panoramic sun-roof, rear sun-shades, a heads-up display, Bose stereo, 360-degree cameras, blind-spot monitors and much much more. Even in the base trim though, the 2022 Ioniq 5 is everything we hoped for from an EV with a big Hyundai badge on the nose. Great power, good range, a fun and futuristic design, lots of room and a wonderful ride. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty darn close. With a warranty package and price that will definitely have you second-guess putting your name on a Model 3 waiting list.
Price as tested: $55,920.00
