Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV debuts with razor-sharp design and 2-way charging

Meet the first member of Hyundai’s new Ioniq electric vehicle subbrand, the Ioniq 5 compact crossover. Making its debut Monday, this sharply creased EV has a surprisingly roomy and lounge-like cabin, a variety of battery and powertrain configurations and both familiar and new charging technologies. Believe it or not, this a production car.

In fact, that shouldn’t be a surprise, as the Ioniq 5 looks identical to the , inspired by the from the 2019 Frankfurt Auto Show. The angular crossover (okay, it’s really just a tall hatchback) features a boldly styled exterior with sharp details. The simplified front end forgoes a grille, but integrates its rectangular Parametric Pixel headlamps into a contrasting front panel that stretches the width of the vehicle, a design that is echoed at the rear. The flank is punctuated by a strong diagonal crease that slashes across the doors; even the round wheel arches feature strong linear tangent details.

The Ioniq 5 has been designed and built from the ground up as an electric car, the first on the automaker’s . The electric platform features drive-by-wire and steer-by-wire technologies, as well as a flat battery floor. Without the need for transmission tunnels, a steering column or other intrusions, Hyundai was able to design the 5 for maximum interior space, pushing the wheels to the extreme corners of the body. The result is a vehicle that looks tiny and slots between the and the  in size, but has a wheelbase that’s 4 inches longer than the three-row Palisade SUV.

SUVs

	Hyundai Tucson	Hyundai Ioniq 5	Hyundai Santa Fe	Hyundai Palisade
Wheelbase	105.1 in	118.1 in	108.9 in	114.2 in
Length	176.4 in	182.5 in	188.4 in	196.1 in
Width	72.8 in	74.4 in	74.8 in	77.8 in
Height	64.8 in	63.2 in	67.3 in	68.9 in

Powertrain and performance

The Ioniq 5 will be available in four primary configurations, distinguished by Standard Range or Long Range battery capacity and rear-wheel drive (2WD) or all-wheel drive (AWD).

The Standard Range 2WD configuration starts with a 58-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack sending power to a 160-kilowatt motor at the rear axle. With 218 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, the Ioniq 5 takes about 8.5 seconds to hustle from 0 to 60 mph, but it gets quicker from there. The Standard Range AWD model adds a second electric motor to the front axle, bumping net system output to 235 hp and 446 lb-ft of torque.

The Ioniq 5’s Long Range energy capacity varies by region. In North America, we’ll get the biggest, 77.4-kWh battery; globally, there is a slightly smaller 72.6-kWh pack. The smaller pack, when mated with the same 160-kW rear motor as the Standard Range, is estimated to cruise for about 300 miles per charge on the European WLTP testing cycle. Our EPA testing cycle is a bit more rigorous, so expect that range to potentially drop when the Ioniq 5 reaches the US, even with our larger battery.

At the top of the lineup is the Ioniq 5 Long Range AWD. It boasts a more powerful front motor than the Standard AWD model, rolling out with a total output of 306 hp and 446 lb-ft of torque. That makes it the quickest version in the 0-to-60-mph dash, hitting the mark in just 5.2 seconds.

With a decent amount of torque in all trims, Hyundai also estimates the Ioniq 5 should be able to tow over 3,500 pounds.

Ioniq 5 Performance and Range

	Net power	Net torque	WLTP range	0-60 mph
Standard 2WD	218 hp	258 lb-ft	TBD	8.5 sec
Long Range 2WD	218 hp	258 lb-ft	298 mi	7.4 sec
Standard AWD	235 hp	446 lb-ft	TBD	6.1 sec
Long Range AWD	306 hp	446 lb-ft	TBD	5.2 sec

Bidirectional charging

Range is great, but means little if your EV takes a long time to recharge. Fortunately, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 has the automaker’s latest generation of fast-charging technology, as well as a few extra tricks up its sharply sculpted sleeves.

Plug into a DC fast-charger via the standard J1772 combined charging system (CCS) port and the Ioniq 5 will rapidly recharge at up to 350 kW, fast enough to go from 10% to 80% in just 18 minutes. In a rush, plug in for only 5 minutes to add a quick 62 miles of range — enough for a day around town for most. Slower Level 2, 240-volt and 110-volt home charging will no doubt be supported as well, but charge times for those setups haven’t been specified just yet.

In addition to being charged, the Ioniq 5 can be the charger thanks to a feature called Vehicle-to-Load charging. V2L makes it so you can plug other devices — like computers, electric bikes or camping equipment — into the 5, which can be recharged via the car’s battery with a total output of about 3.6 kW. There’s a port beneath the rear seats that’s activated when the ignition is on and, with an adapter, high-power equipment can be plugged into the Ioniq 5’s exterior bidirectional charging port, even when the vehicle is turned off.

For comparison, the Hyundai’s 3.6 kW is about 70% more output than the standard 2.1 kW Pro Power Onboard inverter — which I recently put through  — but only half of the Ford’s big-boy 7.2-kW upgraded unit. Plus, the Ioniq 5 doesn’t generate energy, so any power you draw comes from the battery’s storage and the EV’s range to get you home, though a small amount of charging output may be offset by the roof’s glass solar panels.

Spacious cabin with lots of tech

Like most purpose-built EVs, the Ioniq 5’s design makes room for two trunks. In the rear, you’re looking at 18.8 cubic feet of space behind the seats, which expands to up to 56.2 cubic feet when the 60:40 bench is folded flat. Up front, an 0.85-cubic-foot front trunk doesn’t really leave much room for anything aside from perhaps a charging cable. In other parts of the world, the Ioniq 5 2WD boasts up to 2 cubic feet of front stowage — about the size of a carry-on suitcase — but here in the US, both 2WD and AWD models have the same fun-size frunk.

We don’t yet have a specific passenger volume number, but the Ioniq 5 will make use of its cabin space with a reconfigurable “living space” theme that includes rear seats that slide up to 5.3 inches and “relax and recharge” front seats with extendable leg rests. One of the 5’s most interesting features is a motorized “universal island” console (), which can slide forward or backward, giving passengers in either row access to its integrated 15-watt wireless phone charger and gobs of storage. By sliding to the second row, the console also allows front passengers to exit from either side of the vehicle without climbing over a hump, which could be useful in tight parking situations.

The Ioniq 5’s dashboard is flat in design and lacks a cowl over its standard 12-inch digital instrument cluster, a stylistic choice that emphasizes the overall theme of spaciousness. That’s reinforced by a column-mounted shifter, just behind the two-spoke steering wheel.

The digital cluster is complemented by a standard 12-inch touchscreen infotainment display, home to the latest generation of Hyundai’s BlueLink connected services and telematics, and features totally new graphics. If that wasn’t enough screens for you, the Ioniq 5 will also be the first model to feature Hyundai’s new augmented reality head-up display, a technology that promises to turn the entire windshield into a screen. Nice.

In addition to the dashboard tech, the Ioniq 5 will have the next generation of Hyundai’s SmartSense driver-assistance systems. This includes the first implementation of the automaker’s Highway Driving Assist 2, which adds lane-centering assist, lane-change assist and navigation-based adaptive cruise control to the feature set. The Ioniq 5 will also have what we think is one of Hyundai’s coolest driver aid features, .

Hyundai says it plans to make the Ioniq 5 available in some countries in the first half of 2021, then in North America in the fall. Pricing has not yet been announced, but we expect to have that information (and more) closer to the US launch.