The 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 may be the best EV available today, full stop, end of story, do not pass go, do not collect $200. That’s a bold statement to make, especially as a diversity of excellent all-electric offerings like the Porsche Taycan, Ford F-150 Lightning, Mercedes-Benz EQS and even the closely related Kia EV6 prowl the streets, but this Hyundai rises above its direct competitors. From technology and pricing to interior quality and spaciousness to performance both on road and while charging, the new Ioniq 5 excels at just about everything, plus that unmistakable synthwave styling makes it look like no other new vehicle available today. In fact, to find something even remotely similar, you have to go back to the era of legwarmers, mullets and the VCR, that is, the 1980s.
Retro done right
The Ioniq 5 is retro done right. Its design manages to be distinctive and attractive, elaborate but not cluttered, something that is incredibly difficult to pull off. In particular, I love this hatchback-like crossover’s angular sheet metal and pixilated exterior lighting. The striated trim, basket weave rims and long wheelbase married to truncated overhangs all look amazing, too.
Intimidatingly, the Ioniq 5’s wheelbase measures a whopping 118.1 inches, making the longest in Hyundai’s US lineup, almost 4 inches greater than the hub-to-hub span of the Palisade SUV. Further enhancing its proportions, this vehicle’s body is nearly 14 inches shorter than that of the three-row Palisade.
Providing a solid foundation, this EV is built on the same Electric-Global Modular Platform as the equally impressive Kia EV6 (and, yes, the lovely Genesis GV60, too), but these vehicles look completely different. This Hyundai is blocky and angular where the Kia is as smooth as a river rock. Together, these models are cornerstones of the Hyundai Motor Group’s plan to introduce 23 all-electric vehicles and sell 1 million EVs globally by 2025. Once drivers experience these two models, I think many will be eager to go electric.
Checkin’ the specs
Next, let’s dive into some numbers, specifically range and charging speeds. Like the sauce options at a good barbecue restaurant, the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 is offered in several flavors including three trim levels. Two battery sizes are also on the menu: a 58-kilowatt-hour pack and a larger 77.4-kWh unit. Depending on configuration, the range maxes out at 303 miles, though our all-wheel-drive Limited model is rated to go a competitive 256 miles between charges.
As for performance, the base version of the Ioniq 5 has an adequate 168 horsepower. The long-range, rear-drive variant is significantly more potent, graced with 225 ponies in its stable. Finally, the all-wheel-drive version features an overachieving 320 horses. As for torque, the lower-end models both have 258 pound-feet, while the all-wheel-drive grade packs a wallop, 446 pounds of twist.
The Ioniq 5’s battery features an 800-volt architecture that Hyundai claims allows it to absorb energy at up to 350-kilowatts, but this is not accurate. When hooked to a DC fast charger, the long-range battery actually maxes out at just 235 kW, though that’s still super fast. In comparison, the Ford Mustang Mach-E tops out at 150, the Volkswagen ID.4 at 135 and the all-wheel-drive Toyota bZ4X at painfully slow 100 kW. In addition to a video review of the Ioniq 5, we also have a complete charging video for it and the bZ4X, so make sure to give those a watch. About the only rival to top the Ioniq 5 at charging is the Tesla Model Y, which maxes out at a thundering 250 kW.
YOU’VE GOT TO SEE THIS: 2023 Polestar 3 Revealed
As for charging times, Hyundai lists figures for the big, 77.4-kWh battery but none for the smaller 58-kWh pack. Plug in to a rapid charger at more than 250 kW, and the Ioniq 5 can go from a 10% state of charge to 80% in a claimed 18 minutes. Hooked to a 150-kW source, it takes an estimated 25 minutes to do the same thing. Using a Level 2 charger, like you’d have installed at home, this Hyundai can go from a 10% state of charge to completely full in about 6 hours and 43 minutes.
The Ioniq 5 also offers vehicle-to-load functionality, so you can use its battery pack to run your mobile office, power camping equipment or even charge another EV, albeit very slowly. This feature provides 1.9 kW of peak power, which is available from the outlets inside or through a special adapter you plug into the charging port, though requiring what is essentially a dongle to do any of this is a rather clunky solution. Including a couple 110-volt household outlets underneath the charging door would have been a more-elegant solution.
Comfort and capaciousness
Focusing our attention inward, like most recent Hyundais, the Ioniq 5’s cabin is absolutely gorgeous. The design is fresh and interesting, not weird for the sake of being weird. This is a Limited model, the fanciest trim offered, but the interior would not seem out of place in a luxury vehicle. Aside from fetching looks, this cockpit is also surprisingly eco-friendly, being constructed of plant-based yarns, natural wool and even materials made from recycled plastic bottles.
What cannot be ignored, however, is the pair of 12.3-inch displays perched atop the dashboard. One serves as a reconfigurable digital instrument cluster while the other is touch-enabled for the friendly and familiar infotainment system. Beyond that, you can also get an augmented reality head-up display that clearly shows things like turn-by-turn directions and safety warnings.
Aside from all that, there are a few interesting aspects to the Ionic 5’s interior. For starters, they’ve included a small board to the left of the instrument cluster. Using magnets, you can hang photos or notes like you would on a refrigerator, which is pretty neat. Next, the door pulls are elegant, running practically the full-length of the doors, but the design gives me pause. There’s no opening at the bottom of these recesses, so they’re going to collect dirt and dust, which might be hard to clean. Finally, the gear selector, which is a separate stalk sprouting from the steering column, looks more than a bit phallic. This design is sturdy and immediately intuitive, if a bit unusual.
One thing I absolutely love about the Ioniq 5’s interior is the stretchout amounts of space it offers thanks to that lengthy wheelbase. The center console between the front seats is also huge, yet surprisingly open. It’s a great place to stash a purse or your Chinese takeout order. For added versatility, this console also slides fore and aft by 5.5 inches, and thanks to the Ioniq 5’s flat floor, there’s also a vast amount of room ahead of that center console, though I don’t recommend putting shopping bags there. They could easily spill, scattering food all over the place, which could easily block the pedals.
This Hyundai’s front seats are super comfortable and the driver’s chair has a deployable leg rest, which is awesome. But passengers in the back are just as well cared for. Aside from offering tons of room, the rear seat slides more than 5 inches, it reclines and the backrest is split 60:40 for enhanced cargo-hauling versatility.
Speaking of usefulness, the Ioniq 5 offers 27.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seat and 59.3 with those backrests folded down. The front trunk is almost uselessly small at a mere 0.85 cubes. Overall, this vehicle is similarly spacious to a Mustang Mach-E or ID.4, though the Model Y is significantly more capacious.
A potent performer
With 320 horsepower on tap, this crossover leaps forward like a startled gazelle when you stand on the accelerator. The Ioniq 5 is seriously quick, not as earth-shatteringly speedy as that Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition we recently reviewed (check out that video, too), but this Hyundai absolutely hauls the mail. The Ioniq 5 should have no trouble going from 0 to 60 in less than 5 seconds, a legitimately impressive time. Of course, this vehicle is also incredibly responsive when driven normally, not racing from stoplight to stoplight.
Despite its large, 20-inch wheels and husky curb weight, this Hyundai rides like a dream. It’s far better composed than lower-end versions of the Mach-E, which bounce around noticeably. Hit some big undulations at speed and the Ioniq 5 will bound over them, but 98% of the time it’s perfectly smooth.
As you’d expect, the Ioniq 5 comes with a host of standard driver aids including amenities like adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability, blind spot collision-avoidance assist, rear cross-traffic alert, automatic high beams, lane-keeping assist and much more. All these features are intuitive and work seamlessly.
Like practically every other EV, this vehicle’s steering and handling are unremarkable. The tiller’s ratio is quick enough, though there’s little road feel. Likewise, there’s a bit of body roll in corners, probably because of the fairly soft ride.
CHECK IT OUT: Latest Apple CarPlay can take over the whole dashboard
Naturally, the Ioniq 5 offers regenerative braking. You adjust how aggressive it is using steering wheel-mounted paddles, going from basically nothing to surprisingly strong. The left paddle also operates like a brake pedal. Holding it down slows the vehicle, even down to a stop, but releasing it reverts back to whatever regenerative braking setting you’ve chosen. The beefiest setting is called iPedal and it automatically slows the vehicle to a stop when you lift off the accelerator, something I love, even if it takes a bit of getting used to.
2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5: Easily one of the best
EV or otherwise, the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Limited all-wheel drive is one of the best new cars I’ve tested in a long time. It looks great inside and out, drives well, offers loads of features and is super comfortable.
As for pricing, the base SE version starts around $45,000, though including $1,225 in destination fees, this top-shelf example checks out for $55,920, which is a lot, even if it’s right in line with the competition these days. Unfortunately, and this is a big issue, availability of the Ioniq 5 is extremely limited, plus Hyundai is only offering it in about half the states of the union, which means a lot of drivers looking to make the EV switch won’t be able to get their hands on one of these exceptional crossovers.
At a glance
- Year: 2022
- Make: Hyundai
- Model: Ioniq 5
- Trim: Limited AWD
- Type: Crossover utility vehicle
- Horsepower: 320
- Torque: 446 lb-ft
- MPGe ratings (city/highway/combined): 110/87/98
- EV range: 256 miles
- Pros: Unmistakable styling, premium interior, excellent driving dynamics, top-notch tech
- Cons: Vehicle-to-load dongle is silly, extremely limited availability
- Base price: $41,245
- Price as tested: $55,920
