Hyundai Ioniq 5 review - Engines, performance and drive
Although set up for comfort, the Ioniq 5 should still be quick enough for most
Hyundai is serious about its all-electric future, with the Korean car maker planning to introduce 23 all-electric models and reach a sales target of 1 million BEVs by 2025. The Ioniq 5 sits on the manufacturer’s first dedicated BEV platform called E-GMP, while the new tech will also underpin production of smaller and larger models.
Despite showcasing the company’s latest EV architecture, the Ioniq 5 still incurs the typical weight penalty that comes from housing big, heavy batteries, although its design does allow for the cells to be placed under the floor to help deliver a low centre of gravity. Hyundai’s all-electric hatchback weighs around two tonnes, but performance remains solid, with rapid acceleration off the line in the 321bhp top-spec model if you decide to stamp on the pedal. Otherwise, the power delivery is all very relaxed, with the 5 easy to pilot around town.
We wouldn’t say the Ioniq 5 is an especially fun car to drive around twisty lanes, as it majors on providing great levels of comfort rather than B-road thrills - a brief it fulfills impressively well. Higher-end cars, fitted with larger 20-inch alloy wheels, provide a little more shuffle over slow-speed lumps and bumps than you’d perhaps like, but overall the 5 offers a composed ride, with limited body roll and the light steering well suited to the car’s set-up
Engines, 0-60 acceleration and top speed
The Ioniq 5 is available with a choice of two batteries, three power outputs and the option of rear- or all-wheel-drive. Entry-level cars use a 58kWh battery and a 168bhp motor driving the rear wheels, with 0-62mph taking a reasonable 8.5 seconds.
Hyundai initially offered a 73kWh battery setup for the 214bhp rear-wheel-drive version and 301bhp all-wheel-drive variant. The former managed the sprint benchmark in 7.4 seconds, while the more powerful car trimmed this time to 5.2 seconds - outpacing the Volkswagen ID.4 GTX model and keeping up with the more expensive 346bhp Ford Mustang Mach-E.
The 73kWh battery has now been replaced by a bigger 77.4kWh power cell, which means (according to Hyundai's own figures) that each sprint time is reduced by around a tenth of a second, with top speed remaining at 115mph.
