![]() The Ioniq 5 feels as easy to use as it is to drive. The climate control buttons are haptic - usually a particular irritant of mine - but they are well spaced out, so you don’t have to perform tasks with distracting laser precision. The radio tuner is a physical toggle switch you can grab without looking. You can cycle through drive modes without moving your hand from a 9:00 position. The only issue I had was not being able to fit that stroller and my nephew’s giant first birthday present into the trunk - but we couldn’t do that in my cavernous Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid either.īesides feeling modern and premium, like a typical modern Hyundai interior, the user interface shows attention to detail absent on some other EVs. I was able to get my daughter’s chunky, two-piece all-terrain stroller into the trunk with room to spare. When I first saw the Ioniq 5 in pictures, I presumed the trunk space would be tiny. I fit two kids with large car seats in the back seat without incident. Hyundai also went for a minimalist center console that adds even more space. That yields ample room to stretch your feet in both rows. It has a 118.1-inch wheelbase, nearly four inches longer than the three-row Hyundai Palisade’s. The Kona EV is built on a converted ICE platform and feels cramped inside the Ioniq 5 takes full advantage of that gas engine-free life with a ton of space. Not as out there as the exterior, but it will be a major Ioniq 5 selling point. Luckily, reports suggest Hyundai has a sharper and even more powerful Hyundai Ioniq 5 N coming to fill that precise role. The Ioniq 5 could be more of a mad hot hatch and automotive scalpel than it is. Hyundai gives you a supple suspension, and direct but not exceptionally responsive steering. It’s geared more toward the buyer than the car reviewer. I also enjoyed the broad range of easily adjustable regen settings, which you can set from nothing to an aggressive (and in my opinion preferable) i-Pedal that talks you to all-but-one-pedal driving.Ībout the only knock on the Ioniq 5 is the tuning. Even on the gnarly, post-winter, pockmarked hellscape roads of Southeast Michigan, bumps go unnoticed and don’t enter the cabin. The Ioniq 5 delivers surprisingly smooth ride quality. Like many EVs, it feels planted, with exceptional balance and a low center of gravity. It accelerates from 0-60 mph in about 4.5 seconds - faster than the listed 0-60 time for a 2022 VW Golf R. The all-wheel-drive version I drove felt almost alarmingly quick in everyday driving, with its 320 horsepower and 446 lb-ft of torque. The Ioniq 5 drives pretty much perfectly. There’s a reason jurors named it World Car of the Year. But like delicious Trader Joe's Veggie Sticks, the hatchback body style primes one to expect the opposite from the Ioniq 5. It's precisely the vehicle most buyers will want for a family car - fancy, spacious, good in the snow with the AWD (probably, at least - I drove it in May) and efficient. The Ioniq 5's odd part is not the flair, but the body style. Well, she could see me driving one she wants an EV that is more of a traditional crossover. But she was intrigued, thought it was cool, and could see us getting one. And she can, on occasion, scythe right through whatever car culture groupthink I've picked up along the way. I thought my wife would hate the Ioniq 5. But it's not as quirky in person as it felt in pictures. Hyundai added some distinctive, retro '80s style to the mix a lot is going on from the design perspective. Others like Hyundai have gone bolder and more futuristic. Some companies - see the Volkswagen ID.4 or Subaru Solterra - opted for a conservative, familiar look. Like its corporate sibling, the all-new Kia EV6, the Ioniq 5 is one more sign that the EV future will be revolutionary - and a revolution car people will want to be a part of. It does so in a way most buyers are going to want. ![]() ![]() The Ioniq 5 is a brilliant all-around car, electric or not. But after driving the Hyundai Ioniq 5 around for a week and using it with my family, I can say.the answer is yes. The only route for a critic is to become more cynical, examine the car more skeptically and ask whether it is really that great. That context, naturally, changes the review. Case in point: I ended up driving the Hyundai Ioniq 5 after it already swept the awards for World Car of the Year, World Electric Vehicle of the Year and World Car Design of the Year. Cars sometimes take a while to filter outto all the journalists in the press fleet. But, sometimes, it doesn’t work out that way. ![]() The coolest part of reviewing cars is being one of the first people to test a ground-breaking one and heralding the news to others.
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