2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 – A Seriously Impressive EV

The 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 crossover will be the first vehicle to kick off the company’s new Ioniq sub-brand of battery electric vehicles. After the Ioniq 5, Hyundai will be adding an electric sedan, the Ioniq 6, and the Ioniq 7, a large electric SUV.

• 

• 

I’ll go ahead and get this out of the way now: I’m obsessed with this car. Let me tell you why.

2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5: Styling

In pictures, the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 looks like a small hatchback due to its proportions. But, don’t be fooled. This thing is larger than the photos might suggest. In length, it will be larger than the Tucson compact SUV, but smaller than the midsize Santa Fe. The large wheels and short front and rear overhangs are what trick your eye and make you think hatchback, but it’s a matter of scale. The Ioniq 5’s wheelbase is long. It’s about 4 inches longer than that of Hyundai’s largest SUV, the Palisade. So if the Ioniq 5 looks like a hatchback to you, like it does to me, it’s a pretty big one.

• 

• 

I’m still on the fence about some exterior surfacing details, such as the wheel arches, and along the bottom of the doors. Otherwise, I love the way the Ioniq 5 looks. The flush door handles are slick, and the “pixel-like” lights at the front and rear are distinctive. Overall, this looks like a concept car, but it’s not. This is the production version that will go on sale soon.

• 

• 

2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5: Interior

The interior of the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 looks sleek and modern. Combined within one single panel are the digital gauges and infotainment screen. There is a small array of switchgear below the center screen, contributing to the minimalistic feel. Large windows, the low dashboard, and glass roof provide a bright and airy appearance. The interior uses sustainable, eco-friendly materials like recycled plastic bottles, and plant extracts and fibers.

• 

• 

Space and usability promise to be impressive, too. The floor is completely flat, and built-in leg rests in the front seats can make your Ioniq 5 a rolling lounge. But maybe don’t use those while driving. There should be almost 19 cubic feet of cargo space in the rear, which expands to about 56 cubic feet with the rear seats folded. There will be a small “frunk” too, under the hood.

2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5: Powertrain

The Ioniq 5 will be available with single or dual electric motors, and two different battery capacities.

Single Motor: Rear-Wheel Drive

With the single motor driving the rear wheels and the smaller battery, the Ioniq 5 will make about 167 horsepower and should accelerate from 0-60 miles per hour in the mid-8 second range. With the single motor and larger battery, horsepower increases to 214, and acceleration drops to around 7.4 seconds. This combination will be the range champ of the lineup, and should be able to hit at least 292 miles on a full charge according to estimates. Hyundai has yet to provide range estimates for the other configurations.

Dual Motor: All-Wheel Drive

Adding a second motor for the front wheels will give the Ioniq 5 all-wheel drive, and with the smaller battery, total horsepower is 232. Acceleration drops to around 6 seconds in this configuration. For greatest performance, you’ll want the Ioniq 5 with the dual motor, large battery combo. Horsepower jumps to around 302, and 0-60 will take barely over 5 seconds.

Charging

The Ioniq 5 can accommodate very quick charging times, if you have access to public DC fast chargers. Hyundai says it will take only 18 minutes to charge the battery from 10% to 80% of capacity. To add about 60 miles of range, only 5 minutes of charging is necessary. This capability can greatly minimize one of the major perceived shortcomings of electric cars. You could take the Ioniq 5 on a long road trip with minimal additional disruption over driving a conventional gasoline-powered vehicle. Charging times on slower home systems have yet to be announced.

2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5: Cool Features and Innovations

One of the coolest innovations in the Ioniq 5 is an augmented reality heads-up display (AR HUD). Hyundai says it can project navigation directions and safety warnings onto the car’s windshield, giving you all pertinent information without taking your eyes off the road. Cadillac has a similar feature in the new Escalade, except its AR display uses the digital gauge cluster, not a heads-up display. In Cadillac’s system, a camera displays the view in front of the vehicle, and can overlay your navigation’s turn-by-turn directions on what you see in real time. It displays graphics to show you exactly which lanes to use for an offramp, or exactly which street on which to turn. You can watch a minute of this Doug DeMuro video to see what I’m describing. We’ll have to wait and see exactly how Hyundai’s AR HUD system operates, but this technology is next level, and awesome.

There’s a Vehicle-to-Load feature too, which turns the Ioniq 5 into a rolling power supply. There are two ports, one inside below the rear seat, and one outside in the car’s charging port, which can charge devices like an electric scooter, or camping equipment. Also, the glass roof can be equipped with solar panels, to collect power to supplement the battery pack.

In conclusion…

You can expect Hyundai to announce more details about the Ioniq 5’s charging times and driving range for each motor and battery configuration before the on-sale date in the Fall of 2021. Pricing also has yet to be announced. Although, of note, Hyundai EVs still qualify for the federal government’s full $7,500 tax credit. Tesla and GM’s EVs do not (the tax credit expires once an automaker sells 200,000 electric models). Your state or municipality may offer other tax incentives as well.

Ready or not, electrification is absolutely the future of the automotive industry, and it’s wild to see the strides that manufacturers are making over a relatively short amount of time. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 looks like it will be a design and engineering powerhouse, and it’s the vehicle I’m most excited about for 2022.