Hyundai Ioniq 5 Review & Prices

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is an electric car with deceptive proportions - it might look like a compact hatchback, but it’s closer in size to the Skoda Enyaq, Tesla Model Y and Kia EV6 SUVs. It’s also a truly excellent electric car with a long range, fast charging and a superb interior - but unless you opt for the wild Ioniq 5 N it’s not much fun to drive and it is outdone by newer alternatives on efficiency.

Though it was launched way back in 2021, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is still a true standout on the road. It’s testament to how good the madcap, 8-bit styling is that even several years on it still looks funky and fresh. It’s like having a friend with a rainbow mohawk - no matter how often you see it, your head still turns.

The Ioniq 5’s design is a bit more conventional inside, falling in line with Hyundai’s other SUVs such as the Santa Fe and Tucson - but it still looks and feels great. You get a pair of big screens set underneath one seamless sheet so they look like a single widescreen display. That is, if you opt for the darker interior trim - light trim has white bezels which spoils the effect.

The rest of the cabin is truly excellent. You get a nice array of physical controls including a climate control panel, a row of shortcut keys and a button-laden steering wheel. It’s also super-practical.

Hyundai Ioniq 5: Electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 273-354 miles
Efficiency: 3.4-3.9 miles per kWh
Battery size: 63kWh / 84kWh
Max charge speed: 260kW
Charge time AC: 10hrs 50mins 0-100% at 7.4kW / 11hrs 20mins, 0-100% at 7.4kW
Charge time DC: 18 mins, 10-80% at 260kW
Charge port location: Left rear
Power outputs: 170hp / 228hp / 325hp

Up front, the seats are wide, spacious and comfortable, and on some models can even recline with a leg-rest to keep you extra-comfortable while waiting for the car to charge. The centre console has loads of storage, even for bigger items like handbags, and you can also step-through due to the open centre console design - which is one of those really underrated features that you don’t realise you need until somebody’s parked too close to your driver-side door.

The lounge-like feeling extends to the back, where you’ll find ample room for six-footers to stretch out and even enough width to accommodate three adults across the rear bench for short journeys. As with some other electric cars, the floor is a little high, but there’s so much space to slouch and stretch out that it doesn’t really matter.

There’s also a big 520-litre boot and a small storage area under the bonnet, which are both very useful. However, a Tesla Model Y or Skoda Enyaq have more room overall.

There are two different batteries available for the Ioniq 5. The smaller of the two is 63kWh in capacity and can do a still-impressive 273 miles per charge. The larger model gets an 84kWh battery and will do 354 miles on a charge. While those are good figures, the latest alternatives such as the long-range Peugeot E-3008 can manage over 400 miles between top-ups.

The halo model is the ballistically powerful Ioniq 5 N, which has over 650hp - but the more sensible versions aren’t lacking in performance. The small-battery version gets a single motor for rear-wheel drive with 170hp, while the big battery ups this to 228hp. There’s also a dual-motor all-wheel drive version with 325hp, but this is a bit unnecessary as it cuts range without really adding anything meaningful to the driving experience.

In everyday driving, the Ioniq 5 is super-comfortable on the motorway and quiet and refined no matter where you go. It’s not quite as much fun on a twisty road as a Kia EV6 or Ford Mustang Mach-E, though - it feels heavy and remote - but if you’re not looking for ultimate driving thrills then you’ll enjoy driving the Ioniq 5.

So if you’re after an electric car that’s roomy, practical, thoughtfully-designed and so stylish it’ll turn heads wherever you go - the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is a great option.

If it sounds like the car for you, head on over to our Hyundai Ioniq 5 deals page to see how much you can save through Carwow, while you can check out used Hyundai Ioniq 5s on Carwow as well. You can also check out other used Hyundai models, and you can even let Carwow help you to sell your old car when the time comes.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is mechanically near-identical to the Kia EV6, which means it will come as no major surprise that the pricing is not a million miles apart between the two. The Hyundai shades it, though, coming out fractionally cheaper when you look at the entry-level price. However, the cheapest version of the Hyundai gets a smaller battery than the Kia.

That model fits into a lower insurance group, too, but the others are all much the same as one another. It is competitive with the comparable versions of the Skoda Enyaq and VW ID4.

The Ioniq 5 is comfortable and impressively refined, but it’s not especially sporty and alternatives offer more range

In town

A jacked-up driving position and big windows make the Ioniq 5 an easy car to see out of, and its light, accurate steering aids in making town driving a breeze.

Its four levels of generative braking take some playing with to find a comfortable setting, but it’s extremely handy in stop-start traffic. Its suspension set-up makes it a comfortable car to drive, too. There can be a little bit of agitated fidgeting at low speed on poorly surfaced roads, and really big ruts will send a bit of shock back into the cabin, but generally this is a cushy, quiet car to waft around in. It’ll certainly take the stress out of the school run.

The cameras on the Ioniq 5 are high-definition, and you can zoom in on the overhead image and use it to look all around the car, which is really handy for parking. Its rear camera is positioned a little too low to be useful, though.

On the motorway

The Hyundai is composed and pretty quiet at higher speeds on the motorway, with standard-fit adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist helping to up the levels of relaxation. There is a bit of tyre noise, but not much else at higher speeds.

On a twisty road

Trundle out of town and onto the open road, and it keeps its cool. At a cruise there isn’t much road roar or wind noise at all, and that relaxed suspension comes into its own.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 isn’t inherently an exciting car to drive. It's composed enough, but it’s not as much fun as a Ford Mustang Mach-E on a twisty road, often feeling quite numb. However, there is a perfect solution. The Ioniq 5 N exists as a dedicated performance variant, which is incredibly quick and has had loads of upgrades that make it great fun to drive down a twisty road. You can even make it sound like a petrol car, complete with fake gear shifts.

With plenty of adjustment you can get comfortable very easily in the cabin, but the boot space is down on the closest alternatives

The sliding centre console up front in the Ioniq 5 has a couple of good-sized cup-holders, as well as some larger cubbies and trays for various odds and ends. The door bins are a bit on the small side, though, so fitting in larger drink bottles and the like might take a bit of careful coordination. The glovebox is a great space, though, and is better described as a drawer as it slides out to give you a huge amount of storage.

There is a lot of room around the footwells and, because it can be slid forwards and backwards, it means that either of the front occupants can slide over to get out of the car on the opposite side if you end up parked in a tight spot.

Space in the back seats

There is loads of head- and legroom in the back. Higher-spec models get rear control buttons on the front passenger seat too, so those in the back can give themselves more room and annoy you in the process.

Because the floor is totally flat, you can easily fit an adult in the middle seat. Even taller adults sitting here will still find there’s a good amount of headroom. You can recline the rear seats for more comfort as well. All this said, the floor is relatively high up, so taller passengers have their legs angled awkwardly.

The ISOFIX car seat anchors are easy to find and the back doors open up fairly wide – so loading in a car seat or strapping in an unruly toddler shouldn’t be more stressful than it needs to be.

Boot space

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 doesn't have the biggest boot among similar electric cars, at 520 litres – the Skoda Enyaq (585 litres) and VW ID4 (543 litres) both outdo it. It has more than the 402 litres you get in the Ford Mustang Mach-E, though. The motors under the floor mean the boot isn’t as deep as would be ideal, but you get a wide opening and a shallow loading lip. On higher-spec models you get a hands-free tailgate, too.

Up front, there is a good storage compartment under the bonnet, providing you go for the rear-wheel-drive model, which gives you 57 litres of space. Go for the all-wheel-drive model and this drops to just 24 litres.

With a unique look, the Ioniq 5's cabin is very lounge-like and modern, but there are some materials that don't feel too great

The cabin of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 looks and feels (for the most part) pretty cool and minimalistic. It's so good that you can see its influence in every Hyundai that's come since.

Build quality is decent across the board, plus plenty of soft-touch materials are deployed for a premium feel. That said, not all of the plastic touchpoints are great, with the shortcut buttons that run below the infotainment screen feeling a little bit on the cheap side.

Hyundai goes heavy on the tech, with all versions of the Ioniq 5 getting a pair of crisp 12.3-inch digital screens mounted on top of the dashboard, one for the infotainment and the other as an instrument cluster.

The graphics of the software are slick enough, and fairly responsive too. Sat nav is included, along with Bluetooth connectivity, DAB radio and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity. There’s a wireless phone charger, too. There are USB sockets in the front and back, although these are old-style USB-A ports rather than USB-C.

The Ioniq 5 also comes with a Vehicle-to-Load charging function. With the right adapter, this allows you to use it as a massive mobile battery pack to power anything with a traditional three-pin plug.

Hyundai has kept things pretty straightforward here, so there’s a choice of three different battery and engine combinations for your Ioniq 5.

The entry-level model has a 63kWh battery that’s paired with a single electric motor. With that smaller battery in place, Hyundai says you’ll be able to cover up to 273 miles on a single charge.

Sitting above that car is the single-motor, 84kWh model (up from 78kWh for the pre-2024 version). This car gets a slight power boost (up to 228hp for a 0-60mph time of 7.4 seconds); but the main attraction here is that it gets considerably more range than the 63kWh model – up to 354 miles from a charge.

Then, there’s the range-topping model. This version has the same 84kWh battery, but instead of just one electric motor it has two – one at the back and one at the front.

The additional performance is certainly nice, but because there are two electric motors for the battery to keep running instead of just one, range takes a bit of a hit. Hyundai reckons you should be able to do up to 307 miles on a charge.

And as for charging? Well, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 can charge at up to 260kW. That means a 0-80% topup will take about 18 minutes if you can find one of the few chargers that can hit this speed. Plugged into a 7kW home wallbox you’ll top the biggest 84kWh battery up overnight very comfortably. On a 100kW public charger you can expect to get 80% of charge back in around 35 minutes. Regardless of which model you go for, you will get fast charging capability included as standard.

It is worth noting that some alternatives have a claimed range that's better than that of the 84kWh Hyundai Ioniq 5. The Skoda Enyaq Coupe claims 365 miles on one charge, for instance, while the Polestar 4 claims up to 385 miles.

As an electric vehicle, you don't have to pay Vehicle Excise Duty because it doesn't produce emissions. With that in mind, the Ioniq 5's company car tax rate is very low - making it a smart option if you have a regular place to charge it.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 has the full five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP, which means it not only performs well in a crash versus its rivals but it also comes equipped with plenty of assistance technology to help it achieve that rating.

The Ioniq 5 gets Hyundai’s standard warranty cover, which, at five years, isn’t as long as the Kia’s cover but it is above the three years most manufacturers offer, and you get the added bonus of unlimited mileage. It's also fully transferable so you still benefit if you are the second owner.

Hyundai finished a disappointing 17th out of 32 manufacturers in the most recent Driver Power owner satisfaction survey. The Ioniq 5 didn't feature in the top cars to own, but the closely-related Kia EV6 placed seventh out of 75 cars.