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I test drove Hyundai Ioniq 5 SEL RWD (short review)

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I wanted to see how I liked the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 SEL RWD as my EDD is not until mid May, so maybe get into a new car sooner. I very much liked the styling. As a matter of fact, I like the overall looks better than the model Y. Seat covers are very nice design, and very comfortable. I liked the 2 separate 12" dash screens, with the speedometer directly behind the steering wheel. Tremendous amount of headroom.

EF32A1DA-08ED-400C-A129-A259CC874FE8.jpeg


I drove the non-glass roof version. You have to upgrade to highest level (Limited) to get glass roof like the Y. Car had good acceleration, and was quiet. It had some features not available on the Y, such as side view mirror, blind spot detection, and had an almost perfect view through rear view mirror - much better than Y.

Frunk had almost zero space to put anything but perhaps the portable charger/cable in there. Also, rear cargo space was visually smaller than the Y. Rear seats are on tracks so you can move them forward or back, and also have recline adjustment (nice feature). The at-home charger supplied with the Ioniq is just 115v, with no option available.

Meaning you must buy your own 220v charger, which I saw online, priced around $400 - $500. Hyundai does give you 2 years free charging at Electrify America, but there are hardly any in my area, the closest being about 30 minutes away.

That was enough to rule out buying the Ioniq 5. Imagine taking a trip and having to rely on chargers that are not abundant, and I have read are often inoperable. Another minus is setting regenerative braking. It must be set each time you start the car - it doesn't stay in the mode when it was turned of - big negative. Sticker price was around $47k. I asked the salesman if they sell at msrp and he said they add $3k to sticker, plus $799 dealer fee. I later called another dealer under the same ownership, and they add $1,799 to sticker, plus dealer fee - a $1,200 savings. SEL models come with 19" wheels, while Limited has 20".

I asked my CPA about getting the $7,500 rebate, and he said I would qualify for part of it based on last years tax return, but didn't know if I could get remaining balance the following year. I thought I read that you could, so if anyone knows for sure, please leave a comment below. The dealer knew nothing about the rebate except that it is $7,500. Considering the rebate, the price of the car comes out to around $42k which I feel is a great deal on this car, if you are willing to put up with charging headaches. And our gov't. in all its wisdom, does not offer an instant rebate, therefore making you pay tax on that $7,500 rebate. I think we will be seeing a lot of these on the road soon. They have really just started to deliver them, so limited availability at this time, but they're on their way.

It will be good for Tesla to have some real competition, especially at this price point, which Tesla cannot touch. One last thing... paint colors. They have a nice variety of colors available. I'm so tired of seeing the same Tesla
colors, year in - year out. Hyundai does offer the top level trim Limited model with full glass roof (with retractable electric cover) , ventilated seats, AWD, and a lot more, but those are priced at around $55k or more and reflect a more direct comparison to the model Y. But minus $7,500.

I hope this review is helpful to those considering an Ioniq 5.

“Hyundai Ioniq 5 NE white (6).jpg” by Damian B Oh is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.
 
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Snark is hard to parse. I was taking shots at the "gimme my lead based 2mm thick paint job like the old days" type of comments.

Some of the nicest custom cars come out of California, which also must adhere to the low VOC paint laws, so it doesn't pass basic deductive reasoning that it's the cause of Tesla's notoriously not awesome paint job out of Fremont.
And I was getting on my high horse and not living in the reality of todays world! Or maybe I was reacting to all of the Nitro Cellulose fumes and Imron cyanide flavored paint I used for years..years ago.
 
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Snark is hard to parse. I was taking shots at the "gimme my lead based 2mm thick paint job like the old days" type of comments.

Some of the nicest custom cars come out of California, which also must adhere to the low VOC paint laws, so it doesn't pass basic deductive reasoning that it's the cause of Tesla's notoriously not awesome paint job out of Fremont.
Tesla paint is NOT the worst or the best. I don't know what it is but if it's something on a Tesla it's either the worst or the best ever. Humans have a way of remembering *sugar* fondly so they never bring up the faults of their fond memories.

G search parameters below X has bad paint. The hits are large.

 
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I went and took a look at the car this past weekend. My wife thought that the exterior looks better in person. However, she thought that the interior didn't feel as premium as the Tesla. She also thought that the interior feels more cramped because of the smaller windows and lack of panoramic roof in the car we looked at.

I thought the interior felt fine, but it definitely feels very traditional. The UI also felt sluggish compared to my Y (which does have the AMD chip).

When it came to driving it, the ride was much smoother and quieter, and I think that's one big point for the Ioniq. However, the accelerator pedal didn't feel as tuned and I couldn't get it to start moving without a small jerk. Maybe with more driving experience it would be better.

I think that the car is competitive. The Y feels like a better car overall, but the Ioniq has some points for it, especially the price and ride quality. However, the dealers around me are charging $5000 over, so there's no way I consider getting it as a second EV.
 
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I went and took a look at the car this past weekend. My wife thought that the exterior looks better in person. However, she thought that the interior didn't feel as premium as the Tesla. She also thought that the interior feels more cramped because of the smaller windows and lack of panoramic roof in the car we looked at.

I thought the interior felt fine, but it definitely feels very traditional. The UI also felt sluggish compared to my Y (which does have the AMD chip).

When it came to driving it, the ride was much smoother and quieter, and I think that's one big point for the Ioniq. However, the accelerator pedal didn't feel as tuned and I couldn't get it to start moving without a small jerk. Maybe with more driving experience it would be better.

I think that the car is competitive. The Y feels like a better car overall, but the Ioniq has some points for it, especially the price and ride quality. However, the dealers around me are charging $5000 over, so there's no way I consider getting it as a second EV.
Nice comparison. The panoramic roof make the Y feel very open but is also a liability because it causes a lot of solar heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter (that's probably not a huge concern for you, though.) I think the ride quality is a definite advantage. I'm continually disappointed with the ride in my Y and MN roads in the winter make it even worse. I have the Intel processor and have never felt the interface to be slow, so that shouldn't matter much.
 
From this 70mph range test, it would seem that the Ioniq's freeway autopilot is pretty good. It even does lane changes for you without you having to shell out $12k for FSD.

I think overall, the biggest thing for lots of people is price. The Ioniq Limited RWD is more than $15k cheaper if tax incentives are considered, and the real-world range is not that much different than the Y. Of course, the Y has much better performance and all the other stuff you mentioned.
It seems lane change is hit or miss. Auto makers are building EV's hoping to compete with Tesla, but there are lot of things you don't see especially under the car. It's not all about what you see on the top. Hyundai has been known to cut corners on every vehicles and this is no exception. Don't get fixated on the price. Tesla would cost lot more than what it is if it was made from any other manufacturer.
 
It seems lane change is hit or miss. Auto makers are building EV's hoping to compete with Tesla, but there are lot of things you don't see especially under the car. It's not all about what you see on the top. Hyundai has been known to cut corners on every vehicles and this is no exception. Don't get fixated on the price. Tesla would cost lot more than what it is if it was made from any other manufacturer.
Good advice. Luckily the legendary crew at Munro Live YouTube are investigating the Ionic 5 and offering technical reviews as they disassemble the car. They have a few videos dedicated to Ioniq 5 already. So far seems to be a vast improvement over their previous EV cars but this is to be expected since this is their first car built on a platform intended for EV rather than updating and ICE design.

 
Ioniq 5 looks great, but to me is not a true competitor to MY. MY is popular because it's both a great performance car AND a family car, and check many boxes that are important to a wide range of people with different needs. To be a true competitor, I think at minimal it needs at least 3 of the following:

1. Great 2nd row, rear seat leg room. I don't know why this is often overlooked in reviews but from all my researches, there is no other car that comes even close to MY's rear seat space. Ioniq 5 and Mach E both seem to be adequate, but it is still smaller than MY. Forget about ID4. Also raising seat in MY gives a lot of space under the seat which makes it feel very roomy. To me that is one of the most important features. Even going up to car like BMW X5 the legrooms are tiny in comparison, I wish there be more cars with more emphasis on legroom.

2. Great trunk and storage space. Again, no other cars come close with the available storage space in trunk, sub trunk and front trunk combine.

3. Laugh as you may, but which other cars have big screen in the middle that kids can watch Netflix while charging? I really don't understand why other manufactures don't copy this concept, this is not new, but it really becomes important during charging when you need to kill time with kids. Ioniq 5's screen is tiny, and Fort puts Mach E's screen in portrait mode. I don't think we can ever buy another car with tiny front screen without entertainment option since charging and waiting become an important part of owning EV.

I wish more manufactures would focus on above 3 points more, and bring us a true competitor to MY. But as of now, in my option, MY is hard to beat.
 
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Ioniq 5 looks great, but to me is not a true competitor to MY. MY is popular because it's both a great performance car AND a family car, and check many boxes that are important to a wide range of people with different needs. To be a true competitor, I think at minimal it needs at least 3 of the following:

1. Great 2nd row, rear seat leg room. I don't know why this is often overlooked in reviews but from all my researches, there is no other car that comes even close to MY's rear seat space. Ioniq 5 and Mach E both seem to be adequate, but it is still smaller than MY. Forget about ID4. Also raising seat in MY gives a lot of space under the seat which makes it feel very roomy. To me that is one of the most important features. Even going up to car like BMW X5 the legrooms are tiny in comparison, I wish there be more cars with more emphasis on legroom.

2. Great trunk and storage space. Again, no other cars come close with the available storage space in trunk, sub trunk and front trunk combine.

3. Laugh as you may, but which other cars have big screen in the middle that kids can watch Netflix while charging? I really don't understand why other manufactures don't copy this concept, this is not new, but it really becomes important during charging when you need to kill time with kids. Ioniq 5's screen is tiny, and Fort puts Mach E's screen in portrait mode. I don't think we can ever buy another car with tiny front screen without entertainment option since charging and waiting become an important part of owning EV.

I wish more manufactures would focus on above 3 points more, and bring us a true competitor to MY. But as of now, in my option, MY is hard to beat.

Having driven the Ioniq 5 and EV6, I prefer the two smaller screens over the single large screen. As far as kids doing something when charging - iPads, phones, or whatever else can give them plenty to do. I also prefer the ride of the others compared to the MY. Road noise, bumps, overall ride quality are, in my opinion, better with the I5 or EV6. If, on the other hand, you want your kids to giggle at the acceleration from traffic lights - by all means - go with the MYP (until the EV6 GT hits the streets).
 
Went to have a look at a couple that had already been sold and sat in one. I do like the screens, and it was generally comfy in front and the car was a good size.
The styling wouldn’t be a deal-breaker. I liked it OK, but not sure how it’s going to age. Seemed a little late-70s-early80s retro, for better or worse.
If the range was 20 or 30 better and it had a supercharger network, at that price and with a tax credit that was instant and not based on having that much tax liability, I’d be all over it I guess. But Tesla still seems to have an edge.
It’s also true that Tesla’s technology is more mature... they have def had more time to work out bugs, though there will be a reset with 4680 pack, which could have its own teething issues like much in this world.
 
Having driven the Ioniq 5 and EV6, I prefer the two smaller screens over the single large screen. As far as kids doing something when charging - iPads, phones, or whatever else can give them plenty to do. I also prefer the ride of the others compared to the MY. Road noise, bumps, overall ride quality are, in my opinion, better with the I5 or EV6. If, on the other hand, you want your kids to giggle at the acceleration from traffic lights - by all means - go with the MYP (until the EV6 GT hits the streets).

The major problem with the Ioniq 5 and EV6 is the dashboard is obstructed by the steering wheel. You can adjust it but on the EV6 I found the position where the steering wheel WASN'T blocking the dashboard - was not comfortable (my arms hung like an ape).

Anyhow Hyundai and Kia are dumping the crappy infotainment system they have for Nvidia Drive in future models. The 2022 system is a stopgap. Wireless CarPlay supposedly was not possible because of the lack of processing power with the current system.


I much prefer the Mach-E info system over the EV6 + Ioniq 5. I do prefer how the EV6/Mach-E drive over the Ioniq 5 + Model Y.
 
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The major problem with the Ioniq 5 and EV6 is the dashboard is obstructed by the steering wheel. You can adjust it but on the EV6 I found the position where the steering wheel WASN'T blocking the dashboard - was not comfortable (my arms hung like an ape).
@voxel That's how I feel about the driver's instruments/display in virtually every car. With the wheel adjusted how I like, the rim blocks part of it. In some even adjusting the wheel all the way up isn't enough (and that's not usually how I want it for driving anyways). It feels like there's some industry standard height/torso that every carmaker uses for the relative placements of the seat + steering column + instrument panel, and it doesn't work for me.

Clearly the solution is a yoke! 😁

I kid, I kid. The new S yoke does truly fix that problem but introduces worse issues, I absolutely do not want the yoke.

I'm actually really liking the Model 3/Y combo of only a center display, in combination with a small, very sporty wheel that's downright excellent for driving but would really block a traditional driver's instrument panel. The only issue I have is Tesla's poor use and readability of the center display. The speedo number is perfectly easy to read at a glance thankfully, but nothing else is, and the AP/FSD visualizations are a huge waste of space when I'm not actually using AP.
 
The major problem with the Ioniq 5 and EV6 is the dashboard is obstructed by the steering wheel. You can adjust it but on the EV6 I found the position where the steering wheel WASN'T blocking the dashboard - was not comfortable (my arms hung like an ape).

Anyhow Hyundai and Kia are dumping the crappy infotainment system they have for Nvidia Drive in future models. The 2022 system is a stopgap. Wireless CarPlay supposedly was not possible because of the lack of processing power with the current system.


I much prefer the Mach-E info system over the EV6 + Ioniq 5. I do prefer how the EV6/Mach-E drive over the Ioniq 5 + Model Y.

When will the NVIDIA drive appear in those cars? Any idea?
 
Anyhow Hyundai and Kia are dumping the crappy infotainment system they have for Nvidia Drive in future models. The 2022 system is a stopgap. Wireless CarPlay supposedly was not possible because of the lack of processing power with the current system.
Is that right? I was in a crappy Kia Rio for a couple of weeks while my MYP was in the body shop, and I was shocked to find wireless Carplay in the Rio. It's like the one feature that car had. How could their cutting edge EV not have what the Rio has?
 
The major problem with the Ioniq 5 and EV6 is the dashboard is obstructed by the steering wheel. You can adjust it but on the EV6 I found the position where the steering wheel WASN'T blocking the dashboard - was not comfortable (my arms hung like an ape).

Anyhow Hyundai and Kia are dumping the crappy infotainment system they have for Nvidia Drive in future models. The 2022 system is a stopgap. Wireless CarPlay supposedly was not possible because of the lack of processing power with the current system.


I much prefer the Mach-E info system over the EV6 + Ioniq 5. I do prefer how the EV6/Mach-E drive over the Ioniq 5 + Model Y.
If one is interested in an EV6 or Ionic 5 then it might be worth waiting for the 2023 models which I think I read will come out in 2022.

Besides improving the infotainment system, it looks like there will be improvement to the rather slow cold weather charge rate with a software fix to improve battery preconditioning/heating prior to charging. That might improve cold weather range as well.

When I test drove the GT-Line EV6 I noticed the head room was very limited. It looks like this is due to the sunroof and that you can gain another two inches of head room in the Wind trim without the sunroof. The sunroof was very small anyway. The head room in the Ioniq 5 was very good and it has a very large sunroof in the Limited version.
 
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I wanted to see how I liked the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 SEL RWD as my EDD is not until mid May, so maybe get into a new car sooner. I very much liked the styling. As a matter of fact, I like the overall looks better than the model Y. Seat covers are very nice design, and very comfortable. I liked the 2 separate 12" dash screens, with the speedometer directly behind the steering wheel. Tremendous amount of headroom.

View attachment 764281

I drove the non-glass roof version. You have to upgrade to highest level (Limited) to get glass roof like the Y. Car had good acceleration, and was quiet. It had some features not available on the Y, such as side view mirror, blind spot detection, and had an almost perfect view through rear view mirror - much better than Y.

Frunk had almost zero space to put anything but perhaps the portable charger/cable in there. Also, rear cargo space was visually smaller than the Y. Rear seats are on tracks so you can move them forward or back, and also have recline adjustment (nice feature). The at-home charger supplied with the Ioniq is just 115v, with no option available.

Meaning you must buy your own 220v charger, which I saw online, priced around $400 - $500. Hyundai does give you 2 years free charging at Electrify America, but there are hardly any in my area, the closest being about 30 minutes away.

That was enough to rule out buying the Ioniq 5. Imagine taking a trip and having to rely on chargers that are not abundant, and I have read are often inoperable. Another minus is setting regenerative braking. It must be set each time you start the car - it doesn't stay in the mode when it was turned of - big negative. Sticker price was around $47k. I asked the salesman if they sell at msrp and he said they add $3k to sticker, plus $799 dealer fee. I later called another dealer under the same ownership, and they add $1,799 to sticker, plus dealer fee - a $1,200 savings. SEL models come with 19" wheels, while Limited has 20".

I asked my CPA about getting the $7,500 rebate, and he said I would qualify for part of it based on last years tax return, but didn't know if I could get remaining balance the following year. I thought I read that you could, so if anyone knows for sure, please leave a comment below. The dealer knew nothing about the rebate except that it is $7,500. Considering the rebate, the price of the car comes out to around $42k which I feel is a great deal on this car, if you are willing to put up with charging headaches. And our gov't. in all its wisdom, does not offer an instant rebate, therefore making you pay tax on that $7,500 rebate. I think we will be seeing a lot of these on the road soon. They have really just started to deliver them, so limited availability at this time, but they're on their way.

It will be good for Tesla to have some real competition, especially at this price point, which Tesla cannot touch. One last thing... paint colors. They have a nice variety of colors available. I'm so tired of seeing the same Tesla
colors, year in - year out. Hyundai does offer the top level trim Limited model with full glass roof (with retractable electric cover) , ventilated seats, AWD, and a lot more, but those are priced at around $55k or more and reflect a more direct comparison to the model Y. But minus $7,500.

I hope this review is helpful to those considering an Ioniq 5.

“Hyundai Ioniq 5 NE white (6).jpg” by Damian B Oh is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.
Interesting. Did not know the Ioniq5 didn’t come with 220v charging cable. That’s absolutely dumb. 110v charging is ridiculously slow. Can’t even charge enough for a typical daily work commute for most people.
 
Interesting. Did not know the Ioniq5 didn’t come with 220v charging cable. That’s absolutely dumb. 110v charging is ridiculously slow. Can’t even charge enough for a typical daily work commute for most people.
I just bought an Ioniq 5 a few days ago, and the dealer added a 220v charger for no extra charge (a cheapie),
but it only charges at 16 amps, but better than nothing. I'll see how long it takes to charge, and if
it's too long, I'll upgrade.
 
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