EV Review: 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5

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On the whole, living in the future is a great deal less fun than anticipated. Seemingly endless global pandemic? Check. War in Europe? Check. And how about nearly everyone gets to carry around a little computer in their pocket equipped to give you a large dose of bad news whenever you look at it? Check. Rising fuel prices are just the latest apocalyptic horsemen to join the stampede.

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However, there are bright spots amid the generally gloomy outlook, and this sharp-looking Hyundai is one of them. Formerly sized and styled as a rival to the Toyota Prius, the new Ioniq 5 is the kind of car that makes you think 2022 isn’t so bad after all. It looks and drives like the future we expected to have, and it’s just generally such a pleasant place to be that you can take a break from doom-scrolling through your phone and just enjoy the drive.

Pulling up at school for the afternoon pickup, this Hyundai stunned third-graders at twenty paces. Elsewhere, the parking lot was full of homogenous crossovers ready to shuttle kids off to piano lessons or soccer practice, their badges prominent, but mostly interchangeable. Plenty of Teslas in the mix, of course, but at the risk of angering the brand’s superfans, a Model 3 or a Model Y design is more car-as-anonymous-device than interesting styling choices.

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The matte-grey Hyundai, on the other hand, looks lifted from the set of Bladerunner. Angular sculpting gives it the look of the rally-bred Lancia Delta Integrale, and there’s some Peugeot-Renault about the front headlamps and silhouette. The rear taillights look like a 1980s stereo equalizer, and the ridging on the wheelarches gives the subtle impression of motion when stopped. This is a great little hatchback.

Well, no, actually. Great, yes, hatchback yes, little, no. In pictures, the Ioniq 5 looks to be in the same class as a Honda Civic Hatchback, but in reality it’s as long as a CR-V, with an even longer wheelbase. It also weighs more than 2000kg, depending on configuration.

Bigger is not always better, but in the case of the Ioniq 5, this is a BEV sized and priced to take the place of an average family crossover. It’s a class of vehicles reminiscent of the old Ford C-Max, something referred to in the European market as MPVs. For a family with two young kids, the Ioniq was right-sized and roomy, with a comfortable cabin and a 770L trunk (again, comparable to a CR-V).

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However, Hyundai is not immune to a common trait found in many electric vehicles: the desire to fix things that aren’t broken. Whoever decreed that EVs can’t have normal door handles should have all the doorknobs in their house removed; the Ioniq’s push-in-then-pull handles were at least able to handle a cold snap without freezing shut, but they weren’t the easiest for kids to operate.

Further, the lack of a rear wiper on this car is basically inexcusable for the Canadian market. South Korea has plenty of snow, ice, and salt, so Hyundai’s engineers should have pushed the styling department on this one. Much of the time, the rear window would become caked in rain or road dust, blocking visibility.

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To drive, the Ioniq 5 is more relaxing than its hot-hatchback looks would have you expect. Total power in the dual-motor model is 320 hp and a stout 446 lb-ft of torque. Put your foot down and the Ioniq 5 scoots with aplomb — an even hotter N version is reportedly in the works.

However, while acceleration times are often the performance headline for an EV, the Ioniq 5 is really more about an effortless drive. EVs aren’t just about a future of stoplight dashes, but rather some luxury car attributes that used to cost top dollar. The most highly-polished V12 engine in the world can’t match an EV for smoothness and accessible torque, and Hyundai has done an excellent job keeping cabin noise levels down.

Having said that, the interior isn’t quite as futuristic as the exterior is here, and most Canadian motorists would probably like the option to flip on the heated seats and steering wheel with a single button press, rather than scroll through a menu. Other nitpicks include the overall-excellent paddleshift-based regen system, which requires a reset every time you start out. It would be preferential to be able to set it and forget it. The extra-long wheelbase does also increase the turning radius.

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Five trim levels are available, with estimated ranges from 354 km to 480 km. For an all-wheel-drive model with the larger 77.4 kWh battery (entry level is 58 kWh), range is projected as 415 kms. Even if an owner is not simply topping up every day at a home charger, which is often the case, the Ioniq 5’s range is sufficient for a once-a-week fast charger “fill up.” In this case, there’s a local fast charger next to a library, which would be a weekly twenty-minute stopover with kids anyway. As ever, it should be noted here that charger availability is more of a concern for apartment and condo dwellers than detached home owners, and average consumer infrastructure isn’t nearly as widespread as Tesla’s Supercharger network.

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In this case, however, the Ioniq 5 performed cold-weather commuting and kid-hauling duties with as little forward thinking as a conventional combustion engine car. It was far more pleasant and interesting to drive than a middle-of-the-road crossover. The starting price of $44,900 for the entry Essential model isn’t cheap, but it does at least quality the Ioniq 5 for federal and provincial rebates, defraying the cost where applicable. Current gas prices being what they are, a high purchase price and low operating costs are easier to stomach.

Overall, in a tense and trying future, the Ioniq 5 makes travel by car relaxing. It might be the only time in your day that’s relatively stress-free. The future might not be what you expected, but it’s not all bad.