Long-term test intro: 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Long Range AWD

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By now you’ve likely seen the commercials: Hockey stars from various Canadian NHL teams driving by or walking up to a Hyundai of choice, followed by a slow “Wahhhh” exclamation from adoring kids. While Hyundai made a big splash jumping in as the official Canadian automotive sponsor of the NHL this year, gaining them access to those stars for the commercials, Hyundai’s connections with hockey go back quite a bit further. I’m talking about Hyundai Hockey Helpers, founded in 2012, in which Hyundai partnered with KidSport, a not-for-profit organization that offers grants to offset the costs of registration fees and equipment for families struggling financially. Since then, Hyundai has continued to support grassroots hockey in various ways until making the big jump to being an NHL sponsor this year.

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As Driving.ca’s resident hockey dad, I have long wondered if an EV could survive the suburban hockey lifestyle: daily slogs to rink for practices, away games hours from home, and holiday tournaments on top of the usual family routine, especially through the holiday season. With a tournament in Kingston in February and regular trips from Brampton to Hamilton, St. Catharines, and Niagara, we need an EV with a fair bit of range, but with a family of four and no goalies we don’t really need a three-row seven seater, so a wide variety of the new generation of EVs would be an adequate fit: Ford Mustang Mach-e, Nissan Ariya, Kia EV6, Volkswagen ID.4, Tesla Model 3, and several others.

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However, of all the options out there, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 caught my eye for one overwhelming reason: looks. The Ioniq 5 has been one of my favourite designs since it was first previewed as the 45 Concept in 2019. As a serial hatchback and wagon owner, that’s my jam, and the Ioniq 5 brings that body style squarely into the 21st century, though clearly paying homage to the origins of the species in the Giorgetto Giugiario-designed Hyundai Pony and Volkswagen Golf.

The looks get the attention, but the surprisingly spacious interior and adequate range is what gave me the confidence to commit to several months in the Ioniq 5. Earlier EVs like the Nissan Leaf would have been stressful to drive to rinks over an hour away if there was no charging at our destination, but with over 400 km of estimated range in the Preferred AWD Long Range trim Hyundai arranged for us, even the farthest rinks at about 130 km away are well within my round-trip range-anxiety radius even when factoring in the range reduction from cabin and seat heaters working. The one caveat is that I probably have to leave a bit earlier than usual and drive a responsible 110 km/h or less, as the range tends to plummet when the speedometer starts to climb. Even if running into low range, the QEW corridor between Brampton and other points on our loop feature a handful of Level 3 charging stations (max charging speed is under 20 minutes on a 350-kW Level 3 charger or about an hour on a 50-kW L3), so we’ll see if the infrastructure can keep up with our travel plans. We’ll get into the nitty gritty of estimated range and charging times vs our real-world experiences in one of our later reports, and we’ll have David Booth take it out for one of his real-world range tests in a Range Finder report.

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As to the interior space, I originally thought the Ioniq 5 was more of a compact car because I associated it with the smaller hatchback it resembles, but the interior space definitely lives up to the crossover billing. The 2023 Ioniq 5 has a similar footprint as a Honda CR-V or Hyundai Tucson, but it commits more if its interior space to passenger comfort with combined headroom, legroom, and hiproom exceeds those conventional crossovers but features a bit less cargo space. Compared to its natural EV rivals, it’s bigger than the Chevrolet Bolt EUV or Nissan Leaf, and similar in size to the Ford Mustang Mach-e and Volkswagen ID.4. In human terms, the seating area is plenty spacious for four adults plus a smaller child in the middle rear seat, and the cargo space easily handled my hockey bag plus my son’s hockey and baseball bags all at the same time. We’ll borrow our Driving.ca Heys luggage set from Renita for a cargo test at some point too.

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Getting all that gear and the family moving is no problem, but also a case of choose your own adventure. The difference in how each of the three driving modes doles out the 320 hp and 446 lb-ft torque is very distinct. Eco mode feels like a 70-hp Pony off the line in order to execute the most efficient and least energy-wasteful launches, and begins decelerating aggressively as you ease off the accelerator. Normal mode feels like a hot hatch in comparison, but still recovers energy agressively when lifting to go-pedal. I have used Sport mode only sparingly because it is pretty bonkers, but it gives me great hope in the upcoming Ioniq 5 N that we’ve spied testing on track. We’ll have more detailed driving impressions when we conclude this long-term test, but the first few days have been mildly fun.

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A staple of every long-term test is also a comparison test, and of all the competitors listed earlier, the one that intrigues me most is the long-awaited Nissan Ariya, which overlaps the Ioniq 5 in price and capability, so it should be a very close matchup. If the Ariya doesn’t hit the ground in Canada this winter, the next nearest EV in terms of pricing, power, and range is the Volkswagen ID.4, but the car the Ioniq 5 is chasing on the sales charts is the Tesla Model 3, and despite Elon Musk’s misadventures, Tesla is still THE brand when it comes to electric cars.

The particular flavour of Ioniq we are driving is the $54,999 Preferred Long Range AWD with the $5,000 Ultimate package (which goes up to $6,000 for 2023 models), so it is fully loaded and tops $62K when you add in the $1,925 Destination fee.

Let us know in the comments below which car you’d like to see in a comparison with the Ioniq 5, as well as any questions or challenges you have for us during our long-term test.