Performance and price lift for top-flight Limited comes as Seoul announces big range projection for sedan sibling.

LOCAL market updates for the Hyundai Ioniq 5 specific to its dual motor flagship format have been announced along with an impressive range claim from the brand proper for the incoming sedan sister ship.

Announcement of specification improvements for the Ioniq 5 Limited span to the much-anticipated upshift to a 77.4kWh battery that brings it on par with a related Kia, the EV6, which launched with the larger battery.

With Hyundai, the upgrade pushes up pricing to $117,990, with the sole option glass roof lincluded. That’s a $5900 price lift over the Ioniq 5 Limited in identical trim maintaining the original 72.6kWh powerbank. Kia’s equivalent, the GT-Line, in same specification is $114,990.

Hyundai New Zealand’s announcement of availability of the bigger battery, which has provisioned in Ioniq 5 in other markets for some time now, follows expression of confidence from Hyundai Motor Company in Seoul about the Ioniq 6 sedan, coming here next year. 

Basing off the same platform and with the same drivetrains as the Ioniq 5, the new ‘Six’ will nonetheless go a lot further on a charge, optimally delivering 614 kilometres’ range – a substantial 113km lift over the best cited from any Ioniq 5.

This is almost entirely due to it having a far more aerodynamic ‘streamliner’ shape than the chunky hatch here now.

HMC says its figures for the teardrop-shaped sedan come from testing to Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) protocols, and means it will deliver energy consumption of 13.9 kWh/100 km, a consumption that makes it one the most energy-efficient electric vehicles on sale.

Both Ioniqs were developed together on the Hyundai Group’s E-GMP platform, also underpinning the EV6 (and product from Hyundai’s premium brand, Genesis), with the same flat-floor battery and structural basics, plus common battery specs and chemistry.

While Hyundai Group credit the Ioniq 6 as having benefitted from achieving more advanced energy metering electronics than the ‘Five’, they agree the main difference comes down to the way it cuts through the air. The model’s drag co-efficient of 0.21 is near class-leading and well ahead Ioniq 5, whose 1980s-inspired chunky, sharp-edged silhouette pins it to a Cd of 0.29.

Hyundai has not been specific about which version of the Ioniq 6 is the range king, but it is likely to be a rear-drive car with the 77kWh battery, which was already confirmed for the sedan.

The most economical Ioniq 5 cited in this market has been a single motor rear-drive edition with the 72.6kWh battery that will continue to avail in NZ. The entry Ioniq 5 also still provisions with a 58kWh battery.

Hyundai’s thriftiest Ioniq 5 has been shown up by most energy efficient version of the Kia EV6, the Air RWD Long Range, which is claimed to travel 528km on a single charge. All-wheel-drive EV6s are claimed to be capable of covering approximately 506km between charges.

Meantime, the Limited Ioniq 5 achieves a combined power output of 239kW, so 17kW more than the 72.6kWh model, though torque is the same, at 605Nm. Zero to 100kmh drops to as low as 5.1 seconds.

The updated model also takes a heads-up display with augmented reality and an internal plug to power household devices, plus a vehicle to load provision.