The entry version of this landmark electric lands in a price sweet spot, which makes it hard to pin down. And just when it finally arrived … it had to leave again

 Prices: $79,990/$96,990.

Powertrain: Single permanent magnet synchronous electric motor (rear) and a 58kWh/72.6kWh lithium-ion battery, 125kW/350Nm and 160kW/350Nm, 16.7/17/9kWh/100km consumption, single speed automatic transmission, rear-drive.

Vital statistics: 4635mm long, 1647mm high, 1890mm wide, 3000mm wheelbase; luggage space 531/1600 litres (boot).

Likes: Pleasingly relaxing and easy to drive, spacious and airy interior, beautiful build quality.

Dislikes: Rear drives lack blind spot collision avoidance and surround view monitor.

TESTING the Ioniq 5 for the first time, late last year, impacted massively and almost wholly in a good way. 

Such a breakthrough car. Built on a new dedicated EV platform, this larger-than-it-looks crossover and its swathe of technology, not least the high-voltage battery and smart electronics that allow super-fast charging, imparted from first (silent) start up as something special.

There was no doubt of its worthiness of the award it subsequently snared, New Zealand Car of the Year, meted by the national organisation of professional automotive commentators, the NZ Motoring Writers’ Guild.

 My first and, until recently, only experience was with the car at its best. The Limited is curiously named in that there’s nothing about its provision that seems at all restricted. This is a give-it-everything provision.

Dual motor for all-wheel-drive, fed by the bigger (so 72.6kWh) of two batteries and a stack of luxuries include. Plus, the one I had ran with something new even for an EV, a solar roof option which can provide maximum charge rate of 205 watts. Enough (under ideal conditions) to provide an extra 1500Km of range each year, though it’s not designed to feed the car directly. The primary aim is to keep the 12-volt battery system charged up.

Anyway, a great car with great tech. But, of course, you pay. You’re talking about a $112k product as driven.

Life at the top seemed sweet. However, from that moment, the next itch to scratch was to discover how it well it performed at the other of the spectrum; in its base specification. 

Getting to realise that one was harder than it looks. Accrediting this model with the national COTY had one drawback; getting the gong simply lifted the car’s popularity. Sales were already running fast before the annual award was announced in February. From that moment, demand simply accclerated and, as might have guessed, the base car was among the most sought-after derivatives. I finally secured a booking for one in May.

Which became June, due to an allocation issue. No problem. If first impressions are the most important, then the entry car got off to a flying start. It’s clearly not trimmed as extravagantly as the more expensive choice, but neither does it impact as being too much of a cheapie; which is good, given that even the version that costs less still prices to leave just $10 change from $80,000.

That pricing allows the model to achieve a tasty Government rebate, but it’s still a big chunk of change. Among EV choices, the Ioniq 5 stands as being just slightly premium, though for once comparison with the inevitable Kia counterpart, the EV6, reminds that the argument that electric architectures are expensive in any setting seems to hold water. The Kia isn’t really much less expensive. Neither does any other obvious rival. While there might not seem any logic to anyone with EV commitment to suggest that the same amount of spend could buy a variety of tasty in-vogue fossil fuel dependent vehicles, the fact remains. It will.

Anyway, if you’re looking simply at Ioniq 5 derivatives, the most obvious immediate difference about the base car, appearance wise, is that it is on the smaller wheels and, in respect to cabin treatment, switches from leather to (unheated) cloth seats, which I’ll say now is much less of a downgrade than you might think. Life with the ‘cheap seats’ is okay by me; if anything, the base seat has more comfort and the covering material is attractive, warm and seems robust. I guess it’ll be that first spilled cup of coffee that’ll test the latter contention.

The more salient impact that you’re accepting is all technical; living with what outwardly seems to be a less adventuresome and gloat-worthy drivetrain.

Reduction to a single motor – driving the rear wheels – also hooked into a smaller battery, a 58kWh type, cuts deeply into cited outputs (125kW/350Nm against 225kW and 605Nm) and so commensurately felt not just in step-off – zero to 100kmh in 8.5 seconds versus 5.2 (or 7.4 with the rear drive with the larger battery) – but, more pertinently, in range.

The entry car is said to be good for 384 kilometres’ running from a fully charged battery, whereas the bigger battery types in dual (and single) motor will deliver between 451km and 481km, depending on the wheel size (the 19s carry it further than the 20s).

Whether that’s a difference that makes … well, any tangible difference … is something worth considering. From the time spent with it, even the slower car has a spritely enough step and Hyundai’s range expectations also seemed accurate. Or, at least, it didn’t seem in any more of a hurry to ‘chew’ through the battery than the types with the larger battery. All that plus so much data that suggests most daily use by EVs comes nowhere near to clocking even the lowest optimal kilometrage would seem to suggest the cheapest choice has quite enough grunt and range to suit most purposes for much of the time.

Aside from it saving in spend, the smaller battery car also saves in recharging time. The Ioniq 5’s electrical structure is particularly advanced, in that it includes a 400 Volt/800 Volt multi-charging system, while most cars are single voltage. It defaults to 800 Volts. When using 50kWh fast charging, the car uses the 400 Volt system using the traction motor/inverter, while charging on a 300kW Hyper Charger will see a direct-to-battery charge, using the 800-volt system. The max charge any Ioniq 5 can take is 225kW, or around a 3kWh/minute charge rate.

A smaller battery takes less time to fill, of course, though because battery replenishment isn’t anything as rapid a refilling a fuel tank, that’s all a semantic, particularly if you intend to replenish off a three-pin socket at home. That might seem the most cost effective and convenient way is nonetheless also the slowest by far; to point of being a waste of time.

For the 58kWh model, it would take 30 hours to recharge the car from flat (which isn’t actually; the battery also keeps something in reserve) on a standard three-pin socket. That equates to one hour of charge for 14km of range.

Using a 7.4kW Wall charger, this reduces to nine hours, or one hour of charge for 42km range. What’s much better for those who need to stay on the move is to forget about home charging and instead seek out a commercial DC rapid charger. The most commonplace are 50kW devices; on one of those it’ll take 33 minutes to charge from 10 to 80 percent, or 10 mins charge for 93km of range. A 300kW Hyper Charger, if you can find one – and, at the moment, there are fewer than a dozen of those in the country - takes 15 minutes 10 to 80 percent; or 10 minutes of charge for 200km range.

For the 72.6kWh model on the largest rims, the numbers are nonetheless a little longer, with 38 hours on a standard socket, 11 hours on a wall charger, 41 minutes on a fast charge, and 20 minutes on a Hyper Charger.

Anyway, from the day of picking it up it seemed that, in the general usage regime it was put into, the Ioniq 5 entry is not a lot different to the Ioniq 5 ‘extravagent’.

With this model, inasmuch as any other, you need to get your head around its size. I’d forgotten how difficult it is to comprehend this until you see one in the metal, glass and plastic. In pictures the five-door design looks to be ‘regular’ hatchback, but in reality it's much larger; wider than Hyundai’s Tucson medium SUV and longer than the Santa Fe, which is a seven seater.

Mentioning those models seems fair, given brand contention about this EV deserving being categorised as a kind of crossover. I don’t agree. To my eyes, it’s an upscaled hatchback, albeit one with a little more ground clearance than usual. That gells more with the background story that contends the car’s look takes inspiration from old design files for the original Pony – Hyundai’s first exported vehicle, that debuted in 1974.  

The shape is something I’ve gone over previously, so no need to rehash except to say that, even after almost a year in circulation, it’s still a magnet for a diversity of opinion. Some see it as daring, some not. I’d personally suggest that the EV6 is much more dramatic, but would agree the Ioniq 5 shouldn’t be cursorily dismissed, because it is brimming with interesting details. I’d also say it looks better on 20-inch wheels.

The interior is where the really radical design occurs; it’s an amazing place. Minimalist approach to all the controls in a massive environment. It’s not only the attention to detail and design execution; there’s an air of perceived quality. In saying that, I’m still not sold on the look of the simplified two-spoke steering wheel and still found myself double-checking my use of the drive selector, a thick stalk on the right because I’d either mistake it for the indicator wand or twist it the wrong way when seeking Reverse or Drive; the movement for the first seems more natural to engage the second, and vice versa. 

Ahead of the wheel is a 12-inch digital screen for the instruments, with slight variations in its appearance depending on the selected driving mode. The graphics are clear and ultra-modern. This display is neatly integrated in an off-white housing with what appears to be a speaker nearest the driver's door and another 12-inch screen in the middle of the car.

The latter is a touchscreen and operates with fantasic intuitiveness. Thankfully, the controls for the heating and air conditioning are separate to that. Overall, it looks very slick - and it works just as well. 

The large centre console between the seats that can slide forward and back, allowing room to get from one front seat to the other, is a useful idea. It’s strange, though, that this Universal Island has a phone recharge pad yet lacks a USB port into which you can activate Apple Car Play. The one that does this is in an especially awkward location, at the foot of the instrument console.

As in any other Ioniq 5, the rear of the cabin is exceedingly comfortable, too, with absolutely loads of legroom and plenty of headroom. Plenty of decent-sized SUVs would struggle to better the rear-seat space. The floor is flat as well, so an adult can easily get comfortable in the middle seat. 

In any version of Ioniq 5, extra boot space can be freed up by sliding the rear seats forward and passengers can also alter the angle of the backrests for comfort. Meanwhile, the rear seat backs fold down to form a flat surface with the main boot floor. The boot doesn't look especially massive, but the measuring devices say it carries 527 litres, which is pretty decent. And, of course, the single motor models achieve an extra storage area under the nose. 

So far I haven’t mentioned the driving and there’s good reason for that. There wasn’t much in this one. Here’s why. When the car arrived, it had a small but discernible chip in the windscreen. This was alerted to me by Hyundai NZ and I was asked if I was comfortable taking the car. I had no hesitation; the dealer who delivered the car and I both had a good look and decided it was of no concern.

Bad call. Two nights later, when I driving home … suddenly, it let go. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but the screen is huge and it clearly has a structural role to play. It didn’t completely fall apart, but the crack was huge and was only going to get worse. The car couldn’t be driven further and Hyundai NZ transported it back to Auckland for repair. I was promised a replacement car and, sure enough, it got to me in mid-July.

Another rear-drive but not the same beat; NRJ597, the car in today’s images, is was an Elite, with the 72.6kWh battery.

Life $17k up the scale was a halfway step between where this all started, last year, and where I’d recently been; basically, everything with additional plush, performance and range, for an added price. The change of perception is also unavoidable; this, after all, is the one with the best range of all, albeit with just an 18km edge over the all-wheel-drive.

 It’s always interesting to find out accurate the maker range figures are, but the imperative to do with the base car always seemed more important than with this one, and there’d been no chance for that. The Elite was nonetheless taken on a four hour open road run to get a feel for its ability, with an overall energy consumption of 19.2kWh/100km, which is less than that experienced with the Limited. I’d expect the base car to be more efficient in the mainly 100kmh, sealed road conditions I drove in, simply because it is lighter – the smaller battery pack alone removes 49kg or so from the kerb weight – and runs narrower, smaller diameter bespoke Michelin rubber (235/55 R19 against the Elite’s 255/45 R20).

 The distance drive day was in wet weather that worsened as the day went on. But the car was a cocoon of warmth – the Elite has a heat pump type system that is very effective, plus it also gets seat warmers and a heated steering wheel – and it imparts as smooth and very refined choice. This demonstrated on a variety of road surfaces. The decent grip combined with a low centre of gravity made it feel athletic enough, but really it’s the way it just quietly cruises with absolute resolve and determination that sticks with you. It’s a relaxed companion.

 It’s going to be fascinating how Hyundai’s N performance division are going to turn this model into a hot hatch. In standard form, the Ioniq 5 is certainly accomplished in facilitating its basic driving duty, but it just doesn’t readily impart as being a particularly racy car, and only in part because it’s hardly all that compact.

 It’s not the quickest thing out there; though overtaking is easily enough effected setting speed records is clearly not the priority. It’s all about imparting as a cocoon of calmness. It does this brilliantly. Yes, it’s a pity the steering doesn’t provide more feedback and the suspension isn’t always in tune with surface condition; it’s one of those curious cars that has you wishing it was firmer in some circumstances yet softer in others.

 It’s a pity the base car couldn’t be put to a proper test; but even though this involvement turned into a series of episodes of differing involvements, it was still a good experience overall. One impression is that halving the drive motor count doesn’t really hurt the car’s persona. Undoubtedly, a dual motor is going to better on low-grip surfaces and would deliver a dynamic edge, but in general driving circumstances you’d be hard-pressed, I believe, to think the rear-drive set-up is any less effective.

 However it goes, the Ioniq 5 continues to impress as it did when first met: It’s a stunning achievement. What’s even more remarkable is that it could feel quite ordinary all too soon within the brand family, given the pace of the advances occurring in Seoul. As good as it gets is not enough for this crowd.