First Drive: 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5

While the hype surrounding Hyundai’s latest electric vehicle doesn’t quite emit the incandescent glow of Tesla’s Cybertruck, the Ioniq 5 is one of the most anticipated new EVs heading into 2022.

That certainly was the sentiment amongst the two dozen or so Canadian journalists who braved antigen tests, masked flights, and a freakish rainstorm that lashed this typically temperate and dry SoCal city. The night before our drive, on a number of occasions during dinner conversation, I heard “I can’t wait to drive this vehicle.” Twenty-four hours later, the table talk was equally unanimous in declaring the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 one of the most impressive electric vehicles available to Canadian consumers today. There is, also with resounding agreement, a glaring omission on the vehicle. But more about that later.

We knew quite a lot about this new EV before the opportunity to drive it, facts and figures that fuelled much of our anticipation to get behind the wheel. Notably, the Ioniq 5’s price point qualifies buyers for the federal and provincial rebates, a key selling point for many first-time EV adopters; and it is the first of many Hyundais to come to be built on the automaker’s electric-global modular platforms (E-GMP), which offers the tantalizing prospect of charging the battery pack from 10 per cent to 80 per cent in just 18 minutes thanks to a 800-volt multi-charging capability.

2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5. Photo by Andrew McCredie

The first thing that struck me about the Ioniq 5 was its size. Images suggest a mid-size hatchback design, but in real life the Ioniq 5 is more mid-size SUV, with a footprint similar to Hyundai’s Santa Fe model. That’s even more noticeable when you get inside the spacious and open cabin. The extremely long wheelbase — in the same ballpark as Hyundai’s SUV flagship, the Palisade — coupled with the E-GMP flat floor design, creates a deceivingly large passenger and cargo area. It will comfortably fit five six-footers and luggage, and the sliding centre console provides lots of space for storing things. A really great, well-thought-out design.

Our drive route took us from the Gaslamp district of San Diego east to the Gold Rush-era town of Julian and back, a roundtrip of about 200 kilometres. All the Ioniq 5s available to drive were the top-of-the-line Preferred AWD Long Range model outfitted with the Ultimate Package ($59,999), and with a full-charge range of 414 kilometres, range anxiety was off the table. The route was a mix of interstate highway and winding, hilly secondary roads, offering a good test of the all-wheel drive vehicle.

I had the wheel for the first segment, a 50-kilometre blast east on Interstate 8, and it quickly became apparent that the Ioniq 5’s dual-motor configuration was not lacking in power. The advertised 320 horsepower and 446 lb-ft of torque never had me feeling tentative to pull out into the fast lane in the moderate traffic, and that lovely instantaneous burst of electric acceleration had a passing maneuver seemingly over before it had begun. As mentioned, the weather was lousy, with high winds and lots of rain, but the Ioniq 5 felt very planted (that 77.4 kWh lithium-ion polymer battery pack under foot certainly helped). The combination of MacPherson Struts up front and a multi-link rear suspension worked well with the long wheelbase, and the addition of high-performance dampers translated to a firm but comfortable ride and incredibly quiet interior, even at highway speeds and with considerable wind buffeting.

My co-driver took over for the second segment, along some twisting, and climbing, two-lane highways that only served to underscore the Ioniq 5’s handling, poise, and comfort. As a Tesla owner, he quickly enabled the semi-autonomous driving functions, interested to see how Hyundai’s system stacked up against Tesla’s Autopilot, the gold standard. After about five kilometres of semi-autonomous driving, with evident surprise he declared it almost as good as Tesla, and by far the best he’d experienced in any non-Elon vehicle. High praise to be sure.

After some slow-smoked BBQ at the Julian Beer Co. (well worth a visit by the way), and a slice of pie from the Julian Pie Co. (an institution around these parts of Southern California), I was back behind the wheel for the fun roads, but instead of playing with the self-driving aids — I admit it, I’m a dinosaur who likes to be in control, particularly on challenging roads — I experimented with the regen braking modes. There are four; one through three increasing in braking power, and a fourth called I-Pedal which enables one-pedal driving. Loved the fact to change and engage the modes you simply use the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters, as this is the best way to enable regen braking modes. You can keep your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, which I did to use the regen braking as downshifts and upshifts when entering and exiting turns. Worked very well, and the tuning of the modes is excellent as you don’t experience the jerk when increasing the regen power that you do in other automaker’s EVs.

The final sprint back to San Diego in the hands of my co-driver confirmed my positive impressions of the highway handling — and speed — of the Ioniq 5, as he again almost put the new Hyundai in the same class as his Tesla 3. Almost (after all, he’s a Tesla owner). However, he did admit that the Ioniq 5 cabin noise, or lack thereof, put Teslas to shame.

2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5. Photo by Andrew McCredie

In terms of comfort, the so-called ‘slim design seats’ were excellent, with good bolstering and padding, and the ample leg room allowed me to stretch out when in the passenger seat. This is one road-trip warrior.

Now, the negatives. We’ll start with the least offensive. The fashion for EV interiors is simplicity — thank-you, Tesla! — so most of the Ioniq 5’s controls for climate, audio, nav etc. are found within the centre-dash console touchscreen. It’s all fairly intuitive but as a rule I’m not a fan of scrolling through sub menus to find what otherwise could be accomplished with a push of a button located on the dash. I realize I’m probably in the minority here, particularly within the EV set, but I find sub menu scrolling to be distracting and annoying. That said, I am glad the drive mode settings — Eco, Normal, Sport and Snow — are controlled with a steering wheel mounted dial.

Then there is the turning radius, which for a vehicle this size seems quite large. Simply physics dictates that would be the case given the very long wheelbase, but it is something that should be noted when considering the vehicle.

Some of the hype around this vehicle had to do with the first application of Hyundai’s augmented reality head-up display. Well, I checked it out and was thoroughly unimpressed. Yes, it is sharper thanks to the optical glass installed in the dashboard and angled toward the driver. And yes, it does have four sections of information. But to be honest, it was the one aspect of the Ioniq 5 that fails to live up to the hype.

And finally, that glaring omission. There is no rear windshield wiper/washer, despite a near vertical back window. Instead, there are two large slots cut in the top rear spoiler, presumably to serve the dual purpose of aerodynamics and to funnel quick moving air over the window to clear water. Well, we had plenty of water coming down during most of our drive and it simply didn’t work very effectively. Employing the rear defrost helped a little, but one can’t help but think how a Canadian winter will really underscore what a mistake it is not to have a rear wiper. Not a deal breaker, but still an annoyance, and one that seems easy to fix.

Direct competitors to the Ioniq 5, which is in Canadian dealerships now, are the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the VW ID.4. I would put the Hyundai at the top of that list.

The anticipation of driving the Ioniq 5 might be done for me now, and it certainly did live up to the hype, but now I can’t wait to drive the 22 remaining all-new BEVs Hyundai has promised by 2025. Hopefully, the weather will be better.

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