2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5: The next step in EVs

The electrified ionic has been in Hyundai's portfolio since 2017. We've seen it as a plug in hybrid, a regular hybrid and a full electric vehicle. But now the nameplate is getting a little bit bigger with the ionic five. This is a compact crossover. It's all electric. It's got about 300 miles of range, and it's got some Funky awesome looks. Now overall the ionic five is about the same size as the new Hyundai Tucson except that the wheelbase is way longer. I'm talking like Hyundai palisade three row SUV longer. So what that means is you've got these really short overhangs and that serves to help highlight these incredibly cool 20 inch wheels. Check it out. It's like a wheel within a wheel and I love the fact that they're aerodynamic and they've got a little bit of a funky design to them. I think that other Evie manufacturers can take note you can be aerodynamic But also have a little bit of fun. The ionic five is full of sharp angles and really straight lines. Normally that's not my bag, but here I really like it. It gives it a futuristic look but it's still really accessible to just normal everyday people and Hyundai is going out of its way to do some really cool lighting. I'm talking Tron lighting check out these headlamps. This cool pixelated thing that we got going on here that's echoed in the back and across the front of the grille here this light, it's actually hidden when the car is off. It only comes on when the car is turned on. I just love it so much. Now when you add in a clamshell hood and a flush door handles I mean this thing's got some character like nothing else you've seen on the road. All right, let's get down to the nitty-gritty, shall we? When the Anik five is available this fall, we're going to get it with a 77.4 kilowatt hour battery. And in rear wheel drive, that's going to get you about 300 miles of range, or you can slap a motor on the front and give yourself an all wheel drive vehicle. But your range is going to suffer about 269 miles. So what we've got here is an 800 volt electrical system, which means that you can charge on a super fast charger, I'm talking 250 kilowatts. And if you can find one of those, you can go from 10 to 80% of charge in just about 18 minutes, which is really fast. Now, think of it another way that's enough to go from like. San Francisco to Napa and back again and just bumped charge for like five minutes. But like I alluded to those fast chargers are a little difficult to find, so you're still gonna have to plan ahead. Of course you can also charge on the older 400 volt system, which is pretty common with 150 kilowatt chargers now that will give you 10 to 80%. About 25 minutes and about 42 miles in five minutes, I mean it's not quite as fast but still pretty quick. Now at home you can do a level two charger with 10.9 kilowatts, which is going to give you in the 100% full take in about seven hours. Now I know you're thinking like, Well, why is seven hours Well first of all, it takes a longer time to go From that 80 to 100% and also, you're asleep. What do you care? Go back to bed. All right, what is under the hood? Well, there's a teeny tiny little space to store some things. I mean, not a lot but I could put like a small bag in there. As for power the rear wheel drive version has got a 160 kilowatt motor pushing out 225 courses and 258 pound feet of torque. Add the all wheel drive is 74 kilowatt motor and you're looking at a net power output of 320 ponies and 446 pound feet of torque [SOUND] I haven't had a chance to drive the ionic five, but Hyundai says that it is capable of one pedal driving. So that means you lift your foot off the throttle and the vehicle will come to a stop, but it's like a game, right? Well it stopped before I hit the car in front of me well. Well, Hyundai has kind of made that a little bit easier with a smart region technology. Which incorporates radar. So it's going to stop before you hit the car in front of you. I mean, it might not be quite as fun, but it's probably a little bit safer. And what about the inside? I mean, I really like it and partially that's because it's full of sustainable materials. I mean, recycled plastic bottle for the armrest check Carpet made out of extracts from sugarcane. Check. It's even got bean oil paint. I don't even know what bean oil is. But check, check, check it check. I'm really digging this dual screen setup. And this is the first vehicle that I've ever seen that has a magnetic dashboard. As someone who like organizes her life with little slips of paper all over the place. This is genius. So I've got a flat floor here, which means that this center console can move back and forth by about five and a half inches, which is really cool. But I do want to talk about this steering wheel. So first of all, the shifter is down here, which seems a little bit awkward. I don't know. Again, I haven't driven it. Looks a little strange. I do like that. I've got the drive modes right here, right under my thumb, but it's just a two spoke steering wheel and it kind of like curves downward. And I feel like it's judging me like, haul that sweater with that blouse. It's kind of the only quibble that I have with an otherwise really sophisticated and minimalist interior. So what's to become of the current ionic that little hatchback as you like it? Well, Hyundai says that it doesn't have any plans to make a next generation. Instead we'll have this the ionic five will have an ionic six which will be a premium sedan and then we'll have a mid size SUV for the ionic seven Now as for pricing, while we're not going to find that out until we get closer to launch in the fall, but we do know that Hyundai is going to partner with electrify America that has those super fast chargers which is gonna be pretty darn sweet. We also know that the competition the Ford Maki that starts in the low 40s and the Volkswagen 84 starts at right around $40,000. Now we all know that Hyundai likes to provide a lot of value in their vehicles, and they have a tendency to undercut the competition by a couple grand.So I expect the ionic five to be very competitive indeed.