[carthick1000]

Mod Note: Our Hyundai Ioniq 5 Auto Expo Report has been taken live at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the new thread. Thanks!

First driving impressions of Hyundai Ioniq 5

I had an opportunity to take the Ioniq 5 for a short test drive. I had it for about 1 hour. From the very first concept 45, I was quite interested in the Ioniq 5 project. I was very curious how the car looks, feels and drives. So this test drive is something I was looking forward to. As an electric car driver, I wanted to skip the whole EV part (Charging, menus, settings) and just purely DRIVE the car. So I came up with a route to drive under 1 hour (including traffic) which has a combination of different types of roads & speed limits found in NL. Here is what I it looks like:



This route should give me how the car behaves in slow city traffic, a bit faster city traffic, rural B-roads, highway and of course the most fun of all the roads on dikes. Here is a screenshot from street view of the dike roads:



Now having made the plan of the driving route, I reached the dealership few minutes earlier than my appointment just to keep the introduction short and sweet, so that I get enough time to drive.

I expected the car to be similar in size to a normal crossover. But boy I was wrong. It is almost a full size SUV hiding it's sheer scale by the clever design. I took only one picture during the whole test drive visit and that is to show the sheer scale of Ioniq 5. To the right is a Hyundai i20.



For the sake of it, here is a comparison with an X3 & Q5:



Comparison within the same brand:





Now the prelude out of the way, these are the following things I observed about the car. They are not in any particular order

Getting in & Loading

• Coming from sedan, the driver's seat height is so tall, that you don't sit IN, but sit ON. Even at the lowest seat setting, I was on eye-level with other SUV drivers on the road.
• Interior bits on the visual level looked and felt very upmarket. However, the electrical seat adjustment buttons were not upto the same quality as the ones on dashboard and door. There seems to be a well thought out cost cutting/saving went in design and production.
• The rear seats were very roomy and the center adjustable stack (in between front seats) is a boon for taller people. I am 1.93m and can sit in the rear (behind myself) with 3-4cms of legspace still. Being a tall car, you get a good overview of the surrounding from the rear seat too.
• Frunk (of Froot) of Ioniq 5 is a joke, as the dashboard storage has more volume than the frunk. I drove the 2 motor/AWD version. May be the 1 motor/RWD version might have a bigger frunk. But still I don't think there will be a huge space available. You open the frunk with a mechanical lever near the driver footwell, just like a normal car bonnet. This is annoying if you want to let someone put something in the car remotely. With Tesla, I can open it from a button on display or from the app.I received few packages in my Tesla Frunk while I was abroad.
• The rear tailgate opens nice and wide and the cargo area has a flat loading floor. Electrically operated from inside, outside and from the app. Even at the maximum open height, I have to still duck to clear it. Probably not a problem for most people.

Driving

• Starting is a simple affair. Open the door/Walk close by and the door handles pop out. Open the door and press start button. Key gets detected and the car is ready.
• Maneuvering in tight spots is like any other SUV. Good visibility due to tall driver's seat position, but tricky due to the sheer size.
• With independent suspension all around, I expected the car to be very stable in corners and comfortable in straights. But I was disappointed. The suspension is very soft and the damping is not on par, which makes the car wave on smaller speed breakers and on highways, even small variations/wavy patches makes the car feel like a ship. This is something I would not call planted.
• The vehicle is heavy not only on paper (2100kg kerb weight for the 2 motor/AWD variant with 73kWh pack), but also while driving. Long sweeping curves are fine, but tighter curves on B-roads and rural dike roads are not confident inspiring for spirited drives. And you cannot take fast roundabouts without slowing down considerably.
• The only relief with the whole driving experience is the steering, which is weighted well for various speeds and provides good feedback. Also it is not as nervous/sensitive as the A-pedal.
• Regenerative braking helps, but slowing down with the help of brakes alone is not very confidence inspiring. It just lacks the smoothness. I am not sure if it is due to the regeneration or the brakes itself.
• A lot of adjustments for the seat & steering means, everyone can get into a good driving position. Also a commanding driving position even at the lowest height setting.
• Seats are very ergonomic and offers plently of support under thighs and have good side bolstering.
• Standard is 19inch wheels which looks pretty upmarket. This was the one on my test car. Rides on 235/55 section tyres. (Optional upgrade is 255/45 R20)

Niggles

• I find the 2 displays of the same size a bit cumbersome to operate with a lot of things in your face. Being a korean car, there is a lot of menus and beeps one has to encounter while driving and parking. It is too annoying sometimes. Well, I can set most of them to OFF, but then safety is compromised.
• Touch senstive steering buttons work well, but you have to see them to press, as there is no contour for the buttons, which means zero haptic feedback. Everytime, you select something, you have to look into the instrument cluster to know what is selected. And the instrument cluster design is too busy.. Poor design.
• The rear window does not go fully down
• The i-pedal which anticipates and regenerates based on the situation is somewhere between bearable (on highways) and annoying (in city traffic), as you have to control the A-pedal based on the traffic and also based on what the car thinks. It is counterintuitive
• I find the A-pedal very sensitive and it makes you tired too soon in city traffic.
• You have to always turn off the car. It won't turn itself automatically when you leave/lock the car. It keeps on beeping constantly until it detects the key.
• By default, the car creeps in drive mode, when brake pedal is not pressed. To disable creep, one has to select an Auto-hold button while pressing the brake pedal. This is enabled for a single drive. It is not stored in memory. So the next drive, you have disable creep again by enabling auto-hold. It is extremely annoying.
• There are 3 stalks behind/around the steering wheel: wipers, Lights, Drive selector. All the three are bulky at best and it felt like driving an old Ford F-150 with gear and transmission mode selector levers all around. Added to that is the regeneration control paddle shifters, which makes the steering wheel area too busy.
  
  

Overall : Though I still will remain a fan of Ioniq 5 for it's clever design, technologies like 350kW charging (800V battery architecture), spacious cabin etc. I will not buy this one. Because it just lacks one major thing for my taste ie. DRIVING PLEASURE! Also I can't oversee the niggles on day-to-day basis.

Cheers,
Karthik

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing, Carthick1000! Moving your post out to a new thread. A new thread means 100X the views & 100X the visibility in search engines, including Google. Will add to homepage later this week .

@ BHPians, if you should spot any good post in an existing thread that deserves its own new thread, please report the post and we'll move it out for greater visibility.

Thank you!

[vb-saan]

Thank you for sharing the driving impressions.

Those points mentioned under Driving and Niggles sections are quite significant ones. But I never thought I would say this - Hyundai has really nailed it in the design/looks department.

[extreme_torque]

I quite like what Hyundai has done with the Ioniq 5's design but again when compared to Model Y offers, its nowhere close neither tech or how easy it is to drive or the performance. The fastest Ioniq 5 for example is slower than the slowest Model Y. The i-Pedal though can be switched off and when I came across this spec I already knew it would be annoying. There is no need to layer and add all these silly features just to make the spec sheet good. Why fix something when it isnt broke? Tesla is simple in that it works - press the pedal you go, release it and either you coast or you regen. None of the i nonsense.

In saying that though, thanks for the review even though the driving impression is quite opposite to the review by Rory Reid on Autotrader. Guess I will have to drive it when they launch in here in Australia. But again, it wont even get a second look from me if its priced the same or dare I say more than the Model Y.

Just checked out - the battery is just 72kwh!

[LeoRBK]

The design has sharp creases and angles, not subtle but in your face. These bold design choices will divide opinion. While the body shell is not to my taste I am sure there are a lot of takers. Its sister(https://www.kia.com/uk/new-cars/ev6/) though is the polar opposite with not a single sharp crease. I much prefer EV6 in terms of design although I must admit the rear in my opinion is a bit overdone compared to the rest of the car.
As expected these skateboard platforms are proving to be spacious and both should make for lovely family cars.

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by GTO

Will add to homepage later this week .

Thanks, GTO. As ever, you guys are doing a great job. Keep up the good work!

Originally Posted by vb-san

But I never thought I would say this - Hyundai has really nailed it in the design/looks department.

Exactly my view too. Never have I ever dreamt that Hyundai would come up with such a beautiful vehicle. It is a shame that they just focussed this to be a CUV (Hyundai says so!) and a not a pure driver's delight.

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

In saying that though, thanks for the review even though the driving impression is quite opposite to the review by Rory Reid on Autotrader. Guess I will have to drive it when they launch in here in Australia. But again, it wont even get a second look from me if its priced the same or dare I say more than the Model Y.

After your suggestion, I got some time today to checkout Rory Reid's review (never saw his reviews before). I am not very certain of what his benchmark of a good driver's car is. If he compares Ioniq 5 to a soft sprung SUV, then he might be right. It is not even upto the mark of an X3, IMHO. Please do try it yourself and let us know how it felt. Even after few days of the drive, I am still feeling disappointed about the dynamics.

The more I think about the ioniq 5, Tesla's whole package (Driving dynamics + first principle engineering + no-nonsense GUI) feels even more relevant for EVs. Never driven Model Y, but still I can imagine it is just a model 3 on stilts with higher body roll + pitch in/out + seating height.

Originally Posted by LeoRBK

I much prefer EV6 in terms of design although I must admit the rear in my opinion is a bit overdone compared to the rest of the car.

Not a fan of Kia EV6 design, as it feels to me like a mix of I-pace and Urus, which don't score high in my books either.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

After your suggestion, I got some time today to checkout Rory Reid's review (never saw his reviews before). I am not very certain of what his benchmark of a good driver's car is. If he compares Ioniq 5 to a soft sprung SUV, then he might be right. It is not even upto the mark of an X3, IMHO. Please do try it yourself and let us know how it felt. Even after few days of the drive, I am still feeling disappointed about the dynamics.

Perhaps what I wanted to say was that he wasnt as disappointed with the dynamics as you were.

Originally Posted by carthick1000

The more I think about the ioniq 5, Tesla's whole package (Driving dynamics + first principle engineering + no-nonsense GUI) feels even more relevant for EVs. Never driven Model Y, but still I can imagine it is just a model 3 on stilts with higher body roll + pitch in/out + seating height.

Exactly and unless you go for the top variant, it's too underpowered for what it costs compared to Tesla. Or may be Tesla has me spoiled.

[ADI7YAK]

Hyundai's latest electric vehicle Ioniq 5 has been spotted in India at Hyundai HQ, Gurugram. The car is developed on Hyundai's E-GMP platform which happenes to be a dedicated EV platform. The car comes with 58kWh and 72.6kWh battery pack options abroad giving the larger battery pack range of ~500km. It also has a 3000mm wheelbase making it's wheelbase larger than Hyundai's flagship SUV, Palisade. There is no word about India launch yet.











Pic credits : Kushan Mitra on Twitter.

[Venkatesh]

SS Kim, MD & CEO- Hyundai Motor India says that Hyundai India is studying the potential for the Ioniq 5 and other electric vehicles in India. He says that India will see major demand in electric 2W/3W but for passenger cars he is expecting a bit more support from the government.



He talks not just of subsidies but also a transition period. As well as industrial support for developing an electric vehicle ecosystem. He also says that a reduction in duties for EV CBU imports as Tesla has asked for will help develop the market.



Link

[Bibendum90949]

The car looks stunning. Hyundai may want us to forget the name Kona soon as it created a share of damage to the brand in their pursuit of the EV journey. It's pleasing to see them making rapid strides on the EV space. Meanwhile, the so called market leader here is figuring out ways how to milk CNG further.

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

SS Kim, MD & CEO- Hyundai Motor India says that Hyundai India is studying the potential for the Ioniq 5 and other electric vehicles in India. He says that India will see major demand in electric 2W/3W but for passenger cars he is expecting a bit more support from the government.

He also says that a reduction in duties for EV CBU imports as Tesla has asked for will help develop the market.

The government is already supporting electric vehicles in a major way. While petrol/diesel cars (> 4m) are taxed at 43%, electric vehicles are taxed at just 5%. It makes a huge difference and can cover entire battery costs.

India is a very big market for both Hyundai and Kia. Together they can build an assembly plant to bring their EV models to the country. If Hyundai is able to bring Kona EV through the CKD route why can't they do the same with Ioniq 5? India should not reduce taxes on CBU imports for EVs. These companies will price the CBUs much higher anyway and volume will be very limited to make a meaningful impact.

[Shresth_EV]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

SS Kim, MD & CEO- Hyundai Motor India says that Hyundai India is studying the potential for the Ioniq 5 and other electric vehicles in India.

Global EVs in Hyundai’s portfolio don’t fit in well with our market. Imagine Suzuki selling the £13K Swift in India (which has far more equipment, safety and features) or VW selling the Golf instead of Polo here. Pay gap forced companies to cut stuff out from global models but kona was brought as is.

The sales of kona EV, in my opinion, have slumbered for 3 main reasons :

1. Small car big price :
Our community here at teamBHP represents a very small fraction of audience which surely views cars from different angles apart from just price.

For a >₹20L car, it’s still smaller than a creta or seltos. The Indian perception means pay big money, get big car. Unfortunately, kona dimensions don’t help. With Ioniq, the size is bigger, sure but price 1.5x Kona — £36K for base Ioniq 5, £25K for kona. Which brings us to second point

2. Brand image :
Hyundai image isn’t good enough to sell £36K or even £25K cars. How many units did Tucson and Santa Fe sell? Compare that to how many Creta are sold by Hyundai (cheaper than Kona) and how many

3. Knew deep in controversy :
Battery recall was probably handled well, owners might give better perspective, but these things are PR nightmare. These kind of news, especially for new EV tech as a whole and a new model of car don’t end up well for the nameplate.

Nexon and MG sell well. For them, point (3) doesn’t apply. Nexon is good pricing for the specs, and MG is simply a bigger car, so justifies the perception of higher cost.

While the Ioniq 5 fixes point (3), still, people would see it as a Hyundai. Ioniq 5 styling is also deceptive. Images lie about dimensions outright. Unless you see it on road yourself, you’d think it’s a Hatch.

It’s a great car from how we in this forum perceive cars, but it will largely suffer same fate as Kona due to perception issues, if brought to India in present guise.

For the moment, I think it makes most sense to either adapt mid range good sellers like creta to EV form (Nexon formula) or develop smaller, ground up EVs with SE Asia market/EU hatch market (like rumoured $25K Tesla Model 2)

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

It is a shame that they just focussed this to be a CUV (Hyundai says so!) and a not a pure driver's delight.

To last part of that sentence, a vehicle that satisfies the driver has become less of a focus these days. Hyundai/Kia isn't generally associated as being a brand that builds driver focused cars at all. The exception being the old Stinger and the new i30N. They had just about got into it and the world is now shifting focus to EV.

Personally; I am not hopeful of any EV to give me the same thrills of a gas engine car. Its not just about ballistic acceleration. Its the overall feel. The noise, vibrations, effort put into driving, is what gives me joy. We will all have EV's one day and I am sure one or a few gas engine cars will be parked alongside them. For something that offers "pure driving delight", there is no substitute to the gasoline engine.

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Hyundai/Kia isn't generally associated as being a brand that builds driver focused cars at all.

Also, Hyundai is not known for such interesting out of the box designs too. Since they cracked it with Ioniq 5, a well driving car is also a fair expectation, I guess. Also Ioniq 5 had all the right ingredients like all wheel independent suspension, a powerful electric drive, low CoG etc. But the problem is the sheer size, weight and the soft sprung suspension.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Its not just about ballistic acceleration. Its the overall feel. The noise, vibrations, effort put into driving, is what gives me joy. We will all have EV's one day and I am sure one or a few gas engine cars will be parked alongside them. For something that offers "pure driving delight", there is no substitute to the gasoline engine.

This is subjective and differs from person to person. I disagree an EV is fun only with ballistic acceleration. And not everyone is fond of having a noisy car for day to day driving. For me the idea of fun is a light and well balanced car which allows me to enjoy the tight corners and not tiring my (hearing) senses while at it. Also I would like to use it day to day. If it is an EV, I can even hear the sounds of trees moving and birds when I drive on a curvy mountain road in the morning. It is like flying in a piston engine trainer vs flying in a glider/sailplane. The first one you enjoy flying, but there is this constant noise all through. The later is also flying, but in absolute silence. You should really try it to feel the difference.

ICE cars have grown too big and heavy now-a-days.An entry level model 3 weighs only about 100kgs heavier than a G20 330i and even 100kgs lighter than a G20 M3. 3 series has been the bench mark of sports sedan for decades and now EVs have the potential to steal that title. I think it is not too far that we can enjoy lighter, nimble and fun to drive cars without the noises associated with an inefficient IC engine.

Different strokes for different folks.

[landcruiser123]

Looks like something from a Tron movie. Does anyone feel like this electric SUV can be a runaway success(obviously not 20k units PM) at <INR 70 lakh on road?