Even without the no-longer-available $7,500 federal tax credit, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is affordable for an electric vehicle. And not just for an EV, either. This electric crossover\u2019s $35,000-to-start base price is competitive with the starting prices of same-size nonelectric crossovers such as the Toyota RAV4 ($31,900), Honda CR-V ($30,920), Subaru Forester ($29,995) and several others that also cost gas money.<\/p>\n
The Ioniq 5 is also not fixated on getting to 60 mph as quickly as possible \u2014 at the expense of range. Or cost. The base trim is powerful enough \u2014 not overpowered. That\u2019s why it doesn\u2019t come standard with a big price. And that price is thousands lower this year than it was last year.<\/p>\n
You can buy more performance \u2014 and range \u2014 if you want either (or both).<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not one size fits all \u2014 and it\u2019s not ludicrously expensive \u2014 which is often the case with EVs.<\/p>\n
What it is<\/p>\n
The Ioniq is a compact crossover-ish\/hatchback-esque EV available in several different configurations, beginning with the $35,000 SE standard range, which emphasizes affordability rather than horsepower and driving range. This trim also comes with 19-inch wheels, LED headlights, a six-speaker audio system and a flatscreen main gauge panel with a secondary 12.3-inch LCD touch screen.<\/p>\n
You can get more horsepower (225 versus 168) and range (318 miles versus the SE standard\u2019s 245 miles) in the $37,500 SE, which comes with an 84-kWh battery pack that can store more electricity than the base trim\u2019s 63-kWh-capacity battery pack. Both of these versions of the Ioniq 5 are rear-wheel drive. All-wheel drive (dual-motor) is available optionally with the SE. If ordered, the output of the electric drivetrain goes up to 320 horsepower.<\/p>\n
So equipped, the price goes up to $41,000.<\/p>\n
The $39,800 SEL adds synthetic leather seats, a power rear liftgate, rear air vents, wireless phone charging pad and adaptive cruise control with lane centering. This iteration also comes standard with the single-motor\/RWD layout, but AWD (dual-motor) can be added. This increases the MSRP to $43,300.<\/p>\n
Limited trims ($45,075) come standard with a panorama sunroof, seat heaters for both rows, plus a heated steering wheel, a sliding center console, digital rearview mirror, rear sunshades and ambient interior lighting, among other upgrades. This model is also RWD, but AWD is available optionally. So equipped, the MSRP goes up to $48,975.<\/p>\n
There is also an XRT trim, which is a kind of EV take on the \u201coff-roady\u201d versions of many nonelectric crossovers, such as the Wilderness versions of Subaru models such as the Forester and Outback. Like them, the XRT comes standard with more ground clearance than the other versions of the Ioniq 5, as well as standard AWD \u2014 which includes the higher-output EV drivetrain \u2014 plus all-terrain tires, tow hooks and different front and rear clips designed to look different and to offer improved angles of approach\/departure to enable the XRT to traverse uneven terrain with less risk of damaging (tearing off) those front and rear clips \u2014 which (as is generally true of most new vehicles) are literally clipped on, which is why they are so easily torn off.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s new for 2026<\/p>\n
All trims come standard with a charge cord compatible with both Level I (115V standard household outlet) and Level II (240v, electric stove-type) charging as well as an adapter that allows this EV to use pretty much any commercial Level III fast charger. Two colors that were previously restricted to the XRT trim \u2014 Ultimate Red and Cosmic Blue Pearl \u2014 are now available with other trims.<\/p>\n
But the really big news is that the 2026 Ioniq 5 is much less expensive than the \u201825 Ioniq 5. The base price last year was $42,600 \u2014 or $7,600 higher than the price of the same Ioniq 5 (just one model year newer) today.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s good<\/p>\n
\u2022 Standard model is affordably priced.<\/p>\n
\u2022 More power \u2014 and range \u2014 is available.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Fast-charges faster than some other EVs.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s not so good<\/p>\n
\u2022 Standard range isn\u2019t much.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Even fast-charging still takes much longer than the time it takes to gas up a nonelectric car.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Faster-than-average depreciation is a cost that comes along for the ride with every EV.<\/p>\n
Under the hood<\/p>\n
The Ioniq 5 can be a sensible EV or a performance EV \u2014 or something in between.<\/p>\n
As detailed above, the SE Standard Range is the sensible pick, if you\u2019re not wanting to spend a small fortune on a small EV. It isn\u2019t powerful \u2014 just 168 horsepower. Nor is it quick. But it\u2019s also not slow. Zero to 60 mph takes about eight seconds, which is on par with the 0-60 mph times of many nonelectric small crossovers.<\/p>\n
If faster acceleration is wanted, the SE\u2019s powertrain steps it up to 225 horsepower (and the same 258 foot-pounds of torque), which is enough additional scoot to reduce the time to get to 60 mph to about seven seconds; range also goes up to 318 miles on a full charge; adding the dual-motor\/AWD setup kicks up the power to 320 horsepower and 446 foot-pounds of right-now torque, which is more than most V8s make and much sooner. So equipped, the Ioniq 5 can easily out-accelerate most V8 muscle cars of the \u201860s and \u201870s \u2014 because not one V8-powered muscle car of the \u201860s and \u201870s was able to get to 60 mph in four seconds.<\/p>\n
Very much the same as was the case with the old V8 muscle cars (as well as today\u2019s muscle cars), the additional power and performance comes at a cost \u2014 in range (rather than mileage, though it kind of amounts to the same thing). The highest-powered\/highest-performance versions of the Ioniq 5 have about 269 miles of fully charged driving range, a loss of 49 miles versus Ioniq 5s equipped with the 225-horsepower\/RWD combo.<\/p>\n
On the road<\/p>\n
The Ioniq 5 \u2014 like every other EV \u2014 is almost as silent when it is under way as it is when it\u2019s parked. The sense of movement \u2014 that immediate thrust \u2014 is how you tell it\u2019s not parked.<\/p>\n
There are some things that differentiate this Hyundai EV from other EVs. One of them is the pair of paddle shifters mounted on the steering column. These look like the paddle shifters you see in many cars that have engines, because they also have transmissions, and the paddle shifters are there to allow the driver some control over the shifting of the gears. But this EV (like most EVs) doesn\u2019t have a transmission, so there\u2019s nothing to shift. But Hyundai has included the paddle shifters to emulate \u2014 sort of \u2014 the operation of paddle shifters in a vehicle that has a transmission. If you tap the paddle shifter on the left-hand side of the column, the regenerative braking effect increases, giving you something like the feeling of a downshift. You can use this during cornering or when descending a steep grade to slow the vehicle without manually applying the actual brakes. If you tap the paddle shifter on the right, the regenerative braking eases up and your momentum increase!<\/p>\n
Another different thing about this Hyundai is the way its driving range is estimated. Instead of a single number of miles left to go, a range \u2014 from best case to worst case and a likely in-between range \u2014 is displayed. This gives you a much better \u2014 much more accurate \u2014 feel for how far the Ioniq 5 will actually go before you need to stop to charge it up.<\/p>\n
Hyundai says the Ioniq 5 charges faster (or can be charged faster) at commercial \u201cfast\u201d chargers than some other-brand EVs. I added 51 miles of driving range after a 25-minute hookup at an EV Go fast charger. It is possible Tesla-style superchargers are faster than that; Hyundai says it is possible to go from 10% to 80% charged in 20 minutes. But the catch is, you\u2019d have to find one to plug the Hyundai into.<\/p>\n
At the curb<\/p>\n
The Ioniq 5 can be considered either a small, sporty-looking crossover or a small, sporty-looking hatchback. All the trims except the XRT are pretty low-sitting (6.1 inches of ground clearance), and that plus the standard 19-inch wheels and raked windshield give it a zippy appearance. The XRT\u2019s slight lift (ground clearance goes up to 7 inches) and off-roady affectations move the needle more to the crossover side of the dial. Either way, the little EV has a lot space inside: 26.3 cubic feet of storage space behind the second row, and 59.4 cubic feet with the second row folded forward.<\/p>\n
Both of this little EV\u2019s rows have ample legroom (41.7 inches and 39.4 inches, respectively) as well as headroom (39.8 inches and 38.7 inches, respectively) notwithstanding the low-looking roofline. The flat floor (no hump in the middle for the driveshaft tunnel that isn\u2019t needed) increases the feeling of space and allows for a really deep center console that is available in a sliding fore-aft configuration. Three people can sit pretty comfortably in back because the middle seat isn\u2019t the hump seat.<\/p>\n
The rest<\/p>\n
It is very rare to find a new vehicle that costs thousands less than it did the previous year \u2014 but this is one of those rare instances. Last year\u2019s base trim Ioniq 5 SE standard Range cost more than this year\u2019s SEL \u2014 two trims up from the base trim. And this year\u2019s SEL ($39,800) is priced nearly $10,000 less than last year\u2019s SEL ($49,600).<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s XRT listed for $55,500. This year\u2019s lists for $46,275.<\/p>\n
That \u2014 as President Donald Trump likes to say \u2014 is \u201cyuge.\u201d And, for once, in favor of the buyer.<\/p>\n
The bottom line<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot to like about the Ioniq 5 \u2014 and it costs thousands less now to like it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even without the no-longer-available $7,500 federal tax credit, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is affordable for an electric vehicle.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[2628,295,294,293],"class_list":["post-80319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hyundai","tag-features","tag-hyundai","tag-hyundai-group","tag-hyundai-motor-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}