AWARDS? You name it, Hyundai’s stylish IONIQ 5 has probably won it in the last couple of years.   

Sitting on a shelf somewhere are the gongs for 2022 World Car of the Year, World Electric Vehicle of the Year and World Car Design of the Year.And in the last year the Korean manufacturer claimed its largest ever UK market share of 5.0 per cent, with 80,419 new cars registered during the past 12 months – impressive growth marking a rise of 15.4 per cent over the 69,680 units recorded in 2021, which represented their previous best of 4.3 per cent of the pot.

It’s been their electric vehicles that have made the difference, accounting for over a third of the figure.And the IONIQ 5 has played its part. It might not have a large footprint, but its spacious interior offers more cabin space than many larger electric cars. It also looks the part, both inside and out, and is very well equipped.

For the 2023 model they’ve introduced of a 77kWh battery pack which has seen the potential range extend to up to 315 miles and power increase to 320bhp –11 more than the previous 72.6 kWh battery.

If you’re stuck at home with a depleted battery it can take 30 hours to charge from a three pin plug. Obviously it’s significantly less if you can find a kosher – and available – charging station and in theory the 77kWh battery can be charged up to 80 per cent in just 17 minutes but that’s at a charging rate of 238kW.

But because there’s a dearth of super-fast public chargers in the UK right now, you’re more likely to be charging at 50-100kW, and at the lower end of this range, a 10-80 per cent charge will take around 70 minutes.

Obviously there will be more fast-charging points in the future, but it will be many a month before they’re as common as the Supercharger network available to Tesla drivers, though even they have their issues.

Things we discovered from our spell behind the wheel: lane control makes for vague steering at times as the wheel moves in your hands.And the next one was an issue but probably wouldn’t be a deal breaker – there’s no rear wiper and really it could do with one, because no matter how aerodynamically efficient they say it is, grimey and damp winter weather will always lead to a build up of crud on the rear window. And when the low winter sum shines on it your vision will be significantly restricted.

You get a five-year unlimited mileage warranty on most parts and an eight-year/100,000 miles warranty on the battery

It’s got a bit of a concept car look that won’t appeal to all, but it sets it apart from the rest of the pack and is obviously attracting buyers in reasonable numbers.

Some apparently can even pronounce the name properly….

 

Hyundai IONIQ 5

Price: £43,000-£57,000
Engine: 77.4kWh lithium-ion polymer battery, permanent magnet synchronous motor
Power: 214bhp
Torque: 258lb/ft
Transmission: single speed automatic
Top speed: 115mph
0-62mph: 7.4 seconds
Range: 280 miles
CO2 emissions: 0 g/km

 

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