2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5: Car and Driver 10Best Trucks and SUVs
If winning EV of the Year is akin to taking home the Grammy for Best Album in a given genre, then nabbing a 10Best award is like walking away with Album of the Year. The former celebrates the winner’s place among its peers, while the latter honors a recipient’s performance across the greater industry.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 has claims to both prizes, with the 2022 EV of the Year winner also earning a spot on our 10Best Trucks and SUVs of2023. Much of what makes the Ioniq 5 such a standout SUV stems from the fact that Hyundai developed it as a dedicated battery-electric vehicle. Built on the automaker’s EV-specific E-GMP platform, the Ioniq 5 takes advantage of the underfloor position of its battery pack and compact electric motors by pushing its four wheels to the far corners of its body.
Overall length is a mere 0.2 inch greater than Hyundai’s compact Tucson, but the Ioniq 5’s wheelbase is 3.9 inches longer than the three-row Palisade’s. The Ioniq 5’s stance affords it ample passenger space, and the three-adult rear bench has more rear legroom than a GenesisG90. Large windows and an open and flat front floor enhance the cabin’s spacious feel.
An 800-volt electrical architecture enables fast charging rates for the Ioniq 5’s standard 58.0-kWh battery pack or available 77.4-kWh pack. In our testing, an all-wheel-drive Ioniq 5 with the big battery needed only 18 minutes to charge from 10 to 80 percent. That same Ioniq 5 requires just 4.5 seconds to accelerate to 60 mph courtesy of its two motors’ combined output of 320 horsepower.
Yet, the Ioniq 5’s true pièce de résistance is arguably its looks. It’s the sort of distinct design that makes even non-enthusiasts enthusiastic about this EV.
The Ioniq 5 isn’t perfect—it suffers from a laughably small frunk and has the turning radius of a full-size SUV. Even so, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is a stellar EV and a genuinely compelling SUV, battery powered or otherwise.
