Hyundai Ioniq 5 earns IIHS Top Safety Pick+ crash test honors
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 has is already at the top of many shopping lists thanks to its sharp design, excellent specs, and affordable price (relatively, for an EV). It even won the World Car of the Year award for 2022, and our head-to-head comparison with the Mustang Mach-E. Now the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has given buyers another reason to kick its tires — by awarding it top marks on its crash tests.
The IIHS has bestowed its highest ranking, Top Safety Pick+, on the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5. To achieve that rating, the electric crossover got the best available score, “good,” in all six tests. Those tests include small overlap front tests for both driver and passenger sides, a moderate front overlap, and a side impact test.
On all these tests, the occupant dummies, in both front and rear seats, received “good” scores on their head/neck, torso, hip/thigh, and lower leg/foot results. In addition, the Ioniq 5 also achieved the top “good” score for roof strength, head restraints, and seats.
To get the “plus” in Top Safety Pick+, however, headlights across all trim levels must score an “acceptable” or better. The Ioniq 5’s retro blocky headlights were docked some points for glare and for their dimness on certain curves. They were still good enough to squeak by with the plus, though.
Child seat anchors were given “acceptable” ratings as well. Scores are based largely on ease of install, not necessarily how well they strap the car seat in. The lower anchors were dinged for being too deep in the seat, but unless you’re moving seats around a lot, this shouldn’t be a problem. The presence of a frontal crash warning system and its ability to detect pedestrians also earned high marks.
The Ioniq 5 comes in rear- and all-wheel-drive configurations. As a RWD vehicle, its single motor setup provides 225 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque with a battery range of 303 miles. In AWD, a second motor at the front wheels boosts total horsepower to 320 and total torque to 446 lb-ft, while range dips to 256 miles.
The IIHS evaluation will only make an already compelling EV more so. Ioniq 5 sales have dropped in last month’s figures, from over 2,500 per month to just under 2,000 in May, but it’s not for lack of demand. Supply chain shortages mean Hyundai literally can’t build them fast enough. You can delve into the full details of the tests here.
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