The IONIQ 5 is as significant to the Hyundai brand as its OG car, the Hyundai Pony. “But Why”, you may ask. And that is a fair question.

On paper at least, the two cars have very little to do with one another. Except of course, that they are both built by the same manufacturer. Delve a little deeper, however, and you’d start to see the importance of both the cars to the South Korean marque.

And that’s because the IONIQ 5, like the Pony, was the first of its kind for Hyundai. The Pony was the marque’s first in-house developed production car, and the IONIQ is Hyundai’s first fully ground-up electric car. Like the Pony, the IONIQ 5 should logically be the genesis (no pun intended) then, of what would hopefully be a long lineage of IONIQ-branded cars.

Paying Homage

The styling of the 5 can best be described as Pony-meets-cyberpunk. Up front, there are recognisable design cues borrowed from the OG Hyundai, albeit rejigged, revamped and reimagined for the 21st century.

And actually, this concept extends far beyond just the front fascia – every surface of the vehicle has been treated to this sci-fi aesthetic. The sides of the car have this bold crease, which then meets with the swage line that runs along the length of its shoulder.

There are no curves to be seen anywhere on the rear end. Every bodyline is angular and sharp, with the painted trim panels and the pixel LED brake and lightbar working in unison to offset the brutish lines of the IONIQ 5’s design language.

Cavernous Cabin

When you build an electric car on a dedicated EV platform, you can do wonders with space management. With no need for a bulky engine and gearbox up front, the firewall can be more upright, and there’s also no need for a transmission tunnel.

This creates greater amounts of interior space, as compared to either an ICE car, or an EV that has been built atop a platform originally meant for combustion. You’ll find loads of room in the interior of the IONIQ 5, and the boxy form factor also means headroom isn’t an issue too.

However, it suffers from the same issue that plagues many modern EVs – the seat bases are fairly shallow. This is a result of the battery pack residing underneath the floor. And there’s little manufacturers can do to mitigate this issue – raising the seat bases to compensate will result in a reduction of headroom, and is a trade-off that really isn’t worth the while.

There are hard plastics in some areas of the cabin, but otherwise material and build quality is really good. Bonus points go to Hyundai for incorporating a centre console that slides forwards and backwards, allowing the front occupants to precisely position the armrest for optimal comfort.

Sure-Footed, But Agile

The IONIQ 5 weighs just a few kilograms shy of two tons. What this translates into, is a car that holds the road very well. It feels extremely robust and solid, and is generally very confidence inspiring to wheel.

The suspension manages to cope with the weight very well, without being jarring or uncomfortable over surface imperfections. It’d happily take corners at decent rates of speed, no doubt assisted by its excellent traction control system, without breaking much of a sweat. 

By no means is this the sharpest handling electric car on sale today, but it isn’t unwieldy, unlike some of its competitors from the People’s Republic. This particular unit is the 58 kWh Category A Prestige variant, and despite the power cap, it doesn’t feel sluggish or unresponsive at all. 

It also perhaps has the most well-integrated throttle pedal software, as the accelerator really allows you to precisely regulate deceleration in one-pedal drive without any jerkiness. And yes, this is even when you compare it to that other American electric car manufacturer. This is part of the reason why I managed to achieve some truly incredible efficiency figures (6.7 km/kWh, far better than the 5.99 km/kWh Hyundai claims) without doing anything out of the ordinary.

A Sorted Singapore Special

The IONIQ 5 may have Korean roots, but all cars sold locally since 2023 are actually built at the HMGICS facility in Jurong. This well-made, ultra-efficient electric car is not only excellent bang-for-your-buck, but you’d also be doing your part in helping our economy by buying local – what’s not to like?

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