Hyundai Ionic 5; Premium
2021 onwards
Friday 3rd September saw me take my first ‘quick’ drive in the new Hyundai Ionic 5, the small SUV that might just be one of the options for many caravan owners looking at a battery electric vehicle (BEV).
I’ll start by saying that I really wished they had come up with a new name for this car, rather than simply adding a 5 to an existing and, frankly completely different, model’s name. It left me wondering why on earth they did this. However, I now recognise that they now seem to be aiming to use Ionic as the basis for all new, ground up, EVs.
Whilst the Ionic 5 cannot tow as much as some of the premium BEVs from Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Tesla, it does have a perfectly reasonable 1,600 kg capacity. That may not be enough for the larger premium caravans, but it’s sufficient for a great number of UK caravans; including the six berth Venus that I used to use for family breaks.
However, I should make it clear that this was just an initial drive in the car and not a test of its towing capabilities. The car I drove did not have a tow bar fitted and I only had it for an hour.
I want to start by mentioning the extremely poor experience I had with the dealer. This is not something that is nice for me to have to share, but I was pretty surprised at just how poor the communication was.
I had spoken to the dealership a few times before finally scheduling the test drive. They had initially offered just 30 minutes in the car and I requested this be stretched to an hour, so that I could get a better feel for how the car drove on different road types. They agreed to this and the appointment was booked for mid-afternoon. I was actually on my way to the dealership, which was a 40 minute drive away, when they phoned me to say that the car only had 20 miles of range in the battery and they didn’t have enough time to charge it fully before my arrival.
This seems pretty inept to me.
If you are trying to sell electric vehicles, surely you want to do all you can to ensure that the batteries are charged prior to every test drive. I had spoken to the salesman in the morning and he had actually said that he would make sure the car was plugged in to ensure there was sufficient charge for my test drive about five hours later. So, it was pretty frustrating. During the call he made to request I rebook, I explained that I was driving (to his showroom) and asked that he call me back in half an hour to allow me to consult my diary and see when I could reschedule for, which the salesman said he would do.
Having not heard back from them for over three hours, I phoned them. I didn’t really get an apology for the lack of a further call, just an excuse. He said that he had taken another customer call and, from what the did and (importantly) didn’t say, I think he just forgot. Just as he had forgotten to charge the vehicle.
We agreed that I would aim for midday the next day, with me heading for Salisbury after dropping my girlfriend at work. I arrived about 20 minutes early, having had a reasonably clear journey. The salesman seemed pretty friendly and assured me that the car was now fully charged, which it was.
After checking my license and other details, he asked whether I wanted to be shown around the vehicle and the controls, or if I just wanted to grab the keys and get going. I chose the latter option.
It took me a minute to work out how to get started in the Ionic 5. The column shifter for the gears is pretty chunky and it looks as if you should push the lever up or down to select forward or reverse, but it doesn’t actually move! The visual markings really do make it look as if this is what you should do, but instead you simply twist the end one way or the other, similar to how you might adjust the frequency of intermittent wipers in old fashioned petrol and Diesel engined cars.
I had a look around for a physical button or lever for the handbrake, but couldn’t see one. So, having checked my mirrors and ensured I could see safely, I put the car in Drive and went to set off. There was a loud clunk of the brake releasing, which really didn’t feel or sound good. I stopped immediately and checked the screens for warning messages; there were none. I gently prodded the accelerator pedal and the car moved forward safely and smoothly.
The car felt extremely comfortable and I was very impressed with the sense of space. The seat was nice and firm, providing plenty of support. The steering wheel was reassuringly thick and heavy; it really felt like a good place to be.
I had planned a route out of Salisbury, up to the A303, where I would drive towards Amesbury and then use a different road into Salisbury. However, the roads were pretty awful and I heard a traffic report saying that the A303 was shut eastbound, so I ended up on a different route that still got me to Amesbury and still saw me entering Salisbury on the A345.
Leaving Salisbury on the A360, a number of warning messages appeared on the display in front of the steering wheel. Initially, the messages were about errors with the collision avoidance systems, but after a while the messages were showing other errors. They only appeared for a short while, but were rather concerning. I did mention them in the brief discussion I had with the salesman when returning the keys and the responses didn’t exactly fill me with confidence. Initially, he said that the lane keeping aid doesn’t work well in the city centre. I pointed out that I wasn’t in the city centre and also that it wasn’t messages about lane keeping errors. He then asked if I had (as I had) left on the A360 and whether the errors happened when I was at or near the new roundabout. They had actually flagged up on the approach (maybe as much as 1,000 yards) to the new road layout, but there was no explanation as to why this should be an issue.
He mentioned that this had happened a few times on other test drives, but it seems he hadn’t been bothered to actually find out what was wrong or whether there was a need for a repair.
The Ionic 5 handled the roads well and it was a pleasure to drive. As with all electric cars, the throttle pickup is instant and, whilst it may not rival Teslas in the rapid acceleration stakes, the Ionic 5 was a quick car. It had been a little whilst since I last drove a Tesla, but the weighting of the steering felt better in the Hyundai, giving a greater sense of control when navigating minor roads and applying the power.
I really want to spend more time behind the wheel of the Ionic 5 so that I can talk more about the car’s agility and performance, but it should be noted that I really am looking forward to doing just that. This initial exploratory drive hasn’t dented my enthusiasm for the new Hyundai; quite the opposite.
The twin displays look good and present information in a clear manner. I had heard others claim that the driver display (what we used to call the instrument binnacle) either obscures the view out of the cockpit or has its own view obscured by the steering wheel. I suffered neither of those issues and easily found a position that was comfortable and allowed sight of everything I wanted.
Once back at the dealership I had a good look around the car for the first time. It really is quite striking and is nothing like anything else I’ve seen on the roads. It isn’t a beautiful car, but it is really good looking. Climbing into the back seat brought a significant surprise. I am six foot tall and weigh over 20 stone; so I’m a large chap.
I sat behind driver’s seat and was astonished at just how much room there was. I obviously had the driver’s seat back quite a way and yet the legroom in the back was epic. This truly is a spacious car.
This is probably a result of the car being built on a new platform for electric vehicles, rather than on one inherited from petrol and diesel cars. The floor is completely flat, with no transmission tunnel or any other mechanical interferences and the wheelbase is 3000mm; that’s more than large executive cars as the Audi A6, a standard Range Rover and the Tesla Model X. It’s also a full 250mm more than the VW ID.4, which is likely to be a close rival.
I do hope to soon get a proper test drive in the Ionic 5, allowing me to properly judge it as a daily runabout and as a tow vehicle.
Many caravanners are concerned about the planned ban on the sale of cars with internal combustion engines (ICE) and the impact on their holidays. It has long been my view that there is nothing to worry about and I have previously written about the opportunity that exists for making caravan holidays more environmentally friendly. You can read that article here.
I honestly think that the Hyundai Ionic 5 might just be the car that shows that towing with an electric vehicle is not unachievable. We’re still a way off from the 2030 ban on the sale of new ICE vehicles and already we have a growing number of quality cars capable of towing caravans. The Ionic 5 may well be the most affordable and sensible electric tow vehicle on the market at the moment.
The ranges stated in the above table are approximations based upon the combined cycles (city and main roads) in the cold and in warmer weather. These are not guarantees and they are not based upon the experience from my test drive.
You can find lots of information about electric vehicles, past and current, at http://www.ev-database.org
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