2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive Review

Electric vehicles are becoming increasingly popular on Australian roads as the charging network increases and it becomes more convenient to own electric cars – the recent fuel pricing highs also helps. Hyundai has been on an electric car offensive with the Ioniq and Kona Electric since 2018, but has stepped things up with the all-new 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Dual Motor AWD. We’ve previously tested the rear-wheel drive car, but here we are testing the top-spec all-wheel drive car, which is Hyundai’s most expensive car locally. Is it worth the cost? Let’s find out.

Competitors to the Ioniq 5 include the Mercedes-Benz EQA, Lexus UX300E, Tesla Model 3, Polestar 2, Audi Q4 e-Tron and the BMW iX. There are even more upmarket electric vehicles offered by mainstream manufacturers such as the Ioniq 5’s under-the-skin twins the new Kia EV6 and upcoming Genesis GV60.

Price & Equipment: 8.0/10

At the time of writing, there are two models in the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 range. The ‘entry level’ rear-wheel drive model that starts at $71,900 plus on road costs and the model we tested here, the range topping all wheel drive which will set buyers back $75,900 plus on-road costs.

Standard equipment for the Ioniq 5 includes large 20-inch alloy wheels, all-LED exterior lighting, auto lights and wipers, heated and auto-folding exterior mirrors, keyless entry and start, remote start with the ability to move the car from the key, electrically adjustable leather front seats with driver’s memory and lounge functionality, heated and cooled seats, a heated steering wheel, dual-zone automatic climate control, a 12.3-inch touchscreen with satellite navigation, wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio, wireless charging, an eight-speaker Bose sound system, ambient lighting, drive mode selection and a glass roof.

The 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 is loaded with safety kit, including seven airbags (including a front centre unit), auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian cyclist and intersection assist, rear auto braking, lane keep assist with lane trace assist, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, driver attention monitoring, speed sign recognition, adaptive cruise control with stop and go functionality, a 360-degree parking camera, front and rear parking sensors, an alarm and tyre pressure monitoring.

There are a few things about this modern electric car that we don’t think make sense: for example, there is no rear wiper, just a rear window demister. We would also like to see the addition of a heads-up display. Overseas you can also have with the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 camera mirrors, which have a camera on the outside of the car. Another feature offered in other markets but not locally on the Ioniq 5 is the ‘solar roof’ which, according to Hyundai, can add around 5-6km of range per day (roughly 2,000km per year).

Colours available on the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 are ‘Phantom Black’, ‘Digital Teal Green’, ‘Galactic Grey’, ‘Atlas White’ and our test car’s ‘Lucid Blue’ paint. These colours are all no cost options, but there is also a $1,000-optional matte colour called ‘Gravity Gold’. There are also a few interior colours to choose from which also come at no further cost: ‘Obsidian Black’, ‘Dark Teal’ and our test car’s ‘Dark Pebble Grey’.

There are a few rivals for the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5, one being its Kia EV6 GT-Line AWD cousin, which is priced at $82,990 plus on road costs ($7,090 more than the Hyundai). For the extra money, you get a 14-speaker Meridian sound system, a heads-up display, partial faux leather and suede upholstery and a larger battery pack with more range. The Lexus UX300e Luxury is $74,000 plus on-road costs and gains an extra airbag (eight versus the Ioniq 5’s seven), headlight washers, a CD player and a 13-speaker Mark Levinson sound system, but the Ioniq 5 gains a 360-degree surround view camera, larger wheels (20-inch vs the Lexus’s 17-inches), a fully digital driver’s display, ventilated and reclining seats, ambient lighting and more over the Lexus. Even with a starting price over $70,000, we think the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 is good value for money.

Performance & Range: 9/10

Unlike the entry-level rear-wheel drive Ioniq 5, the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Dual Motor all-wheel drive is equipped with the same 72.6kWh battery but a motor on each axle (70kW/255Nm front and 155kW/350nm rear) for a combined 225kW of power and 605Nm of torque. Surprisingly, given the Ioniq 5’s 2,100kg heft, the acceleration is brisk and instant. It’s enough to push you back into your seat and give your passengers a shock with a 5.2 second 0-100km/h sprint time. Mid-range acceleration is also impressive and overtaking is a breeze.

The two electric motors are fed by a 72.6kWh liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack that’s mounted underneath the floor. Hyundai claims energy consumption of 19kWh/100km to deliver a 430km range (WLTP) and we achieved just more at 19.8kWh/100km in mixed driving for a range of 366km, which is not amazing. Previous testing of cars that use Hyundai’s ‘e-GMP’ platform has proven that they are more efficient in urban driving and can exceed their claimed range. For example, the Kia EV6 that we tested recently beat its claimed consumption.

The Ioniq 5 can be charged with 400 and 800 volt fast charging, which is something that its rivals don’t offer. Charging the Ioniq 5 with a 350kW DC ultra-fast charger means topping the battery up from 10 to 80 per cent in less than 20 minutes, which makes range anxiety a thing of the past. Even with a 50kW DC charger, a charge up to 80 per cent takes just over an hour, which is more than convenient enough for most buyers.

Also on offer is the less powerful rear-wheel drive Ioniq 5, which has the same 72.6kWh battery pack as the all-wheel drive car, but it produces a lesser 160kW of power and 350Nm of torque because it only has a single motor on the rear wheels. Its range is slightly longer at 451km but its 0-100km/h sprint time is slightly slower at 7.4 seconds.

Ride & Handling: 8.0/10

Typically, electric cars ride on the harsher side due to their heavy mass and the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Dual Motor AWD is no exception to this. We wouldn’t say that it rides badly at all but it is on the firmer side of things, and the ride is a touch wooden – though we think the all-wheel drive rides a bit better than the rear-wheel drive car because of the added weight on the front axle.

The handling ability of the Ioniq 5 may surprise you, potentially due to the large and wide wheels or the rather stiff suspension the Hyundai Ioniq 5 handles well. It handles better than the last wave of electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf and Kia E-Niro. You can take corners at speed without feeling the body roll and it gives you the confidence to have a little fun. Of course, it’s not a sports car but it’s more fun than you’d think.

The active safety tech on the Ioniq 5 is as it is on any Hyundai product: brilliant. There is lots going on behind the skin of the car without you knowing to keep you safe. The adaptive cruise control does a good job at maintaining a safe distance from the car in front, the pre-collision assist isn’t too sensitive and the lane departure warning works well in most circumstances. The Ioniq 5’s visibility is also excellent.

It must be said that the Kia EV6 definitely rides and handles better than the Ioniq 5. In comparison, the EV6 feels lighter on its feet, its ride quality is better damped and it’s also more fun to drive.

Interior & Practicality: 8.0/10

Taking a seat in the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Dual Motor reveals its modern and futuristic looking interior and it is unlike any other car we have tested. Due to the Ioniq 5 being electric and having no transmission, it’s well packaged and lacks a transmission tunnel, freeing up more space in the front cabin. This makes the Ioniq 5 feel spacious and the design is very contemporary and offers something different than the conventional interiors most cars offer today.

The materials used in the cabin of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 are quite nice, with a quality feel. There is an interesting texture to the door panels and the speaker grilles are made of real metal. The faux leather that covers the seats and some of the dash feels nice to the touch and makes the interior feel more premium than rivals. There are some hard plastics spread throughout the cabin, but they are not overwhelming.

The storage in the Ioniq 5 is what we would call adequate. There is a large centre console, an unusual drawer glove box, two cupholders in the centre console, a tray between the two front seats for a wallet or keys, door bins with built in bottle holders and under the bonnet there is also a handy cubby to store the vehicles charging cable. We would like to see more clever storage in the dashboard like the Staria.

The 12.3-inch touchscreen in the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Dual Motor is a joy to use because there is never any lag and the software intuitive and easy to navigate. The colours are bright and the screen is very responsive and there are also shortcut buttons underneath the screen to help navigate between different menus. The satellite navigation, like other Hyundai products, is rather good although we find it easier to connect to the wired Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and use the maps on our phone. The 12.3-inch digital driver’s display could have more customisation to it, but it is crisp and concise.

As soon as you sit in the faux leather seats you will get a feel for what are very comfortable seats that could more than support you in longer journeys (whatever your range allows). Once parked, the front seats can be put into what Hyundai calls ‘relaxation mode’. This reclines them and extends the leg rest into a nearly laying down position, this is handy for laying down while waiting for the Ioniq 5 to charge. The front seats are heated and cooled, while the driver’s seat also has memory. Looking up out of the full length fixed glass roof is a joy as it gives the cabin a more open and spacious feeling.

As a kid, you are always fighting for the front seat but kids will be glad to hear that in the Ioniq 5 the back seat is nearly as good as the front thanks to its electric car platform – its wheelbase is a huge 3,000mm long. You get plenty of knee-, leg- and headroom and there are a host of amenities such as air vents in the B-pillars, coat hooks, manual rear sun shades, four-way powered seats, a centre armrest with cup holders, ambient lighting in the rear doors and two USB-A charging ports.

With the rear seats in place, the Ioniq 5’s boot offers 560-litres space – fold the rear seat and this space further opens up to 1,620L. There’s also a 24L front boot, or ‘frunk’. To put this into comparison, the Hyundai Tucson which is dimensionally a bigger car, has a 539L boot with the seats up. It is amazing how spacious the Ioniq 5 really is, and that’s due to its platform.

Service & Warranty: 8/10

Like all other Hyundai products, the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Dual Motor comes with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty. There is also an eight-year battery warranty. Compared to its rivals, only the Kia EV6’s offering is superior with its seven-year unlimited kilometre warranty – but strangely it only has a seven-year/150,000km battery warranty.

The Ioniq 5 requires servicing every 12 months or 15,000km, which is the same as the Kia EV6 and the Lexus UX300e but the Mercedes-Benz EQA only requires being serviced every 12 months or 25,000km. The cost of servicing the Ioniq 5 AWD over five years/75,000km is $1,684 ($336.80 per year). When comparing this to the cost of a normal ICE car such as the Hyundai Tucson ($1,595 over five-years or 60,000km which is an average service cost of $319) it is slightly more, but compared to rivals like the Kia EV6 (which costs $1,088 to service over five-years or 60,000km) it seems expensive.

2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 AWD DiscoverAuto Rating: 8.1/10

What spending a week in the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Dual Motor AWD taught us is that electric cars don’t have to be the soulless appliances that some make them out to be. The interesting exterior design, unique driving experience and cool interior make the Ioniq have something most cars don’t have in this modern era: character. You want to go drive it and test the range as it is an engaging and fun car to drive – even if there isn’t any engine noise.

Allowing for fast charging and a range that can actually get you a fair way away from home makes the Hyundai Ioniq 5 an interesting proposition when shopping for a car, even without considering an electric car. It’s not perfect – it’s not cheap to buy, the ride and handling balance needs improvement and the boot isn’t massive. But as we’ve come to expect from Hyundai products recently, the Ioniq 5 is different and draws a lot of attention.