Overview

What's New for 2025

The 2025 Ioniq 5 is available in five trim levels: SE Standard Range, SE, SEL, Limited, and N. The three middle trims are offered in rear- and all-wheel-drive variants. The N variant is all-wheel drive only. The entry-level rear-wheel-drive SE Standard Range has a smaller battery and less power and range. The SE is the top choice for most shoppers, but we like the SEL, especially with all-wheel drive. We'll explain why below.

While the Ioniq 5 is no longer eligible for federal tax credits unless leased, it remains eligible for a variety of state and local incentives, including cash rebates. The following features list is based on the 2024 model until we get the official 2025 changes from Hyundai.

SE Standard Range

The base Ioniq 5 comes only in rear-wheel drive with a 62 kWh battery (58 kWh of usable capacity). Standard equipment includes 19-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights and taillights, power windows and door locks, keyless ignition, cloth upholstery, heated front seats, a power-adjustable driver's seat, dual-zone temperature control, a six-speaker audio system, Wi-Fi hotspot (with subscription), and a full suite of driver-assist and active safety systems.

SE

The rear-wheel-drive SE includes all of the SE Standard Range features plus a 77.4 kWh battery with 72.6 kWh of usable capacity, a battery heating system, a preconditioning system, and a trailer wiring package.

The all-wheel-drive version boosts horsepower and torque with an additional motor that drives the front wheels. All Ioniq 5 AWD versions also get an energy-efficient heat pump to replace the power-consuming electric heater.

SEL

The midrange, rear-wheel-drive SEL adds forward parking distance warning, a semi-autonomous highway lane-changing feature, imitation leather upholstery, a tilt-and-telescoping steering column, self-dimming mirror with HomeLink, a digital key system, rear heating and air conditioning vents, and a hands-free rear liftgate system.

We think the more muscular dual-motor system with electronic all-wheel drive offers the best combination of value, convenience, and performance for those who have no racetrack aspirations.

Limited

The rear-wheel-drive Limited trim adds projector-type LED headlights, front LED accent lighting, a Bose audio system, a panoramic glass sunroof, cooled front seats, a power-adjustable passenger seat, seat position memory and "relaxation" or zero-gravity reclining functions for the driver's seat, a head-up display, digital rearview mirror, and remote parking assist. It also has a "vehicle-to-load" system that lets you use the vehicle's battery pack to charge other EVs or power electric tools and appliances.

The all-wheel-drive Limited adds 20-inch alloy wheels.

N

New this year, the N starts at a lofty $67,475. It gets a plethora of special driving and handling modes, including a drift mode, launch control, boosted regenerative braking for improved high-speed cornering, racing-specific battery conditioning and management modes, and a steering-wheel-mounted "N Grin Boost" button that releases a burst of stored energy for maximum acceleration. It also gets bigger motors, larger brakes, lightweight 21-inch alloys and performance tires, a specially tuned suspension with electronically controlled dampers, an electronic limited-slip differential, a reinforced chassis and a race-oriented interior with lower-positioned sport bucket seats, reinforced side bolsters and knee and shin pads on the fixed center console for extra bracing in corners, two-tone Alcantara upholstery made from recycled PET plastics, distinctive front and rear fascia treatments, and special N badging throughout.

The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 is available in single-motor rear-wheel-drive and dual-motor all-wheel-drive versions, and, as with all EVs, power is dependent on battery capacity and the number of motors.

The single-motor SE Standard Range is rated at 168 horsepower. Single-motor trims with the 77.4 kWh battery jump to 225 hp and 258 pound-feet of torque, while the dual-motor 77.4 kWh trims are rated at 320 hp and 446 lb-ft of grunt. The N trim gets an 84 kWh battery and heftier motors with a combined rating of 601 hp, boostable to 641 ponies. All Ioniq 5 variants use single-speed gear-reduction transmissions, but the N variant has an N Shift mode that electronically manages the transmission to emulate an eight-speed. The jolts at each shift point are meant to help ease drivers familiar with internal combustion cars with multi-speed transmissions into the world of high-performance EV driving. The N also gets an Active Sound + mode that adds the appropriate level of crescendoing "engine" roar as the car moves through the shift levels.

On the road, the lower Ioniq 5 trims are smooth and responsive, with suspension tuned for comfort with a touch of sportiness. It easily tackles highways and most country roads. But with slightly numb electronic steering and a wheelbase that's longer than that of Hyundai's full-size, three-row Palisade SUV, the Ioniq 5 is best eased into really tight curves rather than with the throttle pinned. A low center of gravity — the batteries are under the floor — and wide tires keep it planted firmly, however, and there's scant body roll when rounding most turns at speed.

Braking is firm and progressive, with none of the sogginess that can come with regenerative braking systems. As far as regen goes, the Ioniq 5 takes things quite a distance, with four increasingly aggressive, driver-selectable levels, plus a one-pedal mode that can bring things to a halt without applying the brake pedal. It also has a regen-free setting that lets you burn up brake pads if you must.

For quick getaways, or safely passing and merging onto the highway, the dual-motor, all-wheel-drive iterations are capable of a 0-60 mph sprint in under 5.1 seconds. The single-motor, rear-wheel-drive versions with the large battery do the deed in 7.4 seconds. The base SE Standard Range gets there in a segment average of 8.2 seconds.

In all trims, the Eco driving mode tones things down, dampening accelerator response and limiting AC and heating parameters to emphasize fuel efficiency. The Sport mode livens things up at the expense of a few miles of range. There's also a Comfort mode, and a Snow mode helps control wheel spin in slippery conditions.

Hyundai's sound attenuation engineers did a great job: The Ioniq 5's cabin is pretty quiet, with little road noise encroachment.

Everything changes with the N trim, though. It's truly a track-ready vehicle that can turn in some respectable lap times or thrill drivers and passengers alike in specialized drift modes. In addition to substantial chassis reinforcement, the suspension tuning is stiffer, tires are bigger, brakes are more aggressive, steering is tighter and more responsive, and power is up nearly 90%. It is Hyundai-rated at 3.2 seconds in a sprint from zero to 60 mph with a top speed of 162 mph. The 476-horsepower Tesla Model Y Performance is almost as quick, with a 3.5-second zero-to-60 time.

It's reasonable to assume the Ioniq 5 N is an adaptation of the related Kia EV6 GT, but it's an entirely different beast. Drivers can experiment with a variety of drive modes to see which best fits their driving style. This includes the ability to send a majority of power to the rear, making this all-wheel-drive SUV feel more like a rear-wheel-drive coupe. It's simply one of the more entertaining vehicles we've driven, electric or otherwise.

All 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 versions, except the N and SE Standard Range, use a liquid-cooled 77.4 kWh battery pack. It is rated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for up to 303 miles of range for single-motor, rear-wheel-drive variants; dual-motor, all-wheel-drive variants for 2024 were rated at up to 266 miles. The SE Standard Range trim uses a liquid-cooled 58 kWh battery rated at 220 miles.

Those ratings put the Ioniq 5 near the top of both single- and dual-motor competitors in the compact crossover slot. The new Nissan Ariya's front-wheel-drive trim claims a one-mile advantage over the 303-mile rear-wheel-drive Ioniq 5. The single-motor, rear-wheel-drive Kia EV6, the Ioniq 5's corporate cousin, gets slightly better estimates (310 miles). The California Route 1 trim of Ford's Mustang Mach-E also does a little better at 314 miles with rear-wheel drive and 312 miles with all-wheel drive. The dual-motor, all-wheel-drive Tesla Model Y Long Range will deliver about 50 miles more than the dual-motor all-wheel-drive Ioniq 5.

The Ioniq 5 N gets a new 84 kWh battery, but the extra juice is used for performance, not for range. Hyundai hasn't issued an estimate yet, but we'd expect the N to come in around the Kia EV6 GT's 206 miles. Tesla's Model Y Performance trim does better at 303 miles.

The Ioniq 5 was the first non-luxury EV — and only the second in the market after the Porsche Taycan — to use an 800-volt electrical architecture, which allows much faster charging than the 400-volt systems that have been the norm.

Hyundai claims that on properly sized DC fast chargers, the Ioniq 5's 77.4 kWh battery can be brought from 10% to 80% of capacity in 18 minutes. That's the fastest time in the class.

Those ultra-fast 350-kW chargers, however, are not in plentiful supply. The Ioniq 5 can take 20 to 30 minutes for an 80% fill-up on the 125- to 250-kW DC fast-charge stations more widely available today. Fortunately, the Ioniq 5 is able to efficiently use fast-charging stations of various power ratings because it is designed to automatically switch between 800 and 400 volts.

For home and workplace charging on 240-volt systems, also called Level 2 charging, the Ioniq 5 is equipped with a 10.9 kW onboard charger that can replenish a depleted 77.4 kWh battery in just under seven hours. That's among the quickest Level 2 charging systems available, even among new upscale entrants to the segment. The Audi Q4 e-tron, for instance, comes with a 9.6 kW onboard charger, and the Nissan Ariya tops out at just 7.2 kilowatts per hour for 240-volt charging.

The Ioniq 5 is among the most efficient EVs available, with an EPA rating of 30 kWh of electrical consumption per 100 miles of travel for the single-motor 77.4 kWh battery variants. That's slightly less energy than in a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline. Equivalent gasoline ratings would be 132 mpg in city driving and 98 mpg on the highway. The Model Y Long Range leads the pack at 28 kWh per 100 miles.

The all-wheel-drive Ioniq 5 variants are rated at 34 kWh/100 miles, while the rear-wheel-drive SE Standard Range is rated at 31 kWh/100 miles. Ioniq 5 N efficiency numbers aren't yet available.

Hyundai designers eschewed posh in favor of an almost Scandinavian crispness in the Ioniq 5's interior design. Its digital screen-dominated dash shouts high-tech, as do the Limited trim's augmented-reality head-up display and zero-gravity driver's seat.

Hyundai's new EV platform creates a perfectly flat floor in the cabin, and in the Ioniq 5 that allows for a large center console that slides forward and backward (Limited only) and rear seats that can be moved forward by up to 5.3 inches to expand cargo space.

Seats are comfortable and well-bolstered, and the flat floor and long wheelbase create an especially spacious cabin. This isn't a tall crossover, but headroom is adequate for all but the tallest occupants. There's quite a bit of shoulder room, thanks to the Ioniq 5's 74.4-inch width. Only the Tesla Model Y is wider. Rear legroom is second only to the Model Y's in the segment, while the Nissan Ariya and the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra twins have more front legroom. The N's front seats feature much deeper side bolstering to keep occupants well-anchored when cornering hard, and larger passengers may feel somewhat constrained by them.

There's plenty of storage space in the two-level center console and in various door pockets and cubbies. Cargo capacity measures 27.2 cubic feet behind the rear seats and 59.3 cubic feet when those seats are folded flat. The Ioniq 5's storage capacity is topped in the segment only by the Model Y and the Volkswagen ID.4.

The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5's dash holds two 12.3-inch, horizontally mounted digital screens — one for the driver information functions, the other for the infotainment system. Neither is hooded, but glare wasn't a problem, even in the glass-roofed Limited trim.

The infotainment touchscreen with voice recognition is standard on all trims and controls a plethora of vehicle settings and infotainment features. It's quite easy to use and has a sensible layout and crisp, clean graphics, but it isn't top-of-class.

Hyundai's Blue Link Connected Car and Remote Charging Access is standard, as is wireless phone charging, but there's no Wi-Fi hotspot. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility is standard, but only with a wired connection. There are three standard USB ports in front and two in the rear seating area, but no USB-C ports.

The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 has not yet been officially rated for safety, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave the very similar 2024 all-wheel-drive Ioniq 5 four out of five stars in overall and frontal crash safety and five stars in rollover safety. The N trim has not been rated by NHTSA.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) named the 2024 model a Top Safety Pick, which is the institute's second-highest honor. In all IIHS crashworthiness tests, the Ioniq 5 earned the top score of Good.

All Ioniq 5 trims get an active safety systems package that includes blind-spot warning with collision avoidance steering assist, lane-keeping assist, lane-following assist, rear cross-traffic warning with collision avoidance braking, rear collision warning and avoidance with pedestrian and cyclist detection, and the ability to recognize and automatically brake for oncoming traffic while making left turns. They also have rear outboard seatbelt pre-tensioners and the lane-keeping assist and blind-spot collision avoidance systems give haptic feedback via the steering wheel.

Also standard is Hyundai's Highway Drive Assist, a Level 2.5 autonomous driving system that requires the driver's hands to be on the wheel and works only on highways with clear lane markings. SE trims use the 1.0 version. Higher trims get the new Highway Drive Assist 2, which includes automated lane changing when the turn indicator is activated and uses artificial intelligence to modify cruise control performance over time to match the driver's style.

The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 slots into an increasingly crowded EV segment. Competitors include its corporate cousin, the Kia EV6; the Nissan Ariya; the Tesla Model Y; the Volkswagen ID.4 and its upscale cousin, the Audi Q4 e-tron; the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra twins; several trim levels of the Ford Mustang Mach-E; and the new Volvo EX30. The Mach-E has the best handling in the segment if you exclude the Ioniq 5 N, and the Q4 e-tron's interior is more luxurious. But the electric Hyundai crossover sits at or near the top of the segment in most areas of comparison other than infotainment. The Model Y crossover offers slightly more range and may be in store for a significant update soon.

Hyundai IONIQ 5 vs. Audi Q4 e-tron

Hyundai IONIQ 5 vs. Ford Mustang Mach-E

Hyundai IONIQ 5 vs. Kia EV6

Hyundai IONIQ 5 vs. Nissan Ariya

Hyundai IONIQ 5 vs. Subaru Solterra

Hyundai IONIQ 5 vs. Tesla Model Y

Hyundai IONIQ 5 vs. Toyota bZ4X

Hyundai IONIQ 5 vs. Volkswagen ID.4

Hyundai IONIQ 5 vs. Volvo EX30