2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 priced from RM219k in Australia

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 will be making its official entry into the Australian market soon. According to Car Expert, demand for the electric car is pretty high, so the car will be sold directly to customers who have made their purchases online, bypassing the conventional dealership method.

Only 400 units are expected to make up the first batch of shipment, arriving in one highly specified trim level and two powertrains. According to Hyundai Australia, it collected over 11,000 expressions of interest over the past eight months, with more than 120 deposits placed through its dealership network. A deposit of AUD$2,000 (RM6,000) is required to order an Ioniq 5, which is priced from AUD$71,900 (RM219k).

Those who have placed their deposits will be given priority to secure a vehicle when online orders open on September 27. From October 12 onwards, interested customers will get 24 hours early access to order the car before being opened up to the general public. The company hasn’t announced plans to extend this direct-sales model to other vehicles.

In terms of powertrain options, the Ioniq 5 can be had with either a single motor (160 kW or 218 PS) rear-wheel drive layout or dual-motor AWD (225 kW or 306 PS). The RWD does the century sprint in 7.4 seconds, while the AWD gets to the century mark in 5.2 seconds.

Both models share the same 72.6 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, offering up to 451 km of range on the WLTP cycle. It has support for up to 800 volt charging capability, so plugging in to a 350 kW ultra-fast DC charger will juice the battery up from 10% to 80% in just 17 minutes. It also boasts vehicle-to-load (V2L) sockets under the rear seats and near the charging port, which can supply up to 3.6 kW to power things like electric bicycles, scooters and camping equipment.

The Ioniq 5 may look rather compact in photos, but it’s actually quite a big car, measuring 4,635 mm long. That makes it about as long as a long-wheelbase Tucson, while being 25 mm wider (1,890 mm) and around 50 mm lower (1,605 mm). The standout figure is the wheelbase, which at 3,000 mm is longer than even the flagship seven-seater Palisade.

Hyundai is claiming boot space of 531 litres, which can be increased to 1,600 litres with the sliding and reclining rear seats folded. There’s also a front trunk containing an additional 57 litres of luggage capacity.

Five exterior colours are available – Atlas White, Galactic Grey Metallic, Phantom Black, Digital Teal-Green, Lucid Blue Mica, and matte Gravity Gold (AUD$1,000 or RM3,000 extra). Three interior colourways are offered – Obsidian Black, two-tone Dove Grey with Dark Pebble Grey, and two-tone Dove Grey with Dark Teal.

Standard features include a 12-way power adjustable “Zero Gravity front seats, two-way powered rear seats, sustainable eco-processed leather interior upholstery, panoramic glass roof, heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, powered tailgate, 20-inch alloys, and sustainably made trimmings made from recycled materials.

It also comes with a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bose eight-speaker sound system, 12.3-inch digital instrumentation, panoramic sunroof with powered sunshade, and dual-zone automatic climate control.

In terms of driver assistance, the Ioniq 5 is the first Hyundai model to get Highway Driving Assist 2, which keeps the car a set distance from the car in front and in the centre of its lane; it also assists in performing lane changes. Beyond that, the car’s autonomous emergency braking features cyclist, pedestrian and oncoming traffic recognition, while traffic sign recognition, high beam assist and a driver attention warning are also fitted.