I can only speak for my specific Los Angeles-adjacent enclave, but Hyundai’s IONIQ5 is as ubiquitous as anything produced by Tesla.
I totally get why: Hyundai makes a damn good EV. Four years into its lifecycle, the IONIQ5 remains one of the best-looking vehicles Hyundai has ever made, bettered only by the incredible N Vision 74 Concept. It’s got a classic, crisp hot-hatch design scaled up to SUV proportions with slick details outside and a generous amount of room inside. Its E-GMP platform showed that traditional car makers can develop pure-electric powertrains that could credibly rival those from Tesla, minus the ability to use Superchargers, of course. And with that fat $7500 tax credit, the electric Hyundai was surprisingly cheap to get into.
Well… that tax credit is gone, but the latest iteration of Hyundai’s IONIQ5 can now use newer Tesla charging stations. Is that enough to maintain this EV’s popularity? Or will having to pay the “real” price, which starts at $42,600, scare everyone off?
If you found that last number frightening, you’ll want to avert your eyes from the price tag of this 2025 Hyundai IONIQ5 Limited AWD tester. Here’s your warning. Are your eyes closed? For real? Okay… here we go.
This 2025 Hyundai IONIQ5 Limited AWD carries a starting price of $60,800.
You can open your eyes now.
I get that I’m old, and that no matter how great the current lineup of vehicles may be, I still associate Hyundai with the cars it sold in the ‘80s and ‘90s. I also get that, financially at least, I’m a moron who doesn’t understand the value of money in the best of circumstances, let alone in the current economic chaos. Also: I’m cheap. So $60k for a Hyundai simply seems unfathomable to me.
But if large numbers don’t scare you like they do me, you’ll still find plenty to like about this Hyundai. I remain smitten by its Atlas White Matte exterior (though I am forever thankful I don’t have to maintain it) and the way it effortlessly blends into the exterior plastic trim bits. This near-monochromatic color scheme just further bolsters that “hot hatch” illusion to my eyes, at least. And I’m still a fan of the dot-matrix-like lighting front and rear, if only because they remind me of the videogames of my youth.
Move inside and that retro-future vibe slides back a decade into the all-white aesthetic popularized in late-‘70s sci-fi films, though technically the interior is a very light gray. Save for the occasional geometric flourish here and there, the interior surfaces are broad and flat, helping contribute to the feeling of openness inside. And the simplicity of this design means it’s that much harder to hide any potential flaws with material choice, fit and finish. Thankfully, everything is put together quite well in this Hyundai, making this EV feel like a genuinely premium product. Also: I do like the cool blue accent lighting and brushed metallic bits as they further amplify that sci-fi feel.
I’m generally not a huge fan of touchscreen tech (go back and read the part where I say I’m old), but have few complaints with the tech suite found inside this Hyundai. There are enough physical controls, like a proper on/off button, volume knobs and easy-access buttons for the heated and ventilated front seats. And though it’s technically a haptic plastic display, I don’t hate the stand-alone climate controls. Would I prefer real buttons? Yes. But the climate stuff remains in its own spot, with a static control scheme, so I at least don’t have to dive through a bunch of menus to make even major temperature adjustments. Also: it’s got CarPlay, covering everything else I need.
As for the drive itself, the Hyundai IONIQ5 is an EV that mostly drives like every other mainstream EV currently on the market. So it’s quiet, gives all its torque the instant you touch the go-pedal, accelerates quickly and smoothly, and so on. The ride itself is comfortable—soft, but not too floaty. Steering is reasonably accurate, but lacks feel. And thanks to the battery pack putting all that weight down low, this EV feels confident and composed in the corners. (I really should just create a copy block I can copy and paste for all EVs—they really are that similar.) I hate one-pedal driving (again: I’m old), so I’m thankful that the IONIQ5 defaults to a coasting mode when letting off the throttle.
Let’s talk specs: this AWD IONIQ5 gets an 84-kWh battery, a 165-kW motor driving the rear wheels and a 74-kW motor driving the fronts. Using a math formula I’m nowhere near smart enough to understand, the net combined power output of this system is 320 horsepower and 446 lb-ft of torque. EPA-estimated range is 269 miles, with all the usual caveats.
The big news for this powertrain is the adoption of a native NACS charging port—the Tesla Supercharger standard. Hyundai claims that, when plugged into a V3 or V4 charging station, the IONIQ 5’s battery can go from 10% to 80% charge in just 30 minutes. You can also use the included CCS adapter, find a CCS station ready to give you a steady 250 kW of output and get a similar charge in just 20 minutes.
The bigger advantage, however, is that this switch to the NACS standard also means that this Hyundai supports plug-and-charge—no annoying apps or trying to get other outside payment methods to work. It’s not something I tried out here (I’m not putting my payment info into a stranger’s car that I’ll never see again), but when used in other NACS-compatible vehicles (using those OEMs’ credit cards, thank you very much), I fully understood the magic and ease of the Tesla-designed charging network.
At the end of the day, though, the Hyundai IONIQ5 Limited AWD is kind of an appliance vehicle, like pretty much every other mainstream EV. And like those other EVs, it’s a nice appliance. Easy to live with. Easy to use. And plenty comfortable. But $60k?! Well about that…
At the time of this writing, Hyundai’s online configurator says that I can lease an IONIQ5 Limited AWD for just $416 a month, for 24 months, with just $3,999 due at signing. That’s more than I can afford, pal (again, I’m cheap), but that seems more than reasonable for everything that this EV offers. If you can live with less power, 24 fewer miles on a full battery charge and fewer luxury-type features (or if you really like cloth seats), Hyundai will hook you up with a 24-month lease on a base Standard Range IONIQ5 for just $210 a month. Same $3,999 due at signing, and even my cheap ass can afford that. That’s a lot of car for very little money, so I expect to see a lot more of these taking over the roads—in my neck of the woods, at least.
Like pictures? Of course you do. Check out more of the 2025 Hyundai IONIQ5 Limited AWD in the photo gallery below.
