Wheelin' and Dealin'
(Click to enlarge) 		2nd Ioniq 5 Test Drive

September 30, 2023

Mark D Larsen

Knowing that I would be driving to Las Vegas for this year's National Drive Electric Week, I decided to take advantage of the trip to also make an appointment with a Hyundai dealer there to again take a test drive in an Ioniq 5 Limited. I arrived at ABC Hyundai, not far from the Clark County Offices where NDEW would take place, a little after 9:00 in the morning. Below are a few of my impressions.


NOTE: You can click on the following photos to enlarge them.

The sales person with whom I had made the appointment needed to make a copy of my identification, locate the keys for one of the Limited models in stock, and go find it in an adjacent lot. While I waited, I took a closer look that this Limited model on the showroom floor.

I was also able to check out an Ioniq 6 in the showroom. It really is a beautiful EV sedan, with amazing aerodynamics and much more range than its sibling EV. I could be happy in one of these, except… it has a trunk, which I am fed up with in my Model 3. I want a hatchback to more easily accommodate taller, bulkier cargo, like I used to have in my Nissan LEAF.

The white Ioniq 5 Limited in the photo at the top of the page next to my Model 3 is the one that I was able to test drive. Curiously, it had yet to be cleaned up and made ready for customers, as you can probably tell by this photo taken in the driver’s seat. I found them more comfortable than I remembered on my first test drive. In fact, I had never sat in the rear before, and when I did this time, I was amazed at how much room was back there. I was especially impressed that those rear seats could slide forward and backward to allow that roominess, and they even reclined to a few different positions so that passengers could even nap more comfortably.

The front seats also have more room than in other EVs because its center console does not extend all the way to the dash. Instead, it likewise can slide forward and backward, giving easy access to the flat floor all the way across the vehicle. As shown in the previous photo, another feature that would please Tamara is that, under the armrest is a fairly large space to hold bags and purses, which would prove much more convenient so that she wouldn't have to have such items in the footwell in front of her.

Unfortunately, because the car hadn’t yet been prepped, it only had 25 miles of range in the battery. Indeed, during the short drive around the neighborhood, it displayed a warning that the battery was very low and that we needed to plug it in and recharge. Consequently, there wasn’t range or time to test out the features that most interest me: its adaptive cruise control and lane keep functions. My understanding is that they both work like in a Mustang Mach-E, allowing the driver to still tweak the steering (say, to swerve around an object in the road) without cancelling lane keep. If so, I would welcome that ability, as doing that in the Model 3 cancels Autopilot. Boo!

I let the sales person know that, if I do buy an Ioniq 5, there are specifcs that I insist having. First, I am only interested in a 2024 Limited model that boasts Hyundai’s new digital rear view mirror. I want a Cyber Gray exterior with a grey interior. I want AWD. And I want to know if Hyundai is going to join the other automakers in adopting the NACS connectors, first with a dedicated adapter, and then with the actual plug and ports, so that we could use Superchargers if and when they’re needed on roadtrips. Hyundai has announced that they’re considering that possibility, but has yet to make a firm commitment.

We’ll see what the future brings. Maybe by then our local Hyundai dealer will finally start selling and servicing EV models so that I won’t have to drive to Las Vegas to take delivery. Time will tell.