New details about the Hyundai Ioniq 5’s arrival in Australia have emerged as dealers reach out to customers who have lodged pre-order ahead of first deliveries in October.
The Ioniq 5 is the South Korean carmaker’s first vehicle to be built on a dedicated electric platform, and recently won the UK’s 2021 Car of the Year award. It promises to be an interesting addition to the Australian market.
With features such as vehicle-to-load (V2L, a form of bidirectional charging that can be used to power tools, devices and charge e-bikes for example), an integrated solar roof, and ultra-fast 350kW charging, it is already proving popular overseas and is displacing sales of the Hyundai Kona EV.
Pricing will be from between $70,000-80,000, according to a number of customers who have placed pre-orders with Hyundai, who have also said they have been told the Ioniq 5 will be available in two variants.
The customers, who posted in an Ioniq forum on social media, also said they had been told the two variants will include a long-range dual motor, and a long-range rear single motor Ioniq 5.
According to Hyundai UK, the long-range Ioniq 5 with 73kWh battery pack offers a range of up to 482km (WLTP) with rear-wheel drive, or 461km with all-wheel drive.
In the UK, Hyundai has introduced two trims including a “bargain-basement” rear-wheel drive with 58kWh motor and basic trim that is priced under the Tesla Model 3 at £36,995 (just under $A70,000).
This is joined by an identical vehicle with premium trim that includes V2L, and premium trimmed long-range variants with a 73kWh battery and either single or dual-motor configuration and a choice of power output for the long-range variants.
In New Zealand, the single-motor rear-wheel variant has been priced to fall under that country’s Clean Car rebate from $NZ79,990 before on-roads, falling far short of the Tesla Model 3 pricing from $NZ66,900.
It is also available for pre-order in two long-range configurations with different pricing for extras such as a glass roof or solar roof, with the top spec’d model priced at $NZ112,900.
The pricing and variant information given to waiting customers by dealers seems to indicate that in Australia, Hyundai is choosing to first introduce long-range options as it did with the Kona EV, rather than the short-range models which are more likely to fall under the NSW and Victoria EV rebate thresholds of $68,750.
While Hyundai Australia has not yet officially announced pricing, four variants have been certified under the Road Vehicle Certification System (RVCS) revealing certain details for the Australian market.
These include two single motor variants and two dual-motor variants, each in a short-range (58kWh) and long-range (73kWh) battery. These long-range variants have both been rated for 750kg towing unbraked and 1.6 tonnes braked.
Alongside these specifications, expect power output and torque to fall in line with overseas specifications:
Battery (kWh) | Power Output (kW) | Torque (Nm) | |
IONIQ 5 Standard Range RWD | 58 | 125 | 350 |
IONIQ 5 Standard Range AWD | 58 | 160 | 605 |
IONIQ 5 Extended Range RWD | 73 | 173 | 350 |
IONIQ 5 Extended Range AWD | 73 | 225 | 605 |
We expect the shorter-range Ioniq 5 will fall closer to Tesla Model 3 pricing when (and if) it is introduced at a later date.
Whether the basic trim version will be included in a later release is not known but if so, interested customers will likely need to wait until 2022.
To learn more about the Ioniq 5 check out our video here.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.