Hyundai is to make another limited offering of its popular and award-winning Ioniq 5 electric SUV next week, in what is expected to be another quickly sold out event for EV-hungry consumers.
Hyundai’s most recent offering of around 100 Ioniq 5s in late March was sold out in minutes, much to the frustration of more than 16,000 potential customers who had registered their interest.
The offerings have also been limited to customers living in big cities, also to the frustration of those in regional areas. This latest offering – of just 65 Ioniq 5s – will not be available to buyers in Brisbane, the Northern Territory, and Perth, due to “stock restrictions”, a spokesman said.
So far, just 429 Ioniq 5s have been sold by Hyundai, despite enormous interest.
Australian consumers have also been frustrated by limited offerings of the Kia EV6 and other EVs. Even Tesla is warning of up to 12-month waits for its Model 3.
Most car companies are sending EVs to other markets, a legacy of the slow embrace of EVs by Australia’s government and the lack of any carrots or sticks, such as vehicle and fuel emissions standards.
The order page for the Ioniq 5 – which start at around $72,000 for the RWD version – is due to open at 1pm on Wednesday, March 18.
The latest offering comes as news emerges that one of its predecessors, the Hyundai Ioniq electric hatch – largely based around the existing Elantra – has been discontinued.
The Ioniq hatch was one of the first EVs offered in Australia, and remains one of the few EVs priced below $50,000. It had limited range of around 220km, and also came in plug in hybrid and mild hybrid versions.
Hyundai apparently made the announcement, at least “globally” some months ago, but not specifically in Australia and the news has only just surfaced. It had sold 1,187 models in Australia, according to The Driven data.
It appears Hyundai decided that the Hyundai Kona electric SUV, also an existing model adapted to hybrid and electric versions, was more fitting to Australian market demand.
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.