Another batch of Hyundai’s award-winning Ioniq 5 electric SUV were offered for sale on Wednesday, and once again sold within minutes as thousands of potential buyers queued online for a very limited offering.
As The Driven reported on Friday, this was going to be the smallest offering by Hyundai to date of the car that has won multiple “car of the year awards. It had flagged only 65 to be sold, but ended up offering 68.
On top of this, the latest offering of Ioniq 5s was only been made available in some capital cities, with the majority being available on the east coast. As per previous offerings, no regional areas were included in the allocation.
Word has it that this limited number of vehicles sold out within minutes, with at least one driver entering a different postcode to place an order.
The carmaker has, as with others, struggled to secure inventory for Australia, where a lack of supportive policy has caused car-makers to focus on countries that do have strict vehicle emissions regulations overseas.
That has left slim pickings for Australian drivers, adding to a shortage caused by the disruptions to supply chains caused by Covid19 and more recently by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
An email sent by Hyundai to interested customers said: “Due to extremely limited stock and high demand of the IONIQ 5, availability across the Delivery Partner network is limited to key metropolitan areas within Australia.”
High demand has been fuelled, it would seem, by the generous size and numerous features that come with the car. Although it is priced above the thresholds for EV rebates in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, this hasn’t slowed down interest.
Award-winning electric crossover
Numerous awards handed out to Hyundai for the Ioniq 5 have no doubt added flame to the fire.
Since its introduction in 2021, the Ioniq 5 has nabbed at least 10 awards.
Cleaning up at the Auto Express New Car Awards in 2021, it claimed four awards in total. This included Car of the Year award, Mid-size Company Car, Premium Electric Car, and Design awards.
It has also claimed the Green SUV of the Year award from Green Car Journal, the prestigious German Car of the Year award, a Popular Science award for its ability to act as a “power station on wheels,” the UK Company Car of the Year award, and an Autotrader Best New Car award.
Most recently, it nabbed UK Car of the Year award as well as EV of the Year in the 2022 Hispanic Motor Press Awards.
Electric car buyer frustration
A lucky few able to get their hands on an Ioniq 5 spilled into EV forums on Wednesday. After a small delay past the 1pm time slot set by Hyundai, the order page opened. But not for long.
“Gone in about 5 minutes,” said one forum member.
Some got around the location restrictions by inputting a city postcode.
“Had to be creative with the postcode,” said another. “The site said “sold out” a couple of times while entering data, but I just kept resubmitting the form and it got through.”
But other drivers have expressed frustration at the order process.
One, who missed out on placing an order in an earlier tranche said to The Driven in a note, “After that chook raffle I said I’d never buy a Hyundai.”
Another said he missed out after being forced to choose a different colour (the only ones available), and negotiating an overly complicated means of inserting his date of birth.
“‘The Ioniq 5 has sold out please register your interest’. Less than 3 minutes from beginning to end,” he said in an email to The Driven.
A spokesperson for Hyundai said that customers who were able to place an order today will receive their vehicles by June, as the vehicles have already been built.
The Driven was also told the next allocation will go on sale within the next two months.
Drivers are not only finding it difficult with Hyundai in the search to go electric. Kia was also only able to secure 500 EV6 crossovers for Australia in 2022, despite demand ten times that amount, and new Tesla orders will not arrive until 2023. The Model Y is still not available to order in Australia.
The problem of EV supply is now compounded by the fact that Hyundai has pulled the Ioniq Electric fastback from sale in Australia.
But there is light on the horizon, assuming a change of government at the coming federal election. Federal Labor has said it will introduce an electric vehicle strategy if elected.
Other parties and climate independents who may hold the balance of power in the case of a hung or minority government have also expressed support for more measures to make more EVs available in Australia.
See also: Climate independents to push next government to electrify transport
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.