A FANTASTIC, futuristic and fun, five seater family EV
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The 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 is a FANTASTIC, fully electric, five-seater family car that is crammed full of BabyDrive family-friendly features. I have to say I am super excited by the Ioniq 5 and think this might be my new favourite electric car and I REALLY want one for our family! Let's get stuck in and see how it stacks up as a BabyDrive…
BabyDrive Verdict
If we start with the fact the Ioniq 5 looks VERY cool on the outside, with futuristic lines and minimal detail.
On the inside, the Ioniq 5 has a calm and peaceful interior which is a pleasure to be in.
It feels very light, open and spacious. The central console feels like it's floating and does not fully separate the two front passengers, which is nice and allows you to easily swap from one seat to the other without having to get out of the car. Great for those times when someone parks too close to you for example.
The central console has a great area for popping your handbag or hat while driving, below a floating armrest with storage.
The glove box is a big drawer that you slide out, which is fabulous for holding everything in place and for easy access. You do not have to reach in and rummage around at an angle like in conventional glove boxes.
Instead of traditional handle storage wells in the doors, the Ioniq 5 doors all have long shelf-like door handles behind the arm cushions. These are great for popping your phone and they will hold an iPad or book.
In the back, the footwell is flat which makes it easy for passengers to move around creates a walkthrough when getting in and out of the car and for adults to sit in the central seat.
The seats in the Ioniq 5 have some fantastic functions for families! The rear seats are split 60:40 and each section moves using controls on the side of the seat base.
Or you can move the rear seats forward and backwards using controls on the side of the front passenger seat.
You can also control all the seats using controls in the media screen, where you can also save the settings. This would be great for easily switching between drivers and having the seat settings already saved so you can have the legroom distributed exactly how you need it.
The Ioniq 5 also has recline mode front seats! AMAZING! They may sound like something you would never get time to enjoy but you definitely do! When Bub was asleep I used recline mode, or when I arrive at school pick-up and have five minutes until the bell rings I use recline-mode. Also, while I am waiting for the car to charge at a public charger I use recline mode! A footrest comes out and your seatback tips back. Of course, being an electric car it's no problem to just keep the aircon and heated/cooled seats running so you stay super comfortable while you relax as well!
The Ioniq 5 is one of very few five-seater cars to have built-in rear window blinds.
It also has rear pillar air vents instead of them being in the ceiling or in the back of the central console. These are great as they keep a nice rear climate without blowing directly down onto rear passengers.
Another of the Ioniq 5's iconic features is the magnetic pad next to the driver's display screen. Great for phones with a magnetic back or for your kiddies' love letters 🙂
When it comes to fitting child seats in the back of the Hyundai Ioniq 5, it is quite spacious for a five-seater. There are ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats and top tether anchorages on the back of all three backrests. I could fit three Infasecure child seats across the back, I installed three Infasecure Achieve More or Attain More seats forward and rear-facing.
I found I could sit between two child seats in the back of the Ioniq 5. Legroom is good in the Ioniq 5 too because you can move the front and rear seats around to distribute the legroom. With a rear-facing Infasecure Attain More child seat installed, we could sit a 186cm passenger in the front.
Or with the same child seat installed on the other side of the car, we could fit a 180cm driver.
Space has not been taken from the boot, where 15 shopping bags will fit really comfortably. This is a lot more than other electric cars I've tested such as the Kia E-Niro which holds 10 shopping bags, the Hyundai Kona and MG ZS which both hold 9 shopping bags. For reference, it's also one more than the Hyundai Tucson medium SUV!
You can fit a twin pram in the boot of the Ioniq 5 with four shopping bags beside it.
The media system in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is lovely to use and navigate. It also has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
I love the white screen background and surround. It has a nice calming effect on the eyes and you don't get the same reflections and glare from it as you do dark backgrounds.
There are some great inbuilt features for families like ‘Quiet mode' which mutes the speakers in the back and brings the sound to the front speakers. I love this when I'm driving along and my kids fall asleep in the back or if they are on their devices.
There is ‘Sounds of nature” which is great when you have little kids because it is white noise at your fingertips! My little ones fall asleep quite quickly to the sound of the calm ocean waves.
Voice memos is another we like to use to record the little conversations we have with our kids in the car. You can also control the climate through the media screen and importantly the heating of the rear seats.
I think my only negative for the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is the position of the heated seat button on rear doors as children are able to reach and turn them on themselves without you noticing.
Thankfully you can control the rear seat heaters through this page in the media screen too.
You can also access your EV information through the media screen.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is an easy EV to charge and use. We found it does around 430km to a full battery charge. If you're not charging from home (for example on a road trip) it charges really quickly up to 80% battery and then is slightly slower for the last 20% of battery charge using public fast charging stations. We found it can add 50% charge in around 15 minutes at one of the fastest chargers in our area, which is a realistic amount of time for a fuel stop for a family.
The Ioniq 5 has more tricks up its sleeve when it comes to charging with this easy to use converter that turns the charging socket into a conventional plug, so you can run your plug-in Esky or laptop off it when camping or plug your vacuum into it when cleaning it out. You can even set how much of the car's battery it uses up before turning off the socket (so you don't get stranded with not enough charge). Interesting fact: The energy capacity of the Ioniq 5's battery is enough to power an average Australian family home for at least THREE days!
All the charging leads are kept in the ‘Frunk” under the bonnet of the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is a beautiful car to drive, it's an absolute joy. It feels calm and peaceful and I love the quiet, smooth drive and peaceful interior. Overall the new 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 is an epic five-seater family EV.
How big is the boot of the new 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5?
Space is good in the boot of the Ioniq 5 for families. 15 shopping bags will fit in the boot when empty really comfortably, which bigger than other electric cars I've tested recently such as the Kia E-Niro which holds 10 shopping bags and the Hyundai Kona and MG ZS that both hold 9 shopping bags. For reference, it also holds one more bag than the Hyundai Tucson medium SUV!
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as the kids lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
The twin side-by-side stroller fits in the boot of the Ioniq 5 with four shopping bags beside it.
The tandem stroller fits in the boot of the Hyundai Ioniq 5, with six shopping bags beside it.
The single stroller fits in the boot of the Ioniq 5 with seven shopping bags beside it.
The compact stroller fits in the boot of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 with nine shopping bags around it.
Or a medium-size dog fits in the boot comfortably. The floor of the boot of the new 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 is carpeted and flat which makes it perfect for carrying the family dog and for emergency nappy changes!
How good is storage in the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5?
In the cabin of the new 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5, there are some fresh new storage solutions that are modern, practical and fitting with the Ioniq 5 design.
The central console consists of two cup holders that are a good size to hold a re-usable or disposable coffee cup and a refillable water bottle fits in them too.
An armrest and storage tray appear to float between the front seats and I found this great for my sunglasses because there is not a case for them in the ceiling.
Underneath this is a large, rubber-lined space we loved for putting my handbag or hat when I'm driving and the wireless phone charging pad is under here too, with two USB sockets.
In the footwell, there is another storage well and USB and 12V sockets. The central console does not extend to the dash, which makes the front cabin feel so much more spacious and open. We found this great for allowing you to move from one front seat to the other if you need to shuffle across for any reason (such as being parked close to a wall meaning it is hard to open the door wide enough).
The glovebox is a drawer in the Ioniq 5, which is a fantastic solution in comparison to regular glove boxes and it's massive, with lots of room to spare with my iPad, wallet and the owner's manual!
The door bins in the front of the Ioniq 5 will hold a water bottle and an iPad fits well too.
Instead of storage wells for handles like most cars, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 has a ridge that runs the length of the door behind the armrest cushioning. This would easily store a phone, book or iPad.
It is the same in the rear doors too, they will hold a water bottle and iPad in the door bin and the storage shelf behind the cushion is there too. I love this feature for kids and families.
There are net map pockets on the back of both front seats. They will hold a book or an iPad but not conceal it.
There are two USB chargers in the second-row footwell for rear passengers to charge devices while travelling along and a little storage area too.
The footwell in the back is flat, which is great for allowing passengers to easily pass through from one side to the other and means central seat passengers have no hump to straddle and more room for their feet.
There is a fold-down armrest in the central seatback with two cup holders that will hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the new 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5? How good is the media system in the 2022 Ioniq 5?
The 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 is a lovely quiet electric car. It starts silently and has a calm, quiet and smooth drive with very few unnecessary beeps and whistles.
The media system in the new 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 is modern, easy to navigate and the white background and surround make it visibly easier on the eye because it gets a lot less reflections and glare.
The pair of screens are within one continuous panel of glass.
The driver display screen is clearly visible and shows you your battery range clearly.
All models of the new Ioniq 5 have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto too.
The media system is so simple and intuitive to use and there are some great features for families within it that we enjoyed during our week of family testing.
Like ‘Sounds of nature', which is a selection of white noise at your fingertips. Great for getting little ones off to sleep while driving!
‘Quiet mode' mutes the sound in the speakers in the back and brings it to the front which I love when little ones fall asleep on journeys or are on their devices in the back.
‘Voice memo' is nice to record those lovely conversations you have with kids in the car… you can even download your recordings to a USB stick to hear them on your computer later. Or come up with new sausage recipes like Kel from Kath & Kim!
You can control the front and rear seats through the media screen too and save the settings for each driver or combination of passengers required legroom.
You can control the climate in the media screen too.
As well as the rear seat heating, which is really useful because the rear heated seat buttons are in the doors and within reach of little passengers' fiddly fingers!!
The cameras in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 are beautiful, crystal clear images and you can view them from a few angles.
There's also a 3D exterior camera, which we found really useful when parking too.
You can turn the parking sensors and cameras on and off easily with buttons down below the media screen.
There are indicator cameras too that come up in the driver's display screen.
Beside the driver's display screen is a magnetic pad, perfect for phones with a magnetic back or for your kids' love letters 🙂
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
The indicators are not too loud in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the rear doors and windows can be locked in one button in the driver's door control panel. I found the doors were not too loud to open and close.
When it comes to charging the Hyundai Ioniq 5 it is pretty simple. Under the bonnet, there is a lidded box; the ‘frunk'.
It contains the charging leads and adaptors.
The charging socket on the back driver's side is easy to open with the key or pressing the flap.
We found the Hyundai Ioniq 5 super fast to charge on a fast charger at services. It even has a little voice that says “charging” when the electricity starts to flow!
The all-wheel drive model I tested does around 430km to a battery charge, which is a really decent distance and plenty for our family week and commutes (the slightly less expensive two-wheel drive one has even more range). When not using the home charger (which is perfect for day to day top-ups while the car is at home) it was super fast to charge to 80% battery and then a little slower for the last 20%. Under 80% battery, it took around 15mins to add 50% of charge, which is a really manageable time for recharging when you do a servo stop with kids on a road trip.
Using the key fob you can drive the Ioniq 5 backwards and forwards without being in the car! It is fantastic for getting in and out of tight car parking spaces or garages when you don't want your kids opening the car door into another vehicle or wall!
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit in the new 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5?
There are ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats of the Ioniq 5, which are not within plastic guides but nice and easy to connect to.
There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three rear seatbacks in the new 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5. They are within labelled plastic guides and easy to connect to through the boot.
Two Infasecure child seats fit really nicely in the two outer rear seats; I installed the Infasecure Roamer II forward-facing and the Infasecure Attain More rear-facing and that gave enough room for me to sit between the two seats.
There is no big hump in the rear footwell, which makes it super easy for passengers to move about in the rear and comfier for me to sit in the central seat as I don't have to straddle any hump in the footwell with my feet.
Legroom is good in the Ioniq 5 and a 180cm passenger or driver could fit in front of a rear-facing Infasecure Attain More child seat. Or with a rear-facing Infasecure Attain More child seat installed on the other side of the car we could sit a 186cm passenger in the front.
The rear seats are split 60:40 and they can be moved backwards and forwards using the controls on the side of the seat base…
…or on the side of the front passenger seat.
This is fantastic for distributing the legroom as needed throughout the car. You can also adjust all the seats through the media screen and save the settings. This is fabulous for saving a seating combination for when each parent drives.
Posting Bub into their child seats in the back from inside and outside the car is nice and easy. The door openings are good and there is plenty of interior space.
Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
I found there is room to feed bub in the back with a child seat installed.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the new 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5? And How good is the new 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 to drive?
The front seats of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 are super comfortable and adjustable using controls on the side of the seat bases. There are memory settings in the media screen and on the driver's door.
The front seats also have ‘recline mode' AMAZING!! No parent is going to regret having these!! A footrest comes out and the seat back reclines. I thought at first it was just a gimmick and when would I actually get to use it but I found I did during my week; when the car was charging at the fast charger, when I was a few minutes early for school pick up and when my Bub had fallen asleep in the back and I was sitting waiting while she slept!
For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are very comfortable.
There is no hump in the footwell so there is plenty of space to put your feet and good kick room.
I found I could sit between two child seats in the back.
The seats are perforated leather in the front-end back which will trap kids' crumbs and spills.
For the first year of my first daughters life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with her so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
The front and rear seats are heated. There are rear heated seat buttons on the rear doors, which are within reach of kids' fiddly fingers, however, there are also controls thorough the front media screen so you can see if they are cooking themselves in the back!
The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.
The cruise controls appear digitally on the right set of controls on the steering wheel and are easy to use. I found the cruise control to be very accurate on both motorways and at lower speeds on undulating roads which is great.
The gear lever is a stalk behind the steering wheel.
There are six air-conditioning vents in the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5. Four across the front dashboard; two below the media screen and one at either end of the dash…
… and an air-conditioning vent in each of the rear door pillars.
There are climate controls in the front media screen.
As well as below the media screen too. I particularly like that you can switch it to ‘Driver only' when you are on your own in the car and save on battery usage.
There are handles and interior lights above both rear doors which are well-positioned to hang a toy for rear-facing passengers.
I have found our kids do not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.
Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!
It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.
There are built-in rear window blinds too, to shade rear passengers from the sun while driving along.
Visibility is pretty good in the new 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 and it is improved even more by the rearview camera…
…and the indicator camera.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and my daughter has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Ioniq 5 was simple to park as the visibility with the cameras is very good!
BabyDrive Indepth - Safety
How safe is the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5?
The 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 has been given a 5-star ANCAP safety rating. It does come with seven airbags as standard including dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting, curtain airbags and a centre airbag which provides added protection to front-seat occupants in side-impact crashes is also standard on all variants.
The 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 scored 88% for adult occupancy protection and 87% for child occupancy protection in the ANCAP crash testing.
Of the child occupancy testing ANCAP said;
In the frontal offset test, protection of the chest of the 6 year dummy was ADEQUATE, while the protection offered to all other critical body regions was GOOD for both the 6 year and 10 year dummies.
In the side impact test, protection of all critical body areas was GOOD for both child dummies.
The Hyundai IONIQ 5 is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages on the rear outboard seats and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions.
Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia and New Zealand showed most child restraints could be accommodated in most rear seating positions, though one of the booster seats could not be correctly installed in the centre rear position, and one of the two selected convertible seats could not be correctly installed in rearward-facing mode using the ISOfix anchorages.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when my daughters are asleep!
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11 Comments
A great review as always. Did you do your boot storage test with the rear seats pushed right back or forward? I’m trying to find out how much difference it makes because the listed 527 litres of boot space doesn’t sound enough.
Hey there! I just went to a dealer and really struggled with getting two booster seats (we have a 5 and 7 year old in them) and making it possible to buckle the seat belts. The receiver was just completely covered. Any tips for boosters that make it easier?
Hi! I appreciate your perspective. It’s interesting that the Kia EV6 gets great reviews but you point out the poor rear visibility with car seats. As for the Ioniq 5, given it’s near impossible to get one of these cars these days, which other EV would you recommend for a family? Could you possibly pick top 3 EVs or do a comparison? Thanks!
Could twin capsules and a booster seat (for a four year old) fit in the rear? And can the rear seats be moved back to accomodate a 186cm driver? We have a toddler and twins on the way and would love to have an electric car :).
Congrats on the twins! This is a super spacious car, you should be fine with that combo. For height of driver, it might be doable depending on your proportions and preferred backrest position. To be sure, take your capsule/rear-facing seat with you to the showroom and try it out.
A great review as always. Did you do your boot storage test with the rear seats pushed right back or forward? I’m trying to find out how much difference it makes because the listed 527 litres of boot space doesn’t sound enough.
Hi Carl, yes the rear seats were pushed all the way back
Hey there! I just went to a dealer and really struggled with getting two booster seats (we have a 5 and 7 year old in them) and making it possible to buckle the seat belts. The receiver was just completely covered. Any tips for boosters that make it easier?
Will you be doing a review of the Kia EV6 as well?
Soon as possible!!
Very helpful review. Could you do a Skoda enyak? It looks like a good family car, like this one…
Glad to be of help! That Skoda isn’t on sale in Australia yet, very keen to try it when it does arrive!
Hi! I appreciate your perspective. It’s interesting that the Kia EV6 gets great reviews but you point out the poor rear visibility with car seats. As for the Ioniq 5, given it’s near impossible to get one of these cars these days, which other EV would you recommend for a family? Could you possibly pick top 3 EVs or do a comparison? Thanks!
Could twin capsules and a booster seat (for a four year old) fit in the rear? And can the rear seats be moved back to accomodate a 186cm driver? We have a toddler and twins on the way and would love to have an electric car :).
Congrats on the twins! This is a super spacious car, you should be fine with that combo. For height of driver, it might be doable depending on your proportions and preferred backrest position. To be sure, take your capsule/rear-facing seat with you to the showroom and try it out.
Is it possible to have 3 forward facing seats instantiated on the 3 isofix points of the car?