While it still looks futuristic in design, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is fast approaching its third birthday so will soon be pencilled in for a mid-life refresh – and we’ve spied a facelifted model already testing out on the road.
It’s the first time we’ve seen the facelifted Ioniq 5 and as such it’s unsurprisingly clad in heavy camouflage to hide the bodywork changes in store. We crowned the Ioniq 5 our 2021 Car of the Year, and it’s still a hugely tempting offering within the all-electric family car market. But we’ve recently seen Tesla drop a facelifted Model 3, BMW launch its iX1 SUV and Fisker planning on bringing its Ocean to the UK, so the competition is stronger than ever.
What the Hyundai Ioniq 5 will continue to bring is its jaw-dropping exterior style. Judging by these spy shots, we don’t expect the revised version to stray too far from the outgoing car visually, but a new headlight signature, reshaped bumpers front and rear, plus a new selection of wheels could be on the cards.
Hyundai replaced the Ioniq 5’s 73kWh battery with a 77.4kWh unit in late 2022. This bumped up range for the single-motor version from 280 miles to 315 miles, while the dual-motor variant is now capable of covering up to 298 miles on a single charge – up from its previous 267-mile limit.
Given that the new Hyundai Kona Electric has an overall range of up to 305 miles thanks to its K3 platform, the Ioniq 5 with its E-GMP platform might receive a slight boost to help it stand out from the cheaper, smaller model. Some aerodynamically-optimised tweaks to the bodywork wouldn’t be too much of a surprise in this regard.
The cabin is still a real plus point for the Ioniq 5 and we expect the impressive dual 12.3-inch screens to be retained for the facelift, perhaps with improved responsiveness and functionality.
Pricing for the Ioniq 5 kicks off at £43,445 for the 58kWh battery model, although it’s unclear if this variant will make it through to the facelift. We expect a marginal price raise anyhow, perhaps bringing the Ioniq 5’s starting price up to the £45,000 mark.
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