Hyundai IONIQ 5

After previewing the design with the 45 Concept at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show, Hyundai have teased us with some images ahead of the production IONIQ 5 being shown in February 2021.

The first vehicle based on the company’s new Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), an innovative system designed exclusively for the next-generation of battery electric vehicles that will launch a new era of clean mobility for the company.

This new design features pixel-inspired headlights which is suggestive of the digital technology within. It also features a clamshell bonnet at the front, minimising panel gaps and promoting a clean, high-tech look. The car is also to feature an ultra-fast charging capability that will allow it to travel 100km with only a 5 minute charge.

According to Hyundai’s Head of Global Design, SanYup Lee, the “IONIQ 5 presents an all-new customer experience through innovative EV design that is evocative of the icon that established Hyundai’s design DNA”. Ok then……

Irrespective of that, we think the car looks fantastic. Sitting slightly higher than a normal 5 door hatchback (reminding us of the raised stance of the Polestar 2), the IONIQ 5 brings a truly distinctive style to the market, and continues an upward trajectory of their design language that we have seen already with the revised Kona and new Tuscon.

It is also likely that we will see a production version of Hyundai’s other concept, the Prophecy, likely to be badged IONIQ 6, perhaps in 2022. There is also a good chance we will see a third car in the IONIQ sub-brand, an EV SUV, that will follow later. What we also know is that Hyundai have said that each one will have its own distinctive style, but will feature the pixelated headlight design as seen on the 45 and Prophecy concepts.

The IONIQ 5 looks to be a great start to Hyundai’s new EV direction, and a real shot across the bows of the competition that they mean business.