2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 RWD Limited – Review by David Colman +Video

You could do a lot worse than to select this vehicle

David Colman

Story and Photos by David Colman
Special Correspondent
THE AUTO CHANNEL

How do you know your Hyundai Ioniq 5 is glad to see you? Because it welcomes you by lighting itself up and extending all four exterior door handles as you approach. Just like your favorite dog greeting you - tongue out and tail wagging. The rear wheel drive (RWD) Limited version of the Ioniq 5 is your best bet EV from Hyundai for a number of reasons. Topping the list is range. Our test sample arrived with a reassuring 306 miles of range showing on the dash. This was the first time an EV has ever arrived at our house (in the sticks) with a range promise of more than 300 miles.

Three factors are responsible. The first is Hyundai's 2025 inclusion of a new extended life 84kWh lithium-ion rechargeable battery. The second element contributing to extended range is Hyundai's efficient rear-wheel-drive (only) propulsion system. While the Ioniq 5 is available with battery-draining all-wheel drive, powering all four wheels sucks the life out of a full charge at a much quicker rate. While you can hotrod your Ioniq by opting for a twin motor version that produces 320hp, the more intelligent choice is the single motor setup of our test car, which makes 225hp, and can still reach 60mph from a standing start in 7.4 seconds. Hyundai has updated the Ioniq's charging protocol this year by including a standard Tesla NACS charging port plus a CCS adaptor plug to make it work. Hyundai claims the Tesla connection will perform a 20% to 80% charge in just 20 minutes on a DL fast charger with the provided CCS adaptor. We didn't try it.

Overall driving impressions were favorable, if not exactly scintillating. The layout of controls is improved over previous versions of the I5. We liked Hyundai's provision of a Drive Mode button below the left spoke of the steering wheel. That makes it easy to select ECO mode if you want to maintain maximum range between recharges. Hyundai shares the Mode button's convenient placement with Porsche's entire model line. 2025 also sees the addition of a row of 7 physical buttons to the console between the front seats. On the Limited model we tested, these physical switches controlled the three-stage heat settings for both front heated seats and the steering wheel, as well as three-stage seat ventilation. A small storage bin separates the front seats. This unit can be tilted back to a near vertical position, which allows storage of large objects in the rubberized bin at floor level. The layout is rather ingenious and permits a wide variety of packaging possibilities. Foldable, heated 60/40 split rear seats are also well provided, with a pair of ventilation ducts and a pair of manual privacy shades to cover the rear windows.

We thought the exterior treatment of the Ioniq 5 looked especially handsome, with its $1,000 "Gravity Gold Matte" paint making a restrained but suave visual statement. We recently tested a pair of Hyundai Palisades, which were festooned with endless rows of decorative, illuminated bits and bytes. The front of the Ioniq 5 is mercifully free of such cute graphics, while the rear offers just a smattering of Hyundai's favored lighting motif. The interior of the Ioniq 5 Limited is crafted with a minimum of the bit/byte fussiness endemic to the Palisade. There's just a smattering of cubism gracing the H-Tex, tone-on-tone, light gray seats. While it may not be a pparent from outside, the 118 inch wheelbase of the 2-row Ioniq 5 is actually 4 inches longer than that of the 3-row Palisade. The net result is an extremely spacious interior for the Ioniq and its complement of up to 5 passengers. It can also serve as a workaholic transport, offering 54 cubic feet of cargo space with the second row bench folded flat. Even the front trunk is rated to haul 25 pounds.

You probably won't select this EV for its outstanding road manners. It's a bit tall, at 64 inches, and rather portly, at 4,673 pounds. That makes for an uninspiring power-to-weight ratio of 20.76 lbs/hp, so you won't be challenging any BMW or Porsche EVs on the backroads. Still, despite somewhat vague steering, the Ioniq 5 generates respectable cornering grip from its Michelin Primacy All-Season radials (235/55R19; TW540) mounted on rather optically illusory pie wedge alloy rims. Steering response felt somewhat vague, but at the cantering ECO pace you'll chose to preserve range, cutting edge steering response won't be topping your list of needs.

One unfortunate incident marred the Ioniq's score sheet. It locked me in the back seat as I was taking pictures, forcing me to escape by tumbling over the front seat. This is a flat-out dangerous flaw in the locking protocol, and I would hate to think what would happen to a child trying to cope with this situation.

If you're willing to accept the current inconvenience of EV ownership, as well as the unacceptable locking stupidity, you could do a lot worse than to select Hyundai's otherwise tidy Ioniq 5 RWD Limited. It checks a lot of bullet points, not the least of which are long range coupled to short recharge time.

2025 HYUNDAI IONIQ 5 RWD LIMITED

• MOTOR: Single Rear Mounted Permanent Magnet Electric Motor
• HORSEPOWER: 225hp
• TORQUE: N/A
• ENERGY CONSUMPTION: 114 MPGe
• PRICE AS TESTED: $56,885

HYPES: Tidy Electro Family Hauler

GRIPES: Occluded Rear Vision

STAR RATING: 6.5 Stars out of 10

©2025 David E Colman