The Ioniq 5 is Hyundai’s first electric car that can charge other EVs

Hyundai just revealed its next electric car, the Ioniq 5, a compact SUV that’s roomier than it looks. 

The new five-seater was unveiled Monday and it comes with up to 300 miles of battery range. Last year, Hyundai teased the latest EV as the production version of its EV 45 concept car. This is the first of the Ioniq spinoff brand, and you’ll notice there’s no Hyundai logo on the steering wheel. Hyundai plans to only sell electric models by 2040. 

The first EV from what Hyundai is calling its “sub-brand” will have fast charging and bidirectional power, and will offer single or dual motor options. 

With fast charging the 77.4 kWh battery that lies flat in the base of the car can get to 80 percent full in 18 minutes. All Ioniq owners get free charging for two years through the Electrify America network. There are plans for 800 stations with ultra-fast charging across the country by the end of this year. 600 are already available. 

The car can become something of mobile power strip with plugs throughout the vehicle to charge appliances such as power tools, e-scooters or other items for a tailgate or camping trip. You can even give some juice to a stranded EV with a dead battery with a provided vehicle-to-load cable. That outlet is near the outside charging port, and the other is inside the vehicle below the back row seats.

All versions of the car — regardless of whether you go with single or dual motor or different trim packages — have a top speed of 115 mph. A performance dual-motor version will go from 0 to 60 mph in just over five seconds. 

Inside the car, there are two 12-inch screens upfront and a sliding center console that Hyundai calls a “universal island.” It’s a compartment that can fit a large purse or serve as a surface to put a laptop and it slides back 5.5 inches. The front seats also recline with foot rests that pop up for relaxing while waiting for the car to recharge. 

The back seats also slightly recline and can fold down to make for a bigger trunk space.

Outside color options are: pearl black, metallic gray, solid white, green pearl, pearl blue, and gray matte.

The South Korea-manufactured car won’t arrive until the fall, and the company isn’t revealing pricing until closer to production. An exec at a press briefing would only say that it’d be competitively priced. This car feels similar to the all-electric Kia Niro — which starts around $25,000. We’ll find out later this year.