I have been going back and forth on the above question. The 2022-23 Hyundai Ioniq 5’s design strikes me as one of the more unique approaches to an electric vehicle. However, it also has an over-the-top quality.
One could argue that the strangely chiseled looks are partly the result of unusually good packaging for a vehicle with relatively car-like proportions. The Ioniq 5 is under 183 inches long but has a remarkably long 118-inch wheelbase. That gives the interior roominess approaching that of sport-utility vehicles but with a height of only 63 inches. This is four inches lower than a mid-sized Toyota RAV4 (Ismail, 2022; Seabaugh, 2022a).
Indeed, Hyundai has called the Ioniq 5 an SUV — and it won MotorTrend’s SUV of the Year Award in 2023 (Seabaugh, 2022b). However, the EPA and the NSHTA reportedly classified the Ioniq 5 as a passenger car (Ismail, 2022). This has led to a journalistic debate on what exactly is this beast.
An unfond farewell to brick-like sport-utility vehicles
The Ioniq 5 may be a sign that the electrification of the automotive fleet may lead to an even further blurring of the lines between cars and SUVs — which makes sense. A true cross between the two could marry the greater versatility of an SUV with the better aerodynamics and handling of a passenger car.
The Ioniq 5 moves away from the brick-on-wheels shape of so many SUVs. It looks like a rather large five-door hatchback. The car is 74.4 inches wide. Combine that with the 118-inch wheelbase and you have a fairly large interior that is further enhanced by a fully flat floor. Designers took advantage of that by allowing the center console to slide backwards by 5.5 inches (Wikipedia, 2023).
Also see ‘Yes, but WHY do today’s automobiles look so similar?’
All that is fine and dandy, but what gives me pause is what Hyundai has called “kinetic cube” styling (Wikipedia, 2023). The feature I like the least is the diagonal slash on the sides of the car. I assume that this was partly done to visually trick the viewer into thinking that the wheelbase is shorter than it is. If so, that’s not a bad goal. However, the incongruous way that the slash is executed strikes me as a cheap trick that doesn’t work very well.
By the same token, the silver cladding around the wheel openings was presumably intended to make the tires look bigger and more muscular, but the speed streaks remind me of something that a six year old would draw.
I find the geometric pattern of the wheel covers to be somewhat more successful, but I wonder whether that will still be my reaction five years from now. In other words, will they look like a gimmick whose time came and went rather quickly?
Hyundai did do a nice job on details such as the door handles, whose streamlined shape undoubtedly helps with aerodynamics.
When did air-conditioner vents become sexy?
The rear end has an almost industrial look. The silver lower-body cladding reminds me of an air conditioner condenser housing. That bulge also appears to be too low to function as a very useful bumper. This is in contrast to the front, whose bumper area is refreshingly clear of lights and other fragile objects that could get easily dinged by other cars.
All in all, Hyundai’s designers seem to have been trying too hard to get people’s attention with cheap tricks that may not wear well over the life of the car. Even so, I would not put the Ioniq 5 in the same category as a 2015-22 Toyota Prius, which I find too ugly to consider owning (go here for further discussion).
Of course, I am coming at this topic as an old guy who wouldn’t think of coloring my hair purple. And experimentation with new automotive design approaches is a healthy thing. I just wonder whether “kinetic cube” styling is just another soon-to-be-forgotten fad along life’s highway.
Share your reactions to this post with a comment below or a note to the editor.
RE:SOURCES
- Ismail, Adam; 2022. “Is the Hyundai Ioniq 5 an SUV? The World May Never Know.” Jalopnik. Posted Oct. 24.
- Seabaugh, Christian; 2022a. “2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 SUVOTY Review: What Even Is an SUV These Days?” MotorTrend. Posted Oct. 19.
- ——; 2022b. “The Hyundai Ioniq 5 Is the 2023 MotorTrend SUV of the Year.” MotorTrend. Posted Oct. 22.
- Wikipedia; 2023. “Hyundai Ioniq 5.” Wikipedia. Page last modified Sept. 21.
PHOTOGRAPHS:
- Images of the white Ioniq 5 were taken by M 93 via Wikipedia Creative Commons 3.0. Photo has been lightly edited to reduce background shadows.
The Ioniq5’s hard-intersection surface construction looks to be strategic in creating maximum differentiation from the platform-mate Kia Ev6, with its more sculptural design, which is very attractive, in my view.
Good point, Alan. I also like the Kia EV6.
The Ioniq 5’s design is a great testament to taking what is essentially a show car level of purity of design straight to production. There may be a few things like the wheel opening trim that is questionable but that is a tiny nit.
Will it wear well? I suspect yes. Its one question over its product cycle will be if the company will leave it alone or constantly dilute the purity as part of design “updates”.
It took some real corporate commitment to not water down this design for production. This rarely happens with any of the auto manufacturers.
Jeff, I’d agree that the Ioniq 5 maintains more of the concept car’s sensibility than one typically sees. And the concept does have its moments. However, the side slash strikes me as working somewhat better on the concept than on the production version, where it looks too postmodern for my taste. Perhaps part of the problem is that the production vehicle is more upright, so the car’s overall proportions are less dynamic.
My opinion is based upon photos as I have not seen one in real life.
What I can say as a designer is that without something on the side it would be a vast uninteresting surface. Something needed to break up the area. Typical fore/aft lines would not be unique.
Oh, I agree that it needed something. With the concept car the tip of the slash at least had a chrome piece that gave it some definition, but on the production car they deleted that, so to my eye there’s less of a visual logic to it. But then I didn’t like a lot of Bangle’s machinations, so I suppose you could argue that my design sensibilities are more grounded in the 20th Century.