- The Hyundai Ioniq 5 has been around since 2022 in America. But for 2025, it got significant updates, including a bigger battery and a Tesla-style NACS plug.
- But used Ioniq 5s are a superb value. Are they worth buying today?
- Car and Driver’s 40,000-mile test of a 2023 Ioniq 5 indicated the car is “pleasant but powerful,” cheap to maintain and good at DC fast-charging.
Every time I drive a Hyundai Ioniq 5, I quickly remember why it’s one of my “Just Buy This” recommendations for anyone interested in an electric crossover. It looks cool, it’s generally excellent on range, it has class-leading DC fast-charging, and it’s quicker than any comparable gas car in this class.
For 2025, Hyundai further refined its winning formula with a larger battery, increased range, an updated interior, and, most crucially, a Tesla-style North American Charging Standard (NACS) plug. It’s also turning out to be a superb deal for 2026, even as the EV tax credits end.
But I’d argue the used deals are where it’s at. A quick scan of Cars.com reveals that you can get a 2022-2024 Ioniq 5 all day long for $25,000 to about $35,000, depending on miles and condition. That’s a lot of car for not a ton of cash. So, is an older Ioniq 5 worth it?
This latest video from Car and Driver may help inform your decision. It’s a wrap-up of the magazine’s standard 40,000-mile, two-year long-term test. (If reading is more your jam, see their article here.) And it’s a candid look at what it’s like to really live with one of these things.
As my pal, C&D’s Managing Editor for Reviews, Andrew Krok, explains, they opted for the Ioniq 5 probably most people end up with: a middle-of-the-road SEL trim with dual-motor all-wheel-drive for those Michigan winters. That means 320 horsepower and 446 pound-feet of torque, powered by a 77-kilowatt-hour battery with an official rating of 266 miles.
I wouldn’t say 266 miles is “great” in late 2025. The EV field has advanced so much in recent years that around 300 miles feels like table stakes these days. A 2025 Ioniq 5 SEL AWD boosts range to 290 miles, for example.
Yet every Ioniq 5 has an Eco Mode function that deactivates the front motor for more efficiency, so you can definitely stretch those miles further.
18
Still, C&D’s highway range tests were merely… fine. In long 75-mph highway runs, the mag averaged around 210 miles of total range, though it’s not clear if they used Eco Mode extensively or not—I’ve done better in this car and my own Kia EV6, which has essentially the same hardware. However, across two winters, they saw sub-200-mile range estimates, and that does not surprise me.
But there are countless upsides to the Ioniq 5, even an older one. C&D loved the 4.4-second zero to 60 mph time, for one—you’ll be eating comparable Toyota RAV4s for breakfast. There’s also the cool looks, excellent interior space, fold-down rear seats and Utility Mode. That turns the Ioniq 5 into a giant battery that can charge all sorts of devices, such that one C&D editor actually lived in the back for a few days. (Hopefully, he did this by choice.)
The downsides of their older model are the lack of a rear windshield wiper, another fix that was made for 2025; an interface that could use a few more physical buttons; and a finicky cover for the DC fast-charging port.
Photo by: Car And Driver
But here’s where the Ioniq 5 really scores a home run: service costs across those 40,000 miles. That would be $82, total. The car needed one trip to the dealer for a tire rotation and a cabin air filter change, both of which could be done for free at home. “The most money we spent on the Ioniq 5 was, weirdly enough, the wiper blades,” Krok said. The stock Hyundai ones weren’t so great, and a replacement set took flight during a highway drive.
And then there was a 12-volt battery failure problem—the standard battery in every car that operates critical functions like locks, doors and lights. That’s a statistically rare problem with Hyundai and Kia EVs (and not one I have ever encountered, thankfully) but it was fixed for free at the dealer. And the second time, it was merely because the battery was bad.
I would add that on a fast-enough DC charger, you can see speeds of up to around 230 kilowatts, and the car can generally go from 10% to 80% in just 18 minutes in ideal conditions. That makes it one of the best fast-charging EVs on the market, and while newer options are catching up or doing it faster, you won’t get them for the same price as a cheap, pre-owned Ioniq 5. And with an adapter, this car can even access the Tesla Supercharger network now, too.
So is this a great used buy? I’d say it is, and C&D’s testing seems to agree. It’s pleasant, powerful and you can even sleep in the back in a pinch. Considering what Ioniq 5s are going for on the pre-owned market these days, it may be an even better deal than a newer one.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
