After dominating the EV space for the last few years
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00:00 Which one of these two all electric SUVs should you buy?
00:04 Let's find out.
00:05 (upbeat music)
00:08 Hi there.
00:15 In 2022, the Tesla Model Y was the best selling car
00:20 in California.
00:21 Through the first quarter of '23,
00:23 it was the best selling car in the world.
00:26 Why?
00:26 Because it does it all.
00:28 The price is right, it looks pretty good.
00:31 It's great to drive.
00:32 It goes far on a single charge.
00:34 It has tons of storage space.
00:36 And because of over the year updates,
00:38 the longer you own it, the better it gets.
00:41 It's a Swiss army knife.
00:43 It's also one of the greatest success stories
00:45 in the history of the car
00:46 that until now had no real competition.
00:49 Meet our 2023 Motor Trend SUV of the year,
00:54 the Hyundai IONIQ 5.
00:58 Like the Model Y, this thing stretches the definition
01:01 of the word SUV.
01:03 It's quite obviously some sort of funky hatchback,
01:06 but the important part is that there's finally
01:09 a real challenger to the Model Y's throne.
01:12 As far as the design of the Tesla Model Y goes,
01:19 and I say this to you as a Californian,
01:22 I'm sick of seeing them.
01:24 I'm over it.
01:25 It's ubiquitous.
01:26 They're everywhere.
01:27 They only come in four colors.
01:28 Done.
01:30 That said, if I could rewind my brain a few years
01:33 to when I first saw it, I may say something like,
01:35 well, it's got a very angry, fishy face,
01:37 kind of like a pissed off carp.
01:39 And because aerodynamics are so important with EVs,
01:42 they directly translate to range.
01:44 I think the rear slopes too much.
01:46 It looks like a porpoise with a bald spot,
01:48 if that makes any sense.
01:49 Now, it looks as if that sloping roof cuts off rear headroom
01:53 and luggage space.
01:54 It doesn't.
01:55 There's plenty of room in this thing.
01:58 You also might be looking at it right now and saying,
01:59 hey, what's with the green stickers?
02:00 Well, Tesla has become such an odd company as of late
02:04 that they got rid of their communications department.
02:07 They have no marketing.
02:08 They have no public relations.
02:09 They have no press fleet.
02:11 In order to make this video, we had to rent this thing,
02:14 and the person who owns it enjoys driving by themselves
02:17 in the carpool lane.
02:19 That's what these stickers mean.
02:21 Make of that what you will.
02:24 Design-wise, the Ioniq 5 is one of the coolest vehicles
02:28 on earth.
02:30 I still can't really believe Hyundai went ahead
02:32 and built it.
02:33 It's also much larger in person than you might assume.
02:36 I remember when I was looking at it on my phone,
02:38 I was like, oh, cool, it looks like a Volkswagen,
02:40 you know, the Mark 1 Golf Rabbit,
02:42 the Lancia Delta Integrale, something small and swift.
02:45 But as you can see, it is a real mid-size SUV.
02:50 I'm not original in saying that the Atari 8-bit
02:54 80s graphics are super cool.
02:56 From the headlights to the taillights, the wheels,
02:59 the strikes that run down this thing,
03:00 the colors they choose to paint it, it works.
03:03 It's innovative.
03:04 Now, why would Hyundai do something so radical?
03:08 Because design like this can be transformational.
03:11 You can become a different brand.
03:13 Before the Ioniq 5, you thought of Hyundai
03:15 as like the low-price alternative to a Honda or Toyota,
03:19 or worse, just kind of a punchline.
03:22 Build a car that is this cool looking,
03:25 and it can elevate the entire brand.
03:28 Tesla interiors in general, and the Model Y specifically,
03:36 there's a lot of cost-cutting taking place here
03:38 because what Tesla's done is,
03:40 everything they can get away with legally,
03:42 they have removed it as a button
03:44 and shoved it into the screen.
03:45 Now, if you're into screens, you're gonna love this thing
03:48 'cause this is one of the best screens
03:50 in the automotive industry.
03:52 If you like physical buttons,
03:54 you know, there's a hazard button right here.
03:56 That's about it.
03:57 You know, they got some wood, there's leather-like materials.
04:01 It's just kind of plain Jane.
04:02 A lot of people say, "Oh, it's Scandinavian design,"
04:04 but I think there's more to IKEA furniture than this,
04:08 and I hate IKEA furniture.
04:10 Also, very worst of all, the planet's getting hotter.
04:13 It's currently 98 degrees out.
04:15 That's a giant glass roof above my head.
04:17 If I wasn't wearing a hat, I'd get a sunburn.
04:19 I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.
04:22 And that's the Tesla Model Y interior.
04:25 I'm inside the Hyundai Ioniq 5, checking out its interior,
04:31 and this interior is much better than the Tesla's
04:33 because it's not just a giant screen.
04:35 There's actually stuff everywhere, and it looks cool.
04:39 Yeah, the screens aren't as feature-rich,
04:41 and the graphics aren't as sharp
04:42 as what you have on the Tesla.
04:43 However, there's two of 'em, so you get more information.
04:46 Also, you can update this thing over the air,
04:48 so maybe the software will get better.
04:50 But much, much more importantly, physical buttons.
04:55 Volume knob, on/off, I can tune right here.
04:57 I got my temperature controls, my fan speed
05:00 at my fingertips.
05:01 I don't have to dig into a screen
05:03 to do the easy stuff that you do constantly.
05:06 Good job, Hyundai.
05:07 Also, most importantly, there's a cover
05:10 over the giant glass roof.
05:12 I can take my hat off, I'm not burning, yay!
05:16 Very cool.
05:17 Also cool, because you're gonna be charging,
05:19 you might be sitting in the thing for 30 or 40 minutes,
05:21 there's relax mode.
05:23 What's that, you hit a button?
05:24 Not only does the seat fully recline,
05:26 but there's a little calf leg rest that pops up.
05:29 Super cool.
05:30 Overall, I greatly prefer the Hyundai's interior
05:34 to that of the Tesla.
05:35 One of the many things that Tesla will go down
05:42 in history for is changing people's notion
05:46 of electric vehicles from being little more
05:48 than glorified golf carts, a la the Nissan Leaf,
05:51 to an actual great-to-drive performance machine.
05:55 There's many reasons why that's true.
05:57 The big one is all the weight in these vehicles
05:59 is underneath your feet, and lowering the center of gravity
06:03 is a really good thing.
06:05 Even though this weighs more than a conventional car,
06:08 the performance is just there.
06:10 It's inherently great to drive.
06:14 And this thing has tons of power,
06:16 it's a regular dual motor, not the performance.
06:18 It's quick, the steering's great, three steering modes,
06:21 comfort, normal, sport.
06:23 I'm in comfort, I like it better, they're all pretty good.
06:26 Grip is great, the brakes are good.
06:27 The only thing that you can complain about
06:29 is the ride quality could be better, but you know what?
06:33 If that's what you have to trade off
06:34 for this kind of grip, I'll take it.
06:41 So a number of years ago, Hyundai started hiring up
06:44 all these former BMW M engineers, and we were like,
06:47 cool, but the cars still drive like Hyundai.
06:50 Well, apparently, things take time,
06:52 because now, not only do Hyundai drive pretty well,
06:55 this thing, the Ioniq 5, drives great.
06:58 It's just surprising how tossable it is
07:01 on a twisting road like this.
07:03 And unlike the Tesla Model Y,
07:06 you can actually turn the traction control off.
07:09 Lots of grip, likes to rotate, super fun.
07:13 Who knew?
07:13 You know, yeah, in terms of performance,
07:16 I prefer driving the Hyundai.
07:18 This comparison test is close.
07:22 The bottom line is, both of these are fantastic vehicles,
07:25 and I would happily own either one of them.
07:28 The tricky part is that for everything
07:30 that the Tesla does better,
07:32 the Hyundai does something else better.
07:34 Here's an incomplete list.
07:36 This steers better, that rides better,
07:40 this is quicker in a straight line,
07:41 that's more fun to drive around corners,
07:44 this has incredible storage,
07:46 this has incredible exterior design,
07:49 this has a quieter interior,
07:51 this has an actual interior.
07:54 It really is a dead heat,
07:57 except for one teeny, tiny little thing,
08:00 and that's that public charging infrastructure
08:05 in this country sucks.
08:08 Tesla realized that and did something about it.
08:10 They built the supercharger network.
08:12 Hooray!
08:13 Hyundai realized that, but did nothing.
08:16 Now, it's true, Hyundai announced that along
08:18 with General Motors and Honda and four other automakers,
08:22 they're gonna build an alliance.
08:24 They're gonna put out their own
08:25 competitive supercharger network next year.
08:29 And so that's why today, right now,
08:32 the winner of this comparison test is Tesla Model Y.
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