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00:00I finally got to try an IONIQ 5.
00:17So I was going to do this whole video on the state of EVs, electric cars, and I was doing
00:21all this research and looking into it, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized
00:24I really only had one major point to make, which is that if the future of cars is electric,
00:30then we're eventually going to have to get some really good, affordable electric cars.
00:34Like there's a lot of really good electric cars out there already, and they're really
00:37tempting, but they're all so expensive, at least more expensive than their gas counterparts.
00:42And I also do remember when I had that conversation with Elon Musk in the Tesla factory a while
00:46ago, and I asked him about like a potential $25,000 good mass production electric car,
00:52if that was even possible.
00:53And he said yes, and that answer has like made headlines over and over again every few
00:57years since then.
00:58But the truth is, it's never been harder to make cars than right now, and it's never been
01:01more expensive to make cars than right now.
01:03Obviously, supply chain issues, and it's hard to make a new electric car for all these companies.
01:10But the point is, yeah, we're eventually going to have to get some good, cheaper electric
01:14cars.
01:15And this IONIQ 5 that I've been driving around for about two weeks has convinced me that
01:18we are right on the cusp of that.
01:21So the IONIQ, to me, stay with me, is kind of like the Samsung Z Flip 4.
01:26Like it's one of the least expensive options in an expensive new category, plus a flip
01:32phone in 2022 kind of has a little bit of a retro future vibe, and so does this car.
01:37I have started a new channel to talk about all my thoughts on cars, and I actually have
01:42quite a few of them.
01:43So the first video is on the Rivian R1T that I just took delivery of, and we're actually
01:49already using it to shoot this video because that's what I got it for.
01:53It beat the Cybertruck to market by quite a bit.
01:56Either way, you can go subscribe over there if you're interested.
01:58I'm really excited about that channel.
01:59I'm probably going to shoot most of that stuff on whatever phone I'm testing at the time,
02:04but the autofocus videos, no need to fear, will still be here on this main channel, and
02:08I was so excited to test out the IONIQ 5.
02:11See at some point, I just started seeing them around more and more.
02:14Like there's a lot of Teslas on the road already, so they kind of blend in at this point.
02:18I also feel like I see a Mustang Mach-E every other day, but these IONIQs just started popping
02:23up and got my attention, and I kept wondering like, okay, wow, lots of people are buying
02:27them.
02:28They must be pretty good, right?
02:30They're picking them over other options, and now after driving the thing for like two weeks,
02:34I get it.
02:35I fully get it.
02:36I mean, this is a well-rounded all-wheel drive crossover with plenty of space, a distinct
02:41but not super lame or flashy design, an efficient 250 plus miles of range, and a sub $40,000
02:47starting price tag, and it isn't really bad at anything.
02:52So on the outside, it has this design of like what people from the 80s thought a car of
02:57the future would look like.
02:58Now it's obviously a crossover with a lot of storage, which is what people are into
03:01right now, but it's very retro future and angular, and I really like it.
03:05And the coolest part for sure is the dot pixel theme all over the car.
03:10The taillights and the blinkers are pixels.
03:13And the front of the car, that's my favorite part.
03:15The glossy black rectangle is maybe not my favorite, but everything else around it, especially
03:19the dot pattern LED lights is so sick.
03:22It's very unique on the road and looks electric without looking dorky.
03:26I mean, I can't really ask for much more than that.
03:28And then I have these like four things that I keep in mind whenever I see a new electric
03:32car, just as far as like pillars of reasonable electric cars, which would be solid range,
03:38fast charging, zippy performance, and extra storage.
03:43So range is the easy one.
03:44How far can it go on a charge, right?
03:46So the Ioniq 5 was giving me a really impressively accurate range estimate as I drove around,
03:51which I really like.
03:52It's more accurate than Tesla's.
03:53And so on a full 100% charge, it would give me around 250 miles.
03:58That's right around my comfortable baseline.
04:00And it'll charge up to a ridiculous 350 kilowatts, which would theoretically take it from 10%
04:06to 80% charge in 20 minutes.
04:09Now most of these chargers available to this car aren't that fast, but that's another story
04:12for another day.
04:14But then the zippy performance is the other easy part.
04:16This is the dual motor all wheel drive variant.
04:19So it's a little more powerful than the single motor 300 mile version, but with a little
04:22less range.
04:23And it's easily as quick as any of its gas powered equivalents.
04:27I think on paper, it's like a five second zero to 60, which is already pretty good,
04:31but it's not even about that.
04:32It's the zero to 30 or the 20 to 40, like just zipping around town or merging onto highways.
04:39And with all that, it's very responsive.
04:41Now the last pillar I say is extra storage, because when you get rid of the gas engine,
04:44obviously there's just a bunch of extra space and all the parts that come with it are gone.
04:48And so every company has a different way of taking advantage of that extra space.
04:52So Rivian did a pickup truck with a gear tunnel and lots of other cars like Tesla and Ford
04:56have added a front trunk.
04:58The Ioniq does have a front trunk, but it's so small that I don't really count it.
05:03Really they just extended the wheel base and made a crossover SUV with a ton of internal
05:09storage.
05:10So it's a big, big trunk, lots of legroom and headroom in there and a ton of space between
05:15the seats.
05:16And there's even this like movable armrest thing between the front seats.
05:20Honestly, other than that, this is a pretty average, if not slightly subpar interior for
05:24a $45,000 car.
05:26But if nothing else, it is spacious.
05:28So I say it checks that EV box.
05:30So the Ioniq hits all of those fundamentals, which, you know, if we're missing one of those,
05:34then I would sort of question, like, maybe I can't recommend this or I'd question why
05:38it's missing it.
05:39But it has all that stuff.
05:40And if that means everything else is just extra, you know, stuff like software features,
05:45autopilot type stuff, creature comforts, little quirks and features.
05:50So I'll give you a few things that the Ioniq does that I really like, and then some other
05:53things that I don't like so much.
05:54So the Ioniq has paddle shifters, which might sound kind of weird for a one gear electric
05:59car, but they adjust between levels of regenerative braking.
06:04So you can adjust on the fly with the paddles between coasting like a regular gas car all
06:09the way to one pedal driving where it brakes when you come off the accelerator.
06:12It's not the first time I've seen that, but I like it a lot.
06:15That is dope.
06:16It also has an HUD up front with this top tier spec.
06:19It has a really solid traffic aware cruise control that takes over on highway driving
06:23and makes stop and go traffic way easier.
06:26And it supports both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which is convenient because aside
06:30from these capacitive buttons, which really should have either been full on touchscreen
06:35or regular buttons, I think the worst thing in this car is the maps.
06:40And it's funny, the software navigating around is actually pretty responsive.
06:43It's totally fine.
06:44And the features are nice.
06:45It shows you how much range you'll get in each driving mode, plus how much extra you
06:49can get if you don't use the air conditioner.
06:51But the second I pop into the maps, which is theoretically the most important part of
06:55an electric car, it's brutally slow and clunky and unintuitive.
07:00So Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are great, you know, in car replacements for the UI.
07:05But they aren't particularly good at charging stuff.
07:08So they don't know, as of right now, if you're driving an electric car or not.
07:12And so if you're planning a trip, they don't know how many miles of battery you have when
07:16you arrive with the charger and how long you need to stop before you need to go again.
07:20It's a, you kind of need to rely on it.
07:22So again, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, really good.
07:26But for actually doing a road trip and navigating through chargers and planning that way, you
07:30kind of need the in-car map to be good.
07:32I might have to add that to my electric car fundamentals.
07:35Anyway, I tweeted a few weeks ago, there was this sick Hyundai track concept car.
07:40And I was like, yeah, whoever's doing design for Hyundai right now, keep it up.
07:44You are absolutely killing it.
07:45And that's, I think, the last thing I want to talk about, which I think is kind of underrated
07:49in this whole electric car revolution, which is rolling out your first electric car for
07:55all these companies is basically an opportunity to rebrand, to start over a little bit and
08:01create a fresh reputation.
08:03Like, if you think about it, Hyundai might be the best example.
08:05Like what in the last three, four years, what did you think about Hyundai?
08:08You know, the Tucson, the Santa Fe, you know, in the U.S., they're typically 20 to 30K,
08:15pretty reasonable, affordable cars.
08:17But now all of a sudden, this new car is 40 to 50K and is considered one of the more affordable,
08:22impressive, easy to recommend options in a new category.
08:26So I guess what I'm trying to say is these these car companies can create a whole new
08:29reputation from scratch for this new audience, especially of younger people who are going
08:34to grow up and eventually buy their first car that may just be an electric car.
08:38So if your reputation was already good, like a Ford, then maybe don't think too hard about
08:42it.
08:43If you're coming out with an F-150 that's electric, just name it the F-150 Lightning.
08:48But if you're looking for a change in reputation that I think that a lot of companies are,
08:51then this is an opportunity for them.
08:53Just saying.
08:54Anyway, I get it now.
08:55I get the IONIQ 5 and I'm glad I got to test it.
08:58From the EV fundamentals to the distinct design that's not too weird, not too quirky, but
09:03pretty sweet.
09:04I think it's great.
09:05It's not cheap, but it is one of the most affordable EVs at this moment in time.
09:11So yeah, I get it.
09:12And not only do I get it, but this is the exact car I think we're going to need to see
09:15a lot more of to sort of usher in our electric car future.
09:20Anyway, go subscribe to the Cars channel if you want.
09:22I'll see you over there.
09:23It's below the like button.
09:25Thanks for watching this one.
09:26Catch you guys later.
09:27Peace.