Hyundai has officially launched the Ioniq V in China, starting for a limited time at under $15,000 – a budget EV, but without budget specs. The Chinese rollout comes ahead of a planned global launch.
But, as usual, if you’re reading this from America, you can’t have it.
The Ioniq V debuted just five months ago at the Beijing Auto Show (just weeks after its concept reveal), with a shockingly angular design, looking like a low-polygon version of the new Toyota Prius.
It’s the beginning salvo in Hyundai’s 20-model planned entry into the crowded Chinese EV market, and the rest of the vehicles are expected to use similar design language.
Now, after doing a soft-launch at the Chengdu Auto Show wherein it started taking pre-orders, Hyundai has officially launched the vehicle, so we finally get all the information about its final specs.
Hyundai undercuts its announced price by 20,000 yuan
When pre-sales started, Hyundai originally quoted a price of 119,900 yuan. But in China, cars quite commonly get released at a lower price than they’re announced at, and it looks like the Ioniq V will be no different, as it was announced today with a 109,900 yuan base price. Four other trims are available, with price points arranged thusly:
- Ioniq V 540 Pro – 109,900 yuan (~$16,400)
- Ioniq V 540 Max – 119,900 yuan (~$17,900)
- Ioniq V 540 Max+ – 129,900 yuan (~$19,400)
- Ioniq V 650 Max – 129,900 yuan (~$19,400)
- Ioniq V 650 Max+ – 139,900 yuan (~$20,900)
The 540 trims have a 53.5kWh LFP battery, 140kW (188hp) motor and a WLTP range of 443km (275mi). The 650 trims have a 66.8kWh LFP battery, 168kw (225hp) motor and WLTP range of 533km (331mi). CLTC ranges are higher, and both CLTC and WLTP ranges are more lenient than EPA, so consider all those range numbers somewhat inflated. Both batteries are supplied by CATL, the world’s largest automotive battery supplier.
But wait, there’s more! In fact, the Ioniq V is available with a limited-time discount of 8,000-10,000 yuan, meaning you can in fact get the base model for just 99,900 yuan, which is just under $15,000. They’re also throwing in some additional warranty coverage on the introductory offer, including a battery degradation warranty (which shouldn’t matter, as LFP batteries are incredibly durable).
China truly loves to surprise and delight on prices.
I like the look, but maybe it’s not for everyone
While the Ioniq V looks like a blocky Toyota Prius, it’s quite a chunk longer – 192.9in (4,900mm), as compared to the Prius’ 181.1in (4,600mm). It’s also about 4 inches taller and wider (57.9in/1,470mm and 74.4in/1,890mm).
On the interior, the cockpit is centered around a massive 27-inch screen (Hyundai says its a 4K screen, but we’re not sure what that refers to – because 4K is typically 3840×2160, and that screen is certainly not that resolution) and uses two Chinese AI models, from Baidu and ByteDance.
For the driver, it comes equipped with a heads-up display it calls Cyber Eye, and includes a driver assistance system developed alongside Momenta, a Chinese ADAS company which supplies several brands.
But what about charging speed?
The one spec-related question we had when we first heard about the Ioniq V was how quickly it would charge, and… we still can’t find an answer to that. We’ve sent an email to Hyundai to see if we can get that information, and will update this when we hear back.
The car is built around Hyundai’s E-GMP platform, with 800V charging. This system underpins some of the fastest charging cars in the US.
But in China, EV charging is on another level entirely, with 1.5 megawatt charging stations being deployed and 2.2 MW stations announced, as cars compete to save seconds, not minutes off their charging time.
So Hyundai might have to up its game to compete in the Chinese market… or it can convince customers that a couple more minutes of charge time isn’t that big a deal.
Hyundai has suggested a future EREV version will come out, but given EV sales are up and everything with an ICE engine is down in China, we expect the BEV version to be the most popular.
But you can’t have it
While pre-orders are open in China, they’re not open anywhere else… yet. Hyundai acknowledges that China is at the forefront of global mobility, and thinks its entry into the country’s EV market will help it succeed globally.
Which means it does want to offer the Ioniq V to worldwide markets, but it doesn’t have a timeline for that yet. We’d imagine it’s very likely that the model will be sold Australia, where EV sales are booming and where Hyundai started selling the Elexio this year. We’re hoping it goes further, to rest-of-world markets, Europe and possibly even Canada.
But without a change in policy, the US is likely to be deprived of the hottest and latest tech, not getting access to affordably-priced new vehicles that help clean the air and reduce both energy costs and global conflict, once again.
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