At this point, it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t at least respect the Hyundai Ioniq 5. With an eye-catching 1980s retrofuture design that looks like almost nothing else on the road and class-leading specs, this electric crossover is a favorite for many reasons. Now it’s about to get even better for the 2025 model year with some upgraded specs we’re rather excited about—including more buttons.

On Sunday, Hyundai unveiled the updated Ioniq 5 in South Korea, and while the car barely looks different on the outside—it has a slightly updated grille and front and rear bumpers—there are some serious improvements in play here. (You can also spot a new one from the rear spoiler that’s been extended by 50 mm and the new wheels.)

And there’s finally one big change here that’s been requested by many: a rear windshield wiper. Take that, rain and snow. 

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The Ioniq 5 Has Been A Game-Changer

Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 has racked up awards, hit sales records and made the world notice how advanced Korea’s EV game is. As the electric competition heats up, it doesn’t seem to be taking a breather.

I’ll start by noting that this is the global debut of the updated Ioniq 5, and it’s not clear yet what changes are coming to the U.S. market; the car Hyundai showed off continues to have digital side mirrors, and American buyers have never been able to get those, for example. But we do expect some, if not all, of these changes will come stateside eventually. 

We’ll start with the big news: the Ioniq 5 gets a bigger battery. Previously, buyers could choose from a standard 58.0-kWh battery pack or a larger 77.4-kWh pack. Now Hyundai is offering an 84.0-kWh pack, implying in a news release that this pack replaces the 77.4-kWh unit. Either way, that means the top Ioniq 5 will come with more range. 

Not that the Ioniq 5 needed a ton of help in that department, of course. The current 2024 model in the U.S. gets 220 miles of range on the standard battery and 260 miles or 303 miles on the larger one, depending on whether you spring for all- or rear-wheel-drive, respectively. In other words, if this larger battery comes stateside, we could expect something like 330 miles in RWD form—but we’ll wait for the official EPA estimates first. 

More changes extend inside the cabin as well. There’s a new steering wheel with “interactive pixel lights,” and a whole new row of buttons on the center console near the cupholders that didn’t exist before. The “Map” and “Navigation” buttons have been combined into one, remedying a Hyundai-Kia quirk that has annoyed me for years, and the row of digital switches near the infotainment system appears to have received some tweaks as well. 

There are some crucial tweaks on the software side as well. For one, the Ioniq 5 is now fully capable of over-the-air (OTA) software updates for all its major electronic systems, whereas it was much more limited in that department before. Now, like the Ioniq 6, it’s OTA-capable for bug fixes, new features and more. Hyundai has also added various suspension tweaks to make the EV more stable and agile, not to mention quieter—and the doors and B-pillar parts have been reinforced for added safety. 

Last but not least, Hyundai’s added an Ioniq 5 N Line trim here, which won’t give you quite the explain-yourself-to-the-traffic-court-judge thrills that the Ioniq 5 offers, but will add a dash of needed sporty vibes inside and out. 

Customers in Korea can order the updated Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 5 N Line this month, while the rest of us will have to wait for it to “gradually” roll out to “global markets throughout the year.”

Will you wait for the new one, or seize the exceptional deals that can be had on the current EV right now? I’ll wait for the EPA range on the new battery to make that call, but one thing’s clear: one of the best in the business just got better.

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