• Digital instruments a little disappointing
• Clever infotainment screens
• Good cabin quality

How is the quality and layout?

The Ioniq 5’s cabin ticks all the quality boxes for a family car at this price point. There are one or two cheap-feeling buttons around the place, but overall, the cabin feels well-made, with well-chosen and expensive-feeling materials. The update has brought minimal changes, but as there was little wrong in this department, that’s no issue.

The layout of controls is well thought-out, such as moving the gear selector from the centre console. It’s now a neat twist-knob behind the steering wheel, which frees up lots of extra space for storage between the seats.

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Infotainment and tech

The twin-screen infotainment set-up has been updated with a more appealing black surround (it was white before), and some tweaks to how it looks and works. The widescreen setup remains as it was, with its two conjoined displays, both measuring 12.3 inches. The menu layout is logical and it reacts quickly to all control inputs, although it’s not as nice to use as Renault’s Google-based system in the Scenic E-Tech.

Hyundai has kept not only physical shortcut buttons for major menu items such as navigation, parking cameras and stereo volume, but better still there’s a separate panel below the screen for heating, ventilation and air conditioning so that slow software won’t stop you warming up the car when you climb in. You can connect your phone to it via Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, and all models come with a 10-year subscription to Hyundai’s Bluelink live and six months to Bluelink Plus connected services.

The driver’s instrument display is a little less satisfactory. For taller drivers, the rim of the steering wheel can obscure some vital information at times, and there’s a disappointing lack of variety in the different ‘themes’ and layout settings for the screen — they basically all look the same, aside from some slightly different shading and shapes.

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Comfort

• Driver’s seat set slightly high
• Excellent seat comfort front and rear
• Digital instruments a little disappointing

The only real flaw with the Ioniq 5’s driving position is that you do sit slightly perched-up, which can make you feel as if you’re sitting on the car, rather than in it. That’s largely down to the flat floor, and the need for lots of electric motors to power the seat, but while it’s not a huge problem, as noted, it does mean that for taller drivers some key information on the instrument panel — not least the speed readout — can be obscured by the rim of the steering wheel.

Beyond that though, comfort levels are exceptionally good, especially if you’re in a higher-spec model with heated and ventilated front seats. The optional ‘Premium Relaxation Seats’ are wonderfully comfortable to lie back in when the Ioniq is parked up – and, better yet, Hyundai claims that it uses ‘eco-processed leather’ and fabrics made partly from recycled fabrics to amp-up the Ioniq 5’s environmental credentials.

The only downside is that the rear cabin is a little sparsely equipped compared with rivals such as the Renault Scenic E-Tech and Skoda Enyaq – rear-seat passengers only get a pair of USB sockets, some air vents and, on some models, a domestic three-pin socket – but no fancy centre armrest or mounts for devices.