SPY PICS: IONIQ 5 breaks cover

Spy photos of Hyundai’s first EV under the standalone IONIQ brand have emerged, confirming the radical new design from the Hyundai 45 concept car will carry over into the production version of the IONIQ 5.

Presenting a sharp new design language with retro hints while offering the mainstream appeal of cars like the Hyundai Tucson, the IONIQ 5 mid-size SUV will make its global debut in early 2021.

And unlike some funky new EVs (we’re looking at you Honda e) this sharp-edged machine is looking likely to arrive in Australia sometime after its global premiere.

These latest photos taken by a carsales colleague in South Korea show the production version of the IONIQ 5 wearing camouflage, but boasting athletic proportions.

With short overhangs, wheels pushed out to each corner and a visual style expected to retain the strikingly angular design of the Hyundai 45 concept, the new vehicle also has the same wheel design and heavily tapered windscreen as the concept car.

While the IONIQ 5 is being marketed as an SUV, this vehicle actually looks more like a hatchback given its lack of ground clearance. Perhaps it’s actually the IONIQ 4?

Either way, it’s the first of three IONIQ EVs to be launched by Hyundai over the next four years and will be based on an all-new EV chassis architecture dubbed electric global modular platform (E-GMP).

The IONIQ 5 should be good for a (WLTP-verified) 500km range and although it’s unlikely to extract the E-GMP’s maximum performance of a 260km/h top speed and a 3.5-second 0-100km/h sprint, it will be a rapid machine – just like the upcoming Nissan Ariya.

Hyundai is yet to come clean on the density of the battery pack, but if the Kona Electric small SUV is anything to go by we should be looking at around 60kWh.

Unlike Hyundai-badged EVs, which are based on combustion-engine platforms, the new IONIQ 5 and its relatives will have access to what the Korean car-maker claims is a world-first 400V/800V multi-charging and bi-directional power conversion.

In other words, the SUV will be able recharge its batteries and discharge power back into the grid, the home or even other cars or your laptop.

Hyundai is promising ultra-fast recharge rates with its high-voltage electrical systems, with up to 100km of driving range able to be added in five minutes via high-speed infrastructure.

It’s not just the underpinnings and exterior design of the IONIQ 5 that will be high-tech either.

Hyundai is plotting radical interior fitouts for its new EV brand, headlined by an LG-developed ceiling-mounted 77-inch flexible OLED screen.

There are also speakers embedded in the head restraints and the IONIQ brand has floated the concept of overhead UV LED lights (to kill COVID-19) and a floor-cleaning robot to keep things tidy.