There are major cons to going with an established automaker for your first EV. Electric cars from so-called "legacy" manufacturers tend to have clunkier software, less seamless integrations of key features and a worse sales process that relies on frustrating dealers. But as this 2.5-year ownership review of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 shows, there are big benefits for going with a legacy-brand EV.
As The Ioniq Guy explains in his latest video, the car has been pretty much flawless. Despite being a first-model-year car on a new platform, his Ioniq 5 has experienced no serious failures. That's particularly impressive when you consider that the Ioniq 5 has a sophisticated, 800-volt-class electrical charger that's a generation ahead of what most automakers have experience with. Competitors like the Tesla Model Y, Volkswagen ID.4, Toyota bZ4x and even the newer Chevy Equinox EV all use more pedestrian 400-volt-class architectures. The only other cars running at or above 800 volts—besides other Hyundais and Kias—are things like the Porsche Taycan, Audi E-Tron GT, Lucid Air and Tesla Cybertruck. Those are all way more expensive.
