Hello, Just trying to gain some perspective here as I was at both dealers today and for the first time laid eyes and touched the interior of both the Ioniq 5 and ID4 and I was greatly disappointed with the interior quality of the Ioniq 5 in terms of material choices. Don’t get me wrong, I think the Ioniq looks good, tech is good, and specs are good. It’s pretty much scratchy hard plastic everywhere, even in high touch areas like door armrests. In contrast I checked out 2 ID4s afterwards and was pretty much “blown” away with the materials used - when having just seen the Ioniq 5.
Is this normal? EVs aren’t cheap vehicles and I understand the big part of cost are the electrical components like the battery, but the interior quality alone is greatly steering me towards an ID4 instead of the Ioniq 5… Along with an apparent 3 year wait for the Ioniq 5 AWD in Canada.
The software interface and tactile UI (horrible capacitive buttons and sliders) were deal breakers in the ID4. Every interaction required removing focus from the road to find a control and they didn’t always work. We bought an Ioniq 5 instead. Plus the range and charge speed were better.
Did you look at the SE or SEL Ioniq? The plastics are a bit better on the SEL, particularly on the doors.
Being in Vancouver, Canada I could only lay my eyes on the base model. Seeing a base or ultimate AWD would take 3 years. Are the plastics softer? I have a 2018 Rav4 xle and it’s no luxury car by any means, but the plastics are MUCH better on my 5 year old vehicle than an Ioniq 5…
It was a little confused by your comment because when I shopped the two I found the cabin interior was much better on the ionic. The Volkswagen had a lot of piano black plastic that gets dusty and fingerprinty. The ionic has soft touch plastics at all the touch points. I was looking at the top trim though. Both are good cars but the Volkswagen is probably better value for money.
Unfortunately I never had the chance to check out any higher trim level. The Hyundai salesperson was pretty mediocre at best and wasn’t interested in helping us aside from pushing the base RWD as ANY awd model would be a 3 year wait.
yeah, I have been hearing horror stories about the limited supply of hyundais in canada. I doubt I would wait for the hyundai in that case. In canada you definitely want the AWD.
I genuinely don’t mind the sliders in the ID.4; I got used to them really quickly. The controls on the steering wheel can just be used as regular buttons, and the center sliders are self-explanatory: left temperature, volume, and right temperature. Although it’s annoying that they’re not illuminated, I got the muscle memory down pretty much immediately.
The software has also been significantly improved since launch; I wouldn’t say it’s more or less responsive or reliable than Hyundai’s software, plus it has the benefit of wireless CarPlay/AA and better route planning.
Also, apparently in the IONIQ 5 for 2024, the nicer interior is exclusive to the Limited only and got cut from the SEL without a major price cut. Hyundai seems to be making the SEL trim worse every year, first cutting the better exterior lighting from the 2023 model year and then cutting a bunch of features from it, including the better interior, for the 2024 model year, which is really disappointing because the initial 2022 IONIQ 5 SEL was a pretty good value for the features you got.
The better charging is undeniable, though. The 800V system is a big benefit for the e-GMP vehicles, and the charging speed is some of the best out there, especially in its class. Range is good too, but not as big a benefit compared to its rivals compared to its charging performance.
FYI, this isn’t really a significant benefit. It’s super easy to add an adapter for wireless CarPlay in Ioniq 5. I’ve got one in mine.
BTW, I test drove ID.4 and Ioniq 5 before settling for Ioniq 5… and I can’t say the ID.4 gave me a good impression in general. But then I think at that time the only models that were available here had the more exclusive interior? Not quite sure…
Not going to go into much more detail, most of my impressions have been covered by other comments here. But the open space between the front seats was a huge plus for me as a bigger person. I like the spacious feeling it gives.
Also, I don’t think you can get 110/220V OUT of the charging port with an adapter like you can on Ioniq 5? I didn’t think I’d need it but a actually ended up using it just a week after I got the car (needed to use an angle grinder far away from the house).
BTW, here’s the sales statistics for ID.4 from Norway for 2022:
Volkswagen ID.4: 11561
Hyundai IONIQ 5: 5044
So apparently VW ID.4 is much more popular here.
Don’t think I ever used the slider in mine. I always just used the shortcut on the bottom left of screen.
What are you doing all the time that requires you to interact with the center screen so much?
When I drive it’s just change track or volume. Things that are on the steering wheel of any new car.
Selecting songs, picking GPS destinations mainly
And the steering wheel buttons on the ID4 were awful with no tactile feedback or sense of where they were located
In the Ioniq 5 you have to input a charger destination on the infotainment system to get battery conditioning to be enabled.
Given equal pricing this would have been a deal breaker for me too. That said, general interior of the car felt plush as hell for me even on standard trim since I’m moving up from a 2010 Prius. In general I don’t touch things once I’m actually moving anyway so considered it a minor gripe that I can live with for a significantly lower price.