It’s no secret that Kia and Hyundai share a lot of the same components, features, and powertrains for their vehicles. When Hyundai comes out with a vehicle, it’s common knowledge that Kia will come out with something that’s similar in size, pricing, and feature content. Usually, Kias tend to be more affordable than their Hyundai counterparts, but that’s not the case with the automakers’ new electric cars.
Kia recently announced pricing for the EV6 and it’s more expensive than the Hyundai IONIQ 5. The entry-level EV6 starts at $42,115 (prices include destination), while the base IONIQ 5 carries a starting price tag of $40,945. That’s a difference of $1,170 in the IONIQ 5’s favor. While the two electric vehicles share the same Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) and configurations, one difference is range.
Both electric cars come with a 58-kWh battery pack and a single electric motor at the rear wheels. In the EV6, the configuration makes 167 horsepower, while the IONIQ 5 is rated at 168 hp. In the IONIQ 5, the setup is good for 220 miles of range. The EV6 is rated to travel up to 232 miles. Since the two EVs are near-identical twins on the platform side of things, this 12-mile difference could come down to the EV6’s more aerodynamic design or tuning. The standard EV6 also has better fuel economy figures of 117 MPGe combined with the IONIQ 5 carrying rating of 110 MPGe combined.
It’s a similar case as you move up to more powerful versions. The EV6 with the 77.4-kWh battery pack can travel up to 310 miles with rear-wheel drive and 274 miles with all-wheel drive. The EV6’s dual-motor configuration is good for 320 hp. With the IONIQ 5, range with the 77.4-kWh pack ranges from 256 miles up to 303 miles. Power also tops out at 320 hp. With the long-range models, there’s a difference of seven miles with the EV6 leading the way. In their most powerful, dual-motor setups, the EV6 can get up to 105 MPGe combined and the IONIQ 5 is rated at 98 MPGe.
Both EVs come similarly equipped, so the only difference we can spot is the slight range advantage for the EV6. Quite honestly, a maximum of 12 miles isn’t something to base an extra $1,170 on. If anything, we think the vehicles’ designs will sway more consumers to choose one option over the other. While the EV6 has a futuristic, outlandish design, the IONIQ 5 is far more retro and boxy. Additionally, we think interior space will be a big deciding factor. The IONIQ 5 has more front and rear headroom, more rear legroom, rear shoulder room, rear hip room, and cargo space (59.3 cubic feet of space in the IONIQ 5 compared to 50.2 cubic feet in the EV6) than the EV6.
With similar range, performance, and features, the IONIQ 5 is clearly the better value option of the two, which is usually something we say about Kia’s vehicles.
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Pictured: 2022 Hyundai IONIQ 5 (Top), 2022 Kia EV6 (Middle)
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