2025 Ioniq 5 Review: Hyundai Heads Off Road With XRT Model

At a time when EV sales have been stagnating, Hyundai somehow keeps building demand. An expanded lineup, with products like the sleek Ioniq 7 and the upcoming three-row Ioniq 9 certainly helps.

But, the original Hyundai Ioniq 5 was the primary reason the brand’s U.S. EV sales shot up by 90% in 2024. And the automaker aims to keep that momentum building as it rolls out an updated version of the electric crossover.

You might not notice much different about the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5, certainly not at first glance. The exterior changes are minimal, save for the welcome addition of a rear windshield wiper. But there’s a lot more to like, starting with a bigger battery pack delivering, on some trims, nearly 20 more miles of range.

But what you might be especially excited about is the introduction of the new off-road-focused Ioniq 5 XRT package. We took it out into the Palm Springs desert to see how well the new model performed.

In short: The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 builds upon an already admirable product. This mid-cycle update makes minimal design changes but delivers improved range and now can charge directly from Tesla Superchargers. And the big news: a new off-road-focused XRT package that offers more ground clearance and rugged looks.

2025 Ioniq 5 Review

Welcome to sunny Palm Springs? Well, not quite on this gloomy February afternoon, as my regional jet finally lands after being bounced all over the sky on a connecting flight from Salt Lake City. At least it’s not the heavy snow and frigid weather I left behind in Detroit. And, in a way, It’s a good opportunity to see what the newly updated 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT I’ll be playing with over the next couple of days is made of.

The Ioniq 5 generated plenty of buzz when it debuted 4 years ago. It wasn’t the Korean carmaker’s first all-electric model. It already had a version of the Kona in showrooms. But Ioniq introduced the new E-GMP platform that could take the best advantage of its skateboard-like platform by pushing its wheels to the corners and delivering class-above interior space.

It also meant a lower center of gravity for promised improvements in road dynamics. It delivered, with the Ioniq 5 winning an assortment of awards, including North American Utility Vehicle of the Year.

Since then, Hyundai has embraced the principle of continuous improvement, with a variety of modest upgrades. It also added more variants, starting with the wild Ioniq 5 N performance model which can launch from 0 to 60 in little more than 3 seconds.

With the launch of the 2025 “mid-cycle refresh,” Hyundai takes things a step further, with yet another interesting trim package, more range, and a much-needed rear windshield wiper.

What’s New for 2025

This is, of course, a battery-electric vehicle, so let’s start out there. The original Ioniq 5 offered two battery pack options. So does the 2025 model. The standard pack, however, grows from 58 to 63 kWh, while the long-range pack goes from 77.4 to 84 kWh. That boosts range by as much as 15 miles per charge.

Speaking of charging, the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 becomes the first vehicle available in the U.S. to migrate from the old CCS charging port to the Tesla-style CCS port. By gaining access to that competitor’s Supercharger network, Hyundai claims, owners now have twice as many public chargers they can plug into. And they also get a free adapter to use older chargers.

Visual changes are minimal for 2025, at least on most trims. There is that much-needed rear windshield wiper which, Hyundai said, was left off originally because of its impact on aerodynamics. It found a way to minimize the impact with the 2025 model.

For many potential buyers, however, the big news is the arrival of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT.

2025 Ioniq 5 XRT

It’s become all but the norm for automakers to introduce off-road-ish variants of today’s crossovers, with models like the Subaru Forester Wilderness we saw debut at the Chicago Auto Show earlier this month. The concept is rare in the EV space, however.

Even the new Jeep Wagoneer S is a decided soft-roader with largely useless sand and mud driving modes. The closest we’ve seen so far is the Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally.

Now comes Hyundai with the Ioniq 5 XRT. No, you won’t want to try it out on the Rubicon Trail. And there are only a few tracks in Moab that a sane driver would challenge with the EV. But, for many other tackling, somewhat subdued off-road trails, the XRT should do just fine.

This package gets the most notable visual changes, with revised bumpers and corners — which adopt a new take on the Ioniq “pixelated” color scheme that might be considered digital camouflage. Surprisingly, there are no new skid plates. But, Hyundai officials insist they aren’t needed, the original protection around the battery pack and motor being more than enough.

Ground clearance, meanwhile, climbs from 6 to 7 inches. With all the modifications, the XRT now boasts an approach angle of 19.8 degrees, and the departure angle increased to 30.0 degrees. By comparison, the numbers are 17.5 and 25.4 degrees, respectively, on the 2025 Ioniq 5 non-XRT models.

Of course, XRT also gets unique 18-inch wheels and 235/60 R18 all-terrain tires. And it adds bright red recovery hooks on the front end.

Powertrain

There are no changes in terms of power and performance numbers for the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5. With the exception of the 5 N, you’ll get 164 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque with rear-wheel-drive packages and 320 horsepower and 446 pound-feet with the all-wheel-drive system. The XRT is only offered in AWD.

With the larger battery packs, you do get as much as 15 miles more range, peaking at 318 miles per charge for the extended pack and RWD.

The switch to the Tesla-style charger port is the big news, and Hyundai gets there ahead of the rest of the industry with Ioniq 5. But, the Ioniq 5 N won’t follow until next year.

From the start, Hyundai adopted an 800V electrical architecture, a key advantage being faster charging — as little as 20 minutes to go from a 10% to 80% state-of-charge. Here’s the irony: use a Tesla Supercharger, and that stretches to 30 minutes because of the lower amperage they deliver. Tesla is only now rolling out faster gen-4 chargers. The Ioniq 5 can still power back up in 20 minutes with many older CCS chargers using the free adapter.

Driving Impressions On-Road

I started out from my hotel in an Ioniq 5 Limited, the most lavishly equipped version of the EV. It didn’t take long for me to fall back in love. The crossover is luxury-level quiet and a lot of fun to drive. It has tighter, more precise steering — with a good amount of road feel — than most EVs and many similar-sized gas CUVs. The ride is firm yet comfortable. 

And it proved reassuringly sure-footed as I turned off the I-10 to head up into the mountains and the windy old blacktop route leading to the funky village of Idyllwild. That was particularly welcome considering how much worse the weather got, seemingly every 1,000 feet higher the road climbed.

By the time I reached my coffee stop for the morning, I was facing a heavy snow/sleet mixture. But I barely had to slow down as I finally started back down toward the Palm Springs desert floor.

2025 Ioniq 5 XRT Off-Road Driving Impressions

Things were dry back down in the desert, good news as I shifted into Sand Mode and headed out on a trail that wended its way around the windmills and high-voltage towers now more prevalent on the outskirts of Palm Springs than cacti and rattlesnakes.

While no stretch for an experienced off-roader, the route still provided enough challenges to get a sense of the XRT’s capabilities, ranging from packed clay to powdery sand, with plenty of moguls and a few steep hills.

Clearly, having the mode selector adds an advantage. Here, its primary role is to adjust the way the electric system distributes torque, something that can vary markedly, depending upon what the terrain — and weather conditions — throw at you. Modulating power and choosing automatically between front and rear wheel motors can make a big difference, particularly in sand.

Surprisingly, electric propulsion can offer significant advantages in off-road conditions because of the control it offers. And it can deliver gobs of torque when trying to surmount steep hills and other obstacles.

One thing I hadn’t thought about was the advantage offered by regenerative braking — which, on the Ioniq 5, can be varied anywhere from off to full 1-Pedal mode. With XRT, it works as an electric combination of Hill Climb and Hill Descent Control, allowing you to smoothly creep along, even coming over a steep hill. I just wish Hyundai’s system didn’t have to be reset each time you switch out of drive or shut the vehicle off.

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Final Thoughts

Hyundai keeps the number of Ioniq 5 trim packages and options fairly limited — though there are more options when you factor in standard or long-range battery packs and, on some trims, rear or all-wheel-drive.

Pricing for the RWD SE standard range starts at $42,500. At the upper end, the Limited AWD — available only with the long-range pack — goes for $66,100. The new 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT — again, available only with the extended pack and AWD — starts at $55,400.

While not the most affordable EV on the market, the 2025 Ioniq 5 delivers a lot of value for the money. It has great driving dynamics and solid performance, and it offers better range than most models in its segment. Now, add the XRT package, and the automaker is likely to zero in on an entirely new class of buyers.