Hyundai Ioniq 5 Has A Solid First Full Month Of Deliveries In U.S.

Electric vehicles are often slow to roll out. During its initial launch, it took Tesla about seven months to deliver about 1,000 Model X crossovers to U.S. customers. Hyundai delivered its first 1,000 Ioniq 5 crossovers in less than seven weeks.

Hyundai reports that the company delivered 989 Ioniq 5 crossovers to U.S. customers in January. The initial deliveries took place in December and totaled 153 units. Torque News was on hand for the key delivery ceremony to the first East Coast customer. Since that time, owners have reported bringing home Ioniq 5s regularly on social media.

Related Story: Toyota Delivered More RAV4 Primes In First 9 Weeks Than Tesla Did Model 3, X, or S

On reason for Hyundai’s solid first full month of deliveries in the U.S. is that the Ioniq 5 was launched first in other markets. The U.S. is not the first region to receive deliveries. So, in essence, Hyundai had the ball rolling before it started to carve out some inventory for its U.S. market customers.

Related Story: Hyundai IONIQ 5 BEV First Drive Impressions - Ideal For Its Mission

Here are a few other comparisons to other notable EV launches from the recent past:
Toyota needed 9 weeks to sell is first 1,000 RAV4 Primes PHEVs.
It took Nissan six months to deliver the first 1,000 Leafs in the U.S.
Tesla needed five months to deliver the first 1,000 Model 3 cars.
It took GM about three months to deliver about 1,000 Bolts.

Hyundai Green Vehicle Options Second To Toyota
With its third battery-electric vehicle now selling at a rapidly increasing pace, it’s important to note that Hyundai electrifies almost every one of its models. The Elantra and Sonata sedans have electrified trims, as do the Tucson and Santa Fe crossover SUVs. The Ioniq is available with three levels of electrification and the Kia Niro BEV is very popular among shoppers. By our count, only Toyota has more green vehicle options on the market today.

What Will Success Look Like For the Hyundai Ioniq 5?
For contrast, the RAV4 often has 40,000 unit months in the U.S. The Accord, Camry, Corolla and CIvic often have 30,000 unit months. So, 1,000 units is a tiny amount of deliveries when compared to the top-selling non-truck in the U.S. market. However, as a BEV, 1,000 units puts the Ioniq 5 complete in the top ten by our guesstimate. To succeed in the sense that the vehicle reaches mainstream crossover volumes Hyundai will need to deliver between 5,000 and 15,000 units per month.

We would break down the other Hyundai electrified models by individual model and trim, but Hyundai doesn’t provide this data to the media.

What do you think? WIll the Ioniq 5 reach mainstream volumes in the U.S. in 2022, or will it remain a low-volume BEV, like so many sold today?

Top of page image of new Ioniq 5 owner by John Goreham.

John Goreham is a long-time New England Motor Press Association member and recovering engineer. John's interest in EVs goes back to 1990 when he designed the thermal control system for an EV battery as part of an academic team. After earning his mechanical engineering degree, John completed a marketing program at Northeastern University and worked with automotive component manufacturers, in the semiconductor industry, and in biotech. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American news outlets and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on TikTok @ToknCars, on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin

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