In the past year, a lot of electric vehicles have been added to what we can now call the new middle class.
Cars that cost around €50.000 or €60.000, which are usually crossovers and such. Because that's what people want nowadays.
I'm thinking about the Volkswagen ID.4, the new Audi Q4, a Skoda Enyaq iV, or the Tesla Model Y that's coming in the near future.
Also, there are two interesting newcomers from South Korea; I recently drove a prototype of the Kia EV6, which will be officially...
introduced in October. And on the same platform, Hyundai has built this IONIQ 5. And it's already in the showrooms.
This is a royally equipped launch edition, which is called Project 45. You can get other versions as well, but you'll have to wait for...
2022 to get it, because that's how popular it is. Jan Lemkes already did the first test, but now we're able to put it...
up against a competitor. Another newcomer that came around in January. The Ford Mustang Mach-E. A car that seems to have...
flown under the radar for most of the time, despite being a very interesting newcomer.
Let's talk specs here. This is about the most lavishly equipped IONIQ 5 that's available right now. It's got a 77 kWh-battery pack, it's got...
all-wheel drive and despite the Project 45 being sold out, you can compare it with the most expensive version. That means it'll cost...
around €60.000. The WLTP-range lies around 430 kilometres and even though you sometimes dip under 400, it's still very neat for its price.
If you judge the car by its shape, you'd think it's just a hatchback. However, when I stand next to it, it becomes clear how big it actually is.
The advantage of this body shape is - of course - the interior space, and allow me to demonstrate that by getting in the back.
Right now, I'm behind myself, and just look at the leg- and headroom. You can even adjust the rear seat to slump down, or to increase...
the luggage space. Also, it's taller than the Kia EV6, despite being built on the same platform. That's why they were able to put in bigger seats.
That also means my legs aren't in a weird position, like in the Kia. It's really comfortable back here.
I can already tell you it's more spacious than the Ford, which I'll show you in a second. But let's take a look at the boot first.
In the Hyundai, it's bigger than in the Ford. It goes beyond 500 litres, whilst the Mustang stays below that number.
Both cars have a frunk, albeit a little unhandy. In the Ford, there's a weird divider which makes it impossible for you to abduct people in there.
And in the IONIQ, the frunk is smaller because it's got an electric motor in the front. That means the frunk is smaller than in...
a rear-wheel drive version.
Then, the Ford Mustang Mach-E. Like I said, it didn't get as much hype as the Hyundai. Despite being a very interesting car.
We've already seen the first driving test and the first comparison, but the hype just doesn't seem to be present. Not even in the comments.
I really think it's interesting, and it seems to be popular on Dutch roads as well. But let's talk about this particular car.
The IONIQ has got all-wheel drive, whilst this Mustang only has rear-wheel drive. That's because of the availablity. However, this does have...
the Extended Range-pack. That means it's got a battery pack of 93 kWh, so it has a WLTP-range of over 600 kilometres.
However, in an electric car, a second electric motor isn't only handy for four-wheel drive, it's also produces an additional amount of power.
Four-wheel drive always means a second motor on the other axle, and the Mustang doesn't have that.
It only has rear-wheel drive and 280 horsepower, which is enough for the Netherlands, but it's an interesting difference to notice.
It can get further than the Hyundai on a single charge because of the bigger battery pack, but percentually speaking, it's not that much...
as you'd expected from the additional 20 kWh. Anyway, let's talk about the quickcharging-possibilities. Both cars are able to three-phase charge...
which is nice, but if you visit a quickcharger, the Hyundai excels. It can charge up to 240 kW at peak level, thanks to the 800V-system.
In the Ford, you can charge up to 150 kW on a very short peak. And that's very important if you want to take it on vacation or something.
Let's move to the rear seat. Again, I'm behind myself and I'm not cramped in any way. The seating position is good, headroom is decent and I've...
got some legroom left. It's just a tad less spacious than the Korean.
If we start driving the IONIQ 5, it's fun to mention that I recently drove the Kia EV6, which is built on the same EGMB-platform.
And I can actually tell the differences very well. The Hyundai is clearly the more comfortable of the two.
It's very accessible, whilst the Kia tries to be the more dynamic one. However, this IONIQ isn't as soft as I would've thought.
It feels quite firm on the road actually. It does heave a little in corners, the steering is a little woolly and thus it's pretty light. And that's comfortable.
But I think that the car has excellent handling. It's a heavy car, it weighs over 2.000 kg, but the car restrains the weight very well.
It's just a very accessible car, everything checks out really. You're a little higher up than in the Kia, but you're quite deep in the car as well.
You'll notice in everything that the wheels are on the four corners of the car, which means the car feels very solid on the road.
It doesn't feel that big either. Of course, when you drive over a speedbump or when you brake, you can feel the weight.
But there hasn't been a moment that I've thought 'I'm driving a lot of car right now'.
Because of that, it's a typical car of which people will say after only one minute of test driving it, that they absolutely love the drive.
That's partly because of the amount of power it has, because it produces over 300 horsepower through two electric motors.
One at the front, one at the back. Also, there's always enough traction because of the four-wheel drive.
And if we look around us in this Project 45-version, you literally have all of the features your heart might desire.
There's two screens in front of you, which are both 12-inch screens. They offer all of the driving information you need,
and over here you've got the multimedia screen. Just like in the Kia, I think the screen is a tad too far away from you as driver.
It's not a huge deal, but I'd call it an ergonomical error. One of the very few in Korean cars.
Anyway, all of the information I need is present. And if you want, you can connect Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
Both are eligible. Also, if we look at driving assists, Hyundai and Kia are doing a very good job. Not only on the motorway, at lower speeds...
as well. You can easily let go of the steering wheel and the car will follow the lines. It neatly follows the car in front of you.
It offers a lot of security, and that's the big strength of the Koreans nowadays. Everything they do seems to check out.
Ergonomically, it's all good. The pricing, the equipment you get for that money, it all checks out.
Even when we look at the electric drivetrain, it goes on. It has over 400 kilometres of range, three-phase charging as standard,
and only the cheapest version doesn't come with a heat pump as standard. It even comes with a 800V-system so it can quickcharge...
up to 240 kW. The only cars that have that are the Porsche Taycan and Audi E-Tron.
And 240 kW is incredibly fast. It can charge the batteries up to 80 percent in only 18 minutes when you're at a good charger.
Everything checks out, it ticks all the boxes. And I've already shown you the practicality. The boot is very decent, whilst the seating is the back is good.
It's quiet as well. So what you've got here is a total package that really reminds me of a Golf in this weird, high crossover electrical segment.
Everything is right in here, so it's annoyingly good. I literally can't name anything that I don't like about this car.
Sure, it could be more dynamic, or lighter. But the fact that it isn't dynamic was a clear choice by Hyundai, and the fact that it's...
heavy is inherent to electric cars. Battery packs just weigh a lot. Only Mini and Mazda have lighter battery packs, but they only...
have a range of 160 kilometres in the winter. And we don't want that either. So that's the price you'll have to pay.
Like I said, the Project 45 will cost you €60.000, but it's very comparable with the most expensive IONIQ 5 that comes after that.
And you will still remain under €60.000. And even though I don't have €60.000 to throw around, I still think it's a very good deal.
And so does the rest of the Netherlands, because it's sold out for 2021.
Right, the Ford. And should I say something about the usage of the Mustang-name? Well, a lot of worse things happened in recent years.
This isn't that bad in comparison. What stands out immediately is the fact that the Ford is much more dynamic than the Hyundai.
The steering is much better, much more direct. The throttle response is very sharp as well, and that's because it's in Untamed-mode.
That's the sportiest mode. It's not, I'm sorry. It's in Active-mode, which is the Normal-mode.
Untamed is the sporty mode and the Whisper-mode is the comfort-mode. It's all marketing gibberish. Why wouldn't you call it Sport, Normal or Comfort?
Anyway. Let's go back to Active-mode. I really think the throttle response is very good. And it's got a fleshy steering as well.
Typically Ford really, and I like that. It's something that was very important for Ford, that the car offered driving pleasure.
That typical Ford-feeling, or Mustang-feeling. The latter might not be entirely true, but on the other hand: how much Mustangs are there in the Netherlands.
We've mostly enjoyed the Ford Focus and Fiesta, and their RS-derivatives. They were great to drive, and Ford has marketed this Mach-E as such.
Let me immediately get one of the drawbacks out of the way. It's very heavy. And sure, the IONIQ 5 is heavy as well, but since this...
has been positioned to be very dynamic, it's something that's much more noticeable.
It's quite a big car and it's the rear-wheel drive version. That means there's less traction, especially when it's wet.
And the rear will move around, but it's moving a lot weight around. And the mass is positioned relatively high.
A Mustang isn't particularly a carbon-lightweight car or anything, but at least the weight is positioned low in the car.
And this is a lot of mass that's moving around, which might surprise you.
The same goes for when I steer in on a wet surface. The front wheels start to struggle a little, and then there's a lot of mass understeering.
We do know that the combination of a lot of weight with a high car is possible. Just think of the Audi RS Q8, or Porsche Cayenne,
or BMW X5 M. But they're clearly a few steps ahead of this Mustang Mach-E, and they're clearly a lot more expensive.
So despite the fact this offers driving pleasure, it's still a very tricky combination. It really feels like a lot of car.
In the IONIQ, I already mentioned that it didn't feel as big as it is. That feeling is even stronger in the Ford, funny enough.
I'm a little higher up as well. As long as there's grip and I feel secure on the surface, I'm alright. But when it starts to...
become wet and slippery, you'll start holding back. And that's the moment the dynamic personality doesn't make sense anymore.
It will have limits, but you won't go looking for them.
It's a little bit inherent to the new type of car with a lot of mass, positioned high in the car. Because the small, 1.000 kg Fiesta's won't be coming back.
Let's talk about the car itself. There's a lot of battery capacity because of the 93 kWh-battery pack.
Quickcharging can be done up to 150 kW, but it's not the benchmark anymore. The Hyundai takes a big leap from there,
but that says more about the Hyundai than about this Ford. When the Audi E-Tron was introduced, it set the new benchmark at 150 kW.
We hadn't seen that before. Usually, it was all hanging around 50 kW. But thanks to the Taycan and the E-Tron, it developed incredibly quickly.
And we shouldn't forget Tesla, with their V3-chargers that offer 230 kW without 800V-systems to be necessary.
Kia and Hyundai were quickly able to follow suit, because they were working on these cars already. And the fact that Ford is 'only'...
able to go up to 150 kW is still very decent. It wasn't even possible in the recent past. So it's more of a big advantage for the...
Hyundai than a drawback for the Ford.
If I start looking around, the multimedia system really jumps out. It's incredibly modern. And that's remarkable, because usually, I don't like...
the multimedia in a Ford. Ever since I started in this business, Ford was always lagging behind when it came to multimedia.
One of the biggest drawbacks of the Focus usually was the multimedia system.
And that problem has pretty much disappeared. It's a good and modern system, that SYNC4.
It has a lot of options, it works very quickly, and the screen is closer by. As a whole, Ford has taken a big step compared to its own predecessors.
My compliments.
If we look at the interior as a whole, it kind of feels like an old interior in which they've placed a new, big screen. It almost feels...
aftermarket. In the Hyundai, it's feels much more like one continuous dashboard. There's much more unity in the design.
And it doesn't make any difference for the ergonomics, but it just stood out to me.
This particular car, which is the Rear-wheel Drive Extended Range, with additional tech-packs. Those are for autonomous driving.
Having said that, the Mustang Mach-E has some form of Autopilot. And it actually works very well.
On the motorway, I was really impressed. They did a very good job. Interiorwise, I've got heated seats, that look very nice too.
The audio system is very good, but I don't have a very comprehensive head up display in front of me, no augmented reality like in the Hyundai.
And as it stands here, the Ford is slightly more expensive. This particular one will cost you around €64.000.
You do get more range for it. But if you ask me, the Hyundai offers more value for money, looking at the optional extra's.
Then, the power consumption. The Ford often goes above 20 kWh per 100 kilometres, whilst the Hyundai stays just below 20.
The differences aren't that big, but still. Like I often say, you have to drive an electric car for months and in all weather conditions...
to find out what the real power consumption is. But in my experience now, the Hyundai is clearly more economical.
So let's tally up the points. And you've probably seen this coming, but the IONIQ is unbeatable. The Ford doesn't do anything wrong,
but the IONIQ seems to check out more. And it kind of reminds me of the ancient comparison between the Golf and the Focus.
And I'm talking about the Golf 5 and 6, because that was ridiculously good. Drivetrain, ergonomics, handling, it was all good.
And the Focus had a better drive and it was more fun, but the ergonomics weren't as good, the drivetrain wasn't as refined and the...
multimedia was no good. So across the line, the Golf always won on points. And it's the same in here. This is clearly the better car to drive,
but if you start tallying the points, the Hyundai will always come out as the winner. It just doesn't have any flaws.
If you're actually shopping for a car in this segment, the choice is much easier. The handling is so different, just test drive them both.
You'll know eventually what you need. If you want quietness and comfort, get the Hyundai. But if dynamic driving is incredibly important to you,
the Ford is your car.