Hyundai Ioniq 5 books entire 3,000 pre-orders on first day in Europe

[Photo provided by Hyundai Motor Co.]

Hyundai Ioniq 5, Hyundai Motor Co.’s first all-electric car built on its much-hyped proprietary EV-dedicated platform E-GMP, has made impressive debut in Europe with 3,000 pre-orders booked entirely on the first day.

Nearly 10,000, three times larger-than-expected Europeans flocked to book Hyundai Ioniq 5 pre-orders with initial payment of 1,000 euros ($ 1,211.40) on Feb. 25, showing a strong response to the model, according to Hyundai Motor Europe on Sunday.

Such enthusiastic response came after the automaker premiered the first model running on its EV-only platform E-GMP through a YouTube channel last week. The European operation received over 236,000 inquiries about Ioniq 5 since then, it said.

Pre-orders at home also totaled 23,760 units, already nearing its annual sales target of 26,000 and breaking the previous record set by other models of the Korean auto giant. Hyundai Motor earlier set a sales target of the Ioniq 5 – 70,000 units in total globally this year and 100,000 units next year.

The Ioniq 5 has a wheelbase of 3,000 millimeters, which is longer than Hyundai Motor’s biggest sport utility vehicle Palisade. Owners will also be able to charge 80 percent of its car battery in just 18 minutes with a high-speed 350-kW charger, and only a five-minute charging will allow the vehicles to drive up to 100 kilometers.

The vehicle will be out in April at home and then go to Europe in the second quarter and the United States in the second half.

Kia Corp. also is preparing to unveil its first all-electric vehicle with a project name CV built on E-GMP this month, which will come out in July first in Korea and then in Europe within the year. The model is expected to drive more than 500 kilometers on a single charge, longer than the Ioniq 5.

Hyundai Motor Group hopes the models will push up its EV sales at home and abroad.

EV sales in Europe more than doubled on year to total 745,684 units last year and are estimated to reach over 1 million this year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

Hyundai Motor and Kia last year sold a combined 95,917 EVs, taking up 11.7 percent of total sales across Europe. This year, their EV sales are projected to reach 130,000 units, up 35 percent on year.

In the meantime, concerns are growing over a shortage of semiconductors that is hammering the global automobile industry.

Hyundai Motor earlier said there will be no affect to production from parts supplies. If it fails to meet the explosive demand for the Ioniq 5, it won’t avoid a hit to its global reputation.

At least 100 more semiconductors are used to produce an EV, compared to a conventional combustion engine car. Industry insiders expect the chip shortages will last by the third quarter of this year.

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