Hyundai has just pulled off something huge.
The XRT will be the first US-built, fully electric, soft roader
with a Tesla NACS (J3440) charging port.

thegreencargeek

Just wow!

Hyundai has planted a flag firmly in the ground that they intend to push ahead with full electric vehicles. And while their at it, kick some serious ass on their competition.

NACS Charging

Hyundai has just pulled off something huge. The XRT is a US-built, fully electric, soft roader to arrive with a Tesla NACS (J3440) charging port. Yes, you read that right! Neither Ford, Chevrolet, Volkswagen, Rivian, nor Polestar have a vehicle with the J3440 port (Tesla’s North American Charging Standard, or ‘NACS’ for short).

What does this mean? It means with the 2025 Hyundai Ionic 5, owners will gain access to over 17,000 Tesla Supercharger (although an adapter will be required to use the CCS connector found on everything other than Tesla chargers) in addition to the CCS network offered by providers like Electrify America, EVgo, Shell Recharge, Chargepoint and other charging vendors.

Incentivized

Here’s what Hyundai’s Press Release has to say about US tax incentives:

Models produced at HMGMA are expected to be eligible for a $3,750 U.S. tax credit at start of sale. In the future, Hyundai anticipates the U.S.-built 2025 IONIQ 5 models to qualify for additional federal tax incentives. Leases continue to qualify for the $7,500 credit that Hyundai fully passes onto consumers with more attractive lease offers.

Hyundai USA

Hyundai will build these in their Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) in Georgia making them eligible for the incentives. Based on the language of the text, it reads as the first cars will be built with batteries imported from Hyundai’s South Korean plant until their US-based battery factory has enough stock to start supplying the production line.

This will go a long way to increase sales on an already fast selling EV–provided any given buyer’s tax landscape allows for it when they go to file their taxes.

The working bits

Taking an iconic design and changing is tricky. Here, Hyundai chose to refine rather than rework. Considering the need for ingress and egress, the designers rolled the lower front overhangs to reduce the amount of surface area below the wheel’s centerline improving the approach angle. The same technique was applied to the rear to improve the departure angle.

The suspension has been adjusted to provide increased ride height and make room for the 235/60 R 18 Continental CrossContacts (on the presentation car) fitted to some very cool wheels designed by Hyundai and not sourced from a wheel maker like Sparco, Black Rhino, LP Adventure. This subtle changes again improve your ability to avoid striking obstacles on the path.

Now let’s be clear, this is not a rock crawler. This is not intended for trails rated 4×4’s only. The XRT is not going to replace a Jeep Rubicon. This has built this as an alternative to the Subaru Forrester Wilderness, or maybe the Jeep Renegade. This is a soft-roader, period. The purpose of the XRT is to let you take a fire road to a trailhead, campsite, or your favorite kayak launch site with ability and style.

To help you get there, Hyundai has increased battery capacity by a few percentage points to give the RWD drive 250-310 miles range and the AWD spec 240-280 miles range (depending on trim and wheel size).

The comfort bits

On the inside the Ionic 5 gets some minor updates including a black driver console and revised center console with more buttons.

The tech improves with USB-C ports everywhere, Over-The-Air updates that don’t require a trip to the dealer, (and now a copy/paste of the press release of alphabet soup):

Hyundai engineers have introduced a slew of new safety and convenience features. These include the Hands-On Detection (HOD) steering wheel, Lane Following Assist 2, Remote Smart Parking Assist 2 (RSPA 2), and Parking Collision-Avoidance Assist – Reverse / Forward / Side (PCA-R/F/S).

The biggest news of all

Queue the drum roll…

The most important feature of all on the new for 2025 Hyundai Ionic 5…

A Rear Wiper!

Queue angelic chorus.

Okay, the wiper and maybe that charging port thing mentioned earlier.

The Geeks Thoughts

I’ve been a fan of the Hyundai Ionic 5 since the first prototype images started to appear. It’s a great looking car. The changes being introduced for 2025 improve on the great design.

As for the NXT, Hyundai is doing something no one else in the EV segment is doing, iterating. Okay, Ford came out with a rally version of the Mach-e. But did they add a NACS port? No. Could they? I would think so. To quote Elle Woods, “What, like it’s hard?”

Hyundai has an all electric, high performance track car with the Ionic 5 N. Now they are offering the weekend trailblazer an all electric alternative to the Crosstrek/Forrester crowd. And to those who might suggest the Subaru Solterra I ask, can you spec it with All-Terrain tires from the factory?

The Hyundai Ionic 5 XRT looks great, and while I have yet to get behind the wheel, the driving dynamics of the standard Ionic 5 are well known. This should be very similar albeit a little bumpier while bounding down a dirt trail with camping gear in tow.