It’s a turbulent time for the automotive industry, to say the least. Even without new tariffs and regulatory whiplash throwing everything out of whack, this is still a sector experiencing a fundamental technological transformation. It is happening; the question is, how quickly? Hyundai, in particular, may have enjoyed a welcome boost in EV sales due to the tax credit ending, but it knows it’s going to have to buck the trend of rising prices to keep shoppers interested. So that’s exactly what it’s doing.
In an era when all cars, especially the fun ones, are getting more expensive, Hyundai has slashed close to five figures off almost every configuration of the Ioniq 5 for the coming model year. It has also extended its own $7,500 discount through October on 2025 vehicles, to cover the federal rebate ending. The table below shows the difference in pricing for every trim between 2025 and 2026:
Every trim, save the base SE Standard Range single motor, rear-wheel-drive model, is more than $9,000 cheaper for the 2026 model year. The biggest discount is for SEL models; whether you choose rear- or all-wheel drive, it’s a $9,800 savings. That means that, heading into 2026, you can walk away with a range-topping, Limited AWD vehicle for slightly less than you might’ve paid to purchase an SEL RWD, sans credits, in the past year.
It’s a pretty gutsy move from Hyundai, especially because up until U.S. Ioniq 5 production began in May, the only surefire way to get the full $7,500 IRS rebate was to lease. At times, such discounts would also be available on financed cars. When you take that into consideration, the savings here aren’t quite as enticing, but hey—even if the SUV’s a grand or two cheaper, that’s nothing to sneeze at in this economy, when the tide is unfortunately moving in the opposite direction.
The threat of the credit evaporating resulted in a considerable sales boost for Hyundai EVs over the preceeding weeks, to the tune of a 153% rise in sales. Extending the discounts may keep that momentum going, and they should, because the Ioniq 5 is a very good EV. Of course, the one we’d select is the Ioniq 5 N; perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s the lone outlier not on the list for a price drop at the moment.
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Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
