Audi A6 Sportback e-tron vs Hyundai IONIQ 5

The Audi A6 Sportback e-tron costs £29,205 more than the Hyundai IONIQ 5. For that premium it adds 190 miles more WLTP range, 155 kW more power and a 3.1s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Audi A6 Sportback e-tron comes out ahead overall.

The Hyundai IONIQ 5 is £29,205 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £144 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Hyundai IONIQ 5 comes out roughly £29,125 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 386 miles for the Audi A6 Sportback e-tron and 228 miles for the Hyundai IONIQ 5 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Audi A6 Sportback e-tron goes roughly 158 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 18-21 minutes.

The two are within 8 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 518 mm of total clearance for the Audi A6 Sportback e-tron and about 510 mm of total clearance for the Hyundai IONIQ 5. The Hyundai IONIQ 5 also turns in a 0.3 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Audi A6 Sportback e-tron and 89% for the Hyundai IONIQ 5. That gives the Hyundai IONIQ 5 a modest edge in retained real-world range. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation.