Our favorite EV goes Mad Max: The 2025 Ioniq 5 XRT

I suspect those tires might prove a little noisy on the road, but we weren’t able to drive the XRT on paved roads. On dirt, it was a bit of a hoot and threw some rooster tails through the soft sandy bit. Listening to small stones ping off the battery’s protective case (the same as on all other Ioniq 5s) made me want to giggle, and I found myself going back for another go before I knew it.

There’s a new button on the XRT’s steering wheel marked “Terrain”—this is where Snow mode has moved to, along with the new Sand and Mud. Despite the ample rain over the previous day, there was no quicksand to be found, and I did not try either Mud or Snow modes. Sand didn’t feel much different to Sport, although Sand keeps the torque split at 50:50 throughout the speed envelope.

There are better approach (19.8 degrees) and departure (30 degrees) angles than the standard Ioniq 5, and the ride height has been raised by an inch, but there is the same amount of wheel travel as before—think trails rather than rock-hopping up a gully.

Almost everything else about the XRT is the same as the normal Ioniq 5—it charges really fast, including at Tesla Superchargers now, it’s got decent infotainment and it’s very spacious inside. As someone who mostly sticks to the blacktop, I can’t say I entirely get the point, and I suspect I won’t be entirely alone, but it was fun to drive around on the sand, even if I never quite got it going sideways.