Hyundai IONIQ 5 Road Trip | Cross-Country US EV Trip #1: The Only Way is West

[@plugandplayEV]

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[@anthonyc8499]

Heck of a drive, Steve! Congrats on the coast-to-coast achievement and amazing adventure along the way.

[@plugandplayEV]

Thanks for showing me around your side of the country! Appreciate all the support.

[@DougalDubh1]

Count me in for equity crowdfunding your channel. You have one of the very few EV channels that are not on the take from automakers. We need good independent EV journalism like yours and I'm sure the community will want to get involved.

[@plugandplayEV]

Thanks for the vote of confidence! Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

[@thenetworkarchitectchannel]

I admire your content creation skills greatly. I always enjoy watching videos you produce. EV road trip videos specifically are ones I find I gravitate to, so this video and the upcoming ones are of great interest to me. Truly an amazing route. Thank you for bringing us along.

[@plugandplayEV]

Mutual Admiration Society checking in, as you know how much I (and the wider EV space) value your efforts! Glad you enjoyed the sights in this one but the best is very much to come (no offense, Ohio 😉).

[@brianriebedriveselectric]

Good start to an epic trip! Watched with the family earlier and they say Hi! Rewatching now so I can actually hear you. 😄

[@plugandplayEV]

Thanks, Brian, hello to everyone! 👋

[@newscoulomb3705]

Thanks, Steve! Looks to be a fun trip so far. That per-minute Pilot was a steal!

[@plugandplayEV]

Cheers, Eric. Definitely an anomaly... high power and top-tier amenities at home charging prices!

[@jasanmiguel]

I'm in the middle of a 900 mile round trip from NYC area down to Outer Banks and back. CCS Charging infrastructure seems good around interstate but once you get onto the older Route roads and its a whole different world. Using plugshare found only 1 operating 150 kw charger in all of Norfolk!

[@plugandplayEV]

That route can definitely be awkward once you leave the Interstate. There are a few promising stations in the works, such as the EVgo at Edinburgh North shops (VA) and the Quality Inn at Elizabeth City (NC), but it's certainly slim pickings on OBX. If you're still there, there's a free charger at the Hyundai dealer in Elizabeth City. Only a 62.5kW but it's near food and the price is right! Enjoy the trip.

[@jasanmiguel]

@@plugandplayEV thanks for the FYI!

[@Bfranklyn731]

Glad you made it in one piece!!

[@plugandplayEV]

Thanks, I lived to tell the tale! And no range anxiety... well, mostly none 🫣

[@markfitzpatrick6692]

I am sure people would love to go from Maine to Indiana in. 27 minutes.

[@plugandplayEV]

The magic of video! ⚡🛣️

[@BensEcoAdvntr]

Great first leg! Yeah Cambridge and Huber Heights have been shaky as long as I’ve been taking long distance trips in my Bolt EUV. At Cambridge last year, I noticed one charger had a dead screen but showed active in the app. I plugged in, then swiped my credit card and it actually worked! Looking forward to the next segment

[@plugandplayEV]

Thanks! Not much redundancy in that area but the hardware at Dunning Ford looks like it might hit the 100s, so possibly a decent back up. Hopefully the EA site just gets the rip and replace soon though... I was happy to see that the Ohio 'pike locations have all had that treatment on the way back through to Cleveland.

[@YeOldeTraveller]

Just before Huber Heights was the first PFJ NEVI station in London, OH

[@plugandplayEV]

Yes! I like that spot. Visited just before New Year for my first NEVI video. Great convenience but the prices there seem to be heading in the wrong direction.

[@Yanquetino]

Thumbs up! 👍 I've done a cross country EV trip, too, but just from southern Utah to the east coast and back (6,417 miles). I'm impressed that our Ioniq 5 can charge nearly as fast on 150kW as on 350kW because the charging curve stays fairly steady. It starts lower, but by the time you hit 80% it is still charging twice as fast as the Tesla I used to have. I agree that more motels need destination chargers -and several of them! Moreover, it frustrates me that, if I find a motel with Level 2 charging for overnight guests, rarely is it also "pet friendly." Gotta have both! I've never used a GM/Ultium/Flying J/Pilot charger, but those sites look very good!

[@plugandplayEV]

The DC charging is definitely Hyundai-Kia's superpower. Both peak power and charging curve are almost ideal for travel scenarios. That said, I'd still rather set off early with 100% right from my accommodation than after an early morning fast charge with 90%!

[@michaellippmann4474]

Great video Steve! Had to chuckle about your Huber Heights EA experience, we have charged there many times and always had a succesful charge but yes "confusion" seems to reign supreme there for some reason. Always a couple people having a problem... Not the best EA station but still works for us on our Kentucky trips to visit family! Your trip looks fantastic and the wife and I are looking to do another big road trip again - likely in 2025. We just do our regular 1000km road trips to our boat... Cheers Mike and Ally 🇨🇦

[@plugandplayEV]

It seems to be a favorite for locals charging their car for the first time and/or to 100% (like the Mach-E next to us in this vid). I probably should have said something, but we were so close to our destination by then that I just wanted to get away and to bed! Thanks for watching!

[@DarenWicks]

Hi Steve! At 10:20 in your video, you are starting a charge session at Electrify America from your Ioniq 5 touchscreen! I am an Ioniq 5 owner who has never had success charging at Electrify America without having to call customer service. Is it easy to initiate a charge session using the Ioniq 5’s touchscreen?

[@plugandplayEV]

Hi Darren. Although I find the interface a bit laggy, most of my sessions with EA are started via the app in Android Auto. I find this process tends to work: 1) Park in stall/identify charger # 2) Click through app in AA to that charger and push green "Start Charge" button 3) Check charger screen has changed to "Please Plug In" request screen and connect to car. Note that EA probably has the longest activation time of any nationwide charging provider, so it might seem like nothing is happening for the first 40-50 seconds. As long as the charger screen indicates it's "Initiating Charging", that typically means you're on the right track Hope that helps!

[@DarenWicks]

@@plugandplayEV Thanks Steve! I will try your procedure for my next session. I think part of my problem is that I follow the directions on the "pump" that says something like "Please plug in first", instead of doing everything in the app. I know that EA is working toward a "Plug and Play" experience. The sooner that happens, the better!

[@LarryRichelli]

The fact that Ford sent me a Tesla adapter is life changing for my in my Ford Lightning. You are pretty brave with not being able to use Tesla chargers

[@plugandplayEV]

You'd think that, but Tesla was a real bust for us on this trip (and not just because of the voltage limitations at Superchargers). All the locations heading through South Dakota were V2, so no use to any non-Teslas, and we only encountered two Magic Docks that might have been useful (Forks, WA and Moab, UT)... but both of those locations had more powerful CCS1 options within reach. Until the power limitations are resolved between Hyundai-Kia/Tesla, I'm finding more interest in when the Rivian Adventure Network opens to us than Superchargers.

[@Longsnowsm]

Love the road trips. Ioniq 5 is such a nice car, and a charging beast, but the efficiency and range really hurt it. Would also like to see Hyundai do an overhaul on the software and route planner. Watched the Out of Spec Vegas to Colorado race with the 3 row SUV's with an EV9 where they just had to rely on the route planners and the EV9 was WAY less than optimal compared to the rest. Looks like it needs some serious work.

[@plugandplayEV]

We definitely didn't maximize the range well on this trip and have the heaviest, oldest version of the model, but yes it's not the model for long stints. Met an Ioniq 6 driver who was easily getting 300+ on a charge at highway speeds, so that's probably the way to go for best of both worlds. I'd agree on the native route planning. It has improved in the sense that there was no charging plan integrated at all when we got the car, but I'm still far more confident in my own estimates, tied to Google, than using the vehicle's plan.

[@thenetworkarchitectchannel]

One question: it appears as though you mainly rely on in dash systems for navigation & charging. I had heard some EGMP owners awhile ago mentioned it was problematic. Have you found in dash effective as of late?

[@plugandplayEV]

It's almost all Android Auto and the GOM estimate at this point, yes. The native route planner misses too many nuances (station rating, back up options), so I check distance, validate options on Plug share, then charge to 20-25 miles above what we need to get there (or a bit more, if there's heavy wind or elevation change). I'm sure ABRP would be useful but I find it's overkill at this point.

[@JohnCap523]

My regular roadtrip is from west of Philly to Rochester NY. The route west and up, through Lewisburg and Williamsport is barren with only a Sheetz with Tesla chargers. I have to go up 81 and I always stop at the Loves In Binghamton NY. I need something along the West Bank of the Susquehanna. We’ll be moving a bit west so unless I can rely on a charging stop over that way, my trip will only get longer having to go further east to get to Binghamton.

[@plugandplayEV]

I think there's now an active Magic Dock in Selinsgrove, PA, although that was online after we passed through Lewisburg. On the way up to the Finger Lakes through PA in June (because we came from staying with family, not Boston), we used a dealership charger in Painted Post, NY to bridge the gap to Geneva. Would be tough in winter though, I expect.

[@JohnCap523]

@@plugandplayEV Sheetz in Selinsgrove has Tesla chargers now with MagicDoc? (God I’d hate having to give money to Tesla, especially when I still have free EA credits.)

[@JohnCap523]

@@plugandplayEV I see it’s a Target…

[@plugandplayEV]

Yes, new V4 with 16 stalls at the Target. Definitely one of the more useful Magic Dock locations and I don't see any CCS1 alternatives coming soon, unless dealerships on the Susquehanna add something.

[@JohnCap523]

@@plugandplayEV Disappointing that not one of the three Sheetzes on the run up the Susquehanna went CCS.

[@tonym4813]

Hi Steve, I know we are comparing apples and oranges with the Ioniq and the bolt but this summer I went to SW Florida with a few stops along the way but still a 550 - 325 - 509 sequence of days and I opted for fewer but longer stops … so had 3 , 1, 3 stops per day … I found it easy as the bolt slowercharging gave me the ability to explore towns or sit down and eat … is that the price u pay for faster charging vehicles in your opinion ?

[@plugandplayEV]

Hey Tony, thanks for watching and commenting. I think you're spot on, although clearly there's nothing preventing a faster charging EV from stopping to linger and using a slower charger. But we've had both and the Bolt EV road trips definitely had more "exploration" stops than we have in the IONIQ 5. That's nice in some cases, for example when you're charging at a gas station/small store and want to be gone in 15-20 minutes. When we sit down for a meal, however, I'm usually out moving the car before we've been served.

[@JohnCap523]

Did I understand you that you thought 3.6MPK was good for you car for non highway driving? What do you normally get in normal mixed driving?

[@plugandplayEV]

Yes, unfortunately. At 40-50mph mixed 3.6 mi/kWh is sadly our high. I sometimes see above 4 mi/kWh in suburban driving with no A/C, but it's rare. Just something I've normalized but there was certainly a time when 5 mi/kWh for mixed driving and around 4 mi/kWh for Interstate were the norm, back in the Bolt days.

[@JohnCap523]

@@plugandplayEV Have you tried auto regen? I see level 3 on your dash, auto may improve your efficiency. It’s good to reduce regen, and drag, sometimes. I’ve been averaging 4.4, last two charges 4.5 and 4.8, in my EV6.

[@plugandplayEV]

Level 3 is usually just around town or getting off exits. I tend to go down to 1 or off completely for Interstate travel. Auto feels a bit uncomfortable to me but I should get over that and do a proper test, for sure. Are you in the Limited trim? What kind of efficiency do you get on that run from Philly to Rochester?

[@JohnCap523]

@@plugandplayEV I have an WV6, not an I5, so second trim, Wind w/Tech Pkg. I get around 3.4 going up and around 3.7-3.8 coming back in spring or summer. Goes down a bit to closer to 3 when we go in November if it’s cold. What could you be uncomfortable with about Auto Regen, it only modulates regen up and down based on what it sees. I used to paddle regen up or down predominantly using 3 but I saw a video of a guy going through the outcome of various regen options in his I5, so I tried Auto Regen in Normal mode and it’s been very efficient for me. I use HDA or cruise sparingly unless it’s a long flat run like I70 to Indy, although the headwinds on I70 going west can be crushing to a car’s efficiency. Did that run three years ago in my wife’s Prius and her mileage dropped from an expected 64MPG to ~34MPG.

[@plugandplayEV]

@@JohnCap523 Gotcha. The EV6 has slightly better efficiency with its shape and will be a bit lighter than us to boot, so that explains some but not all of the gap. I'll give Auto more of a try. I've avoided for similar reasons to HDA2 in traffic: I prefer to be in control of the adjustment myself. I find the car's decisions aren't typically quick or smooth enough for me in the latter, but perhaps Auto regen has a more seamless integration. As I say, I haven't given it a fair shake so I'll make a note to experiment more in the weeks and months ahead.

[@firescorpio4545]

My conclusion from this video is that electric vehicles are not practical for long-distance driving. way too many stops for charging/fueling. For driving in the city or around town it's fine.

[@plugandplayEV]

Perhaps for your preferences, which is all good of course. For most people who stop to eat/stretch/see sights on vacation, the fit with 20 minute stops after several hours driving is a good one. All one needs to do is look at the rest areas on Interstates to see that vehicles are stopping for at least that length, often more like 30-45 minutes when these areas are busy. Add the time it takes to fill up gas on top of that (because charging happens while the rest break is occurring) and it's easy to see why travel times are similar in EVs to a regular journey on gasoline.

[@dennislyon5412]

Try renting a Tesla and experiencing a trip for yourself. They charge fast and are very easy to all day travel with. And icing on the cake - no bad charger experiences - they always work - plus the car easily navigates to upcoming superchargers - not much training required.