IONIQ 5 EV Summer ROAD TRIP: 3.1K Miles to Minnesota's Voyageurs National Park

[@300rivers4]

Headed up to the BWCA next month for our annual canoe trip. Will be taking my new Ioniq 5 for the first time. Can't wait!!

[@plugandplayEV]

Very jealous! I only realized we should have booked another week and spent some time on the Boundary Waters while we were there... bookmarked for next time. Happy trails! ⚡

[@Reddylion]

Nice ev

[@plugandplayEV]

Cheers, we like it!

[@todkapuz]

i really should have recorded my laborday trip... first EV trip out of the state of Florida. but yours looked a lot more relaxing than my mix of work and family trip.

[@plugandplayEV]

We crammed a lot in but it was relaxing nonetheless, thanks. I guess having the kids at camp and just doing our own thing helped a lot with that! Where did you head to from Florida? We've been to the Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach area for winter breaks, but the Southeast in general remains mostly unexplored for me, in EV terms.

[@wayne1559]

Thanks Steve!!

[@plugandplayEV]

Thanks for watching!

[@W4rH4wkXX]

looks like a fun trip! 💪 I'm jealous!!!

[@plugandplayEV]

It was a good time, thank you!

[@bradandjamiebrown449]

Enjoyed your video, especially the visit to the Rainy Lake Visitor Center. I'm originally from Int'l Falls and it is a great place to visit. I agree, it is unfortunate there is no DC fast charging or any decent lever 2 chargers in town or even at the Rainy Lake Visitor Center. The only DC Fast charger is across the border in Fort Frances, Canada.

[@plugandplayEV]

Thanks Brandan, it was fun to make and a beautiful place to visit. I think a good bank of L2 charging should be a natural addition to any park/forest visitor center at this point. There are so many activities at many of these locations that a 2-3 hour stop and 50-75 mile range bump are a valuable add for EV drivers.

[@brianriebedriveselectric]

Excellent adventure, you packed a lot into a couple days! Glad you got some backroad time in too even if it was a little messy.😄 Thanks for the shout out(s) and taking the time to meet! Looking forward to the next segment.

[@plugandplayEV]

Thanks Brian, we had a great time in the short window that kiddo camp opened up for us. It was a delight to meet you, Ellie, and Joan in the middle of it! Great picks on the North Shore and I can highly recommend the Voyageurs visit, albeit with a few more days to explore and get out on the lakes. One of the big things to do, in hindsight, is take a boat out to the old Kettle Falls Hotel way up in the northeast of the park...it just takes 5-6 hours of boat travel and requires booking some time in advance, so not something we could do on the fly! Perfect application of my destination charging call out, though... add some L2 chargers at the Rainy Lake center and you'd return to a fully charged EV after a day of letting a boat do the work!

[@tommckinney1489]

Good video, Steve. I like how you show the "numbers" (charging time, miles/kWh, etc).

[@plugandplayEV]

Thanks, Tom! I tried not to lean too hard into the stats side on this one and deliver a few more sights... any numbers I missed on the EV side that you would like to have seen?

[@plugandplayEV]

Bonus stats, breaking out the charging costs by provider (note we're still free on EA, so that was $0 *EDIT* Madison session actually went over our 30 mins, so $1.85 added to the totals below): EVgo (x2) - $34.80 ZEF (x2) - $29.31 ChargePoint - $15.25 EV Connect - $3.86 + ~$25 home charging TOTAL: $110.07 Cost per mile: $0.035

[@Erigion]

Sadly, it looks like EVGo has changed to per kwh billing for all their stations a couple of weeks ago. Not to mention they're adjusting the price by time of date and specific station/areas. It would now cost me $70+ to charge my EV6 from 0-100 at the closest station to me. No more cheap charging for 800v vehicles on their network.

[@plugandplayEV]

Yes, thanks for the update and I guess it was inevitable with such a crazy price gap. That said, the new hardware seems to be very reliable, maximizes the EGMP capabilities, and plans can bring down the price per kWh, so for some drivers it might be worth the extra cost.

[@Erigion]

​@@plugandplayEV Yea, it was too good to last. Speaking of things that probably won't last, I finally used my Bluedot debit card just to test it when EVGo announced the price changes. Brings the cost down to .30/kwh without any extra subscription charges and ignores time-of-day price differences. That flat rate is currently only available at Chargepoints and EVGo stations though. I have my doubts that this company will last but it makes for a good backup plan for the moment.

[@canozturk5451]

Picture perfect locations and a beautifully edited video. Loved watching it, Steve. Can't wait for more in the future. Thanks for all the great work documenting your EV trips.

[@plugandplayEV]

Thank you so much! More coming soon...

[@TheIoniqGuy]

Cool trip, Steve! I’m staying in Two Harbors on the North Shore as we speak. Looks like you had much nicer weather than we have though. Been raining all weekend

[@plugandplayEV]

Oh no, sorry you didn't get the sun! We had the opposite as we left rain and floods behind in New England for (mostly) pleasant weather in the Midwest. What route did you take up there? Looks like the DCFC in Duluth came back online, which I'm sure helps?

[@TheIoniqGuy]

We drove from Minneapolis as my finance is currently living there for her phd residency. No EVs on this trip sadly but it would be a good one no doubt. Very brave of you heading all the way up to voyaguers

[@plugandplayEV]

@@TheIoniqGuy Okay, gotcha. Destination charging is definitely the ticket. Once that's arranged, it pretty much covers any charging deserts until you leave. Have fun and I hope the weather improves for you!

[@eprohoda]

how are things?-super~ nice trip. farewell.

[@plugandplayEV]

Good, thank you!

[@thenetworkarchitectchannel]

Caribou Coffee is the bomb. Voyageures NP looks worth while. I had not heard of it b4 this. Terrific vid. Really enjoyed watching. Like the charging details too. Great content.

[@plugandplayEV]

Thank you, Walter. It's definitely appreciated after watching your long-distance trips and wanting to capture nature/sights, as well as charging hardware! I have to say, the best coffee of our summer goes hands down to Vigilante Coffee in Maryland...ridiculously tasty beans and creative drinks in the shop itself. I'd almost take a trip just to taste it again! In general, I LOVE the Great Lakes states. There's a lot of beauty there, starting in Michigan's western cities, across the Upper Peninsula, and plenty we haven't explored along the Wisconsin shorelines all the way over to Minnesota. And as someone who doesn't care for too much heat, the mild summers make the camping more pleasurable. Winter is a different story, I'm sure, but I'm unlikely to visit during the frigid months! Thanks again for watching (and for keeping us up to date on all things Ultium, Lyriq, and more besides 👍-- p.s. just saw that Harrisonburg EVgo went live yesterday!)

[@thenetworkarchitectchannel]

@@plugandplayEV COFFEE!!!! UP has much to offer. It is home to Ironwood. Plenty of wildlife, Lake Superior white fish, & mackinaw island. For Ultium, they lit nine Pilot/FlyingJ sites two days ago, a real rope-a-dope, in a good way though.

[@plugandplayEV]

@@thenetworkarchitectchannel Ah, I'm being overly parochial and only monitoring sites I've visited... looks like you have another road trip video on your list!

[@thenetworkarchitectchannel]

@@plugandplayEV working on my next half dozen & no room for an Ultium marathon, but in charting out the ones I do have, those Ultium sites will be stops 4 sure. I wana also see the new Mercedes charging hub in Atlanta when it gets juice too. Things r getting real. Stay safe.

[@rayschrab6509]

I live near Milwaukee, but you've done more traveling around Wisconsin and Minnesota than I have. I'm jealous, but picking up ideas on where to charge when I do go. Thanks!

[@plugandplayEV]

Glad it's helpful, thanks for the comment. We have the free charging to get places and love the car for travel, so we're milking that for all it's worth I guess!

[@MrVeeBlog]

Thank you for this very epic video.

[@plugandplayEV]

Thanks, it definitely felt epic up there!

[@dennislyon5412]

Hi Steve - looked like a fun trip, although I sense a bit compressed for all of the driving. Liked the lake views, the wolf exhibit and the large diameter lighthouse. Thanks for the tour! Did you see any of the freighter boats in Superior, WI? There are a dozen or so 1000’ boats that shuttle coal from there to the remaining power plants on the great lakes, among other cargos 9 or 10 months out of the year. Very large beasts for our part of the country. Cheers!

[@plugandplayEV]

Thanks Dennis, yes it was a little in and out but the driving was a part of the vacation, weirdly enough. Lots of sights and sounds as we went along the roads, though it was nice to get out and stroll the various trails when available. I would probably allot at least 10 days for it next time, though! Didn't catch any of the massive coal ships you mention but we were on the homeward sprint by that point, so we didn't linger to see much. I've enjoyed Duluth in the past but the 50kW charger there was looking sketchy on Plugshare, so we chose the more leisurely L2 charges at various North Shore locations to keep us topped up and see those parts instead. I'm always impressed by how much is happening on the Great Lakes... seems like such a peaceful area from many locations on the US side, yet you need only look at the history and industrial maps to see how crucial these waterways can be to the local economy. Always an interesting region with something new to uncover!

[@darrenorange2982]

Well that "trail" was pretty interesting.

[@plugandplayEV]

Interesting in a no cell service and wolves in the distance, I guess... 😳

[@darrenorange2982]

@@plugandplayEV Great location for an EA station then 👻

[@Mrus-jo1rh]

Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii. When you crossed the I-94 bridge into Minnesota, you passed the home located a few miles to the South in Afton, MN where we lived for many years.

[@Mrus-jo1rh]

I wish I had known about this trip in advance. I would have recommended stopping at the North American Bear Center in Ely. It was founded by Lynn Rogers, a Biologist specializing in a long term study of the lives and behavior of Minnesota Black Bears. Years ago, he was featured a a few BBC nature programs.

[@Mrus-jo1rh]

We used to spend a lot of time on the North Shore. It is too bad you didn’t hop up to Grand Marais which is one of our favorite small towns in MN.

[@plugandplayEV]

Thanks, that sounds like another fun spot. We only had a couple of hours to spare and the Wolf Center had charging, so it jumped out on Plugshare! I believe a couple of other locations have been installed in Ely since we visited so it's becoming a bit of an EV hotspot.

[@Mrus-jo1rh]

@@plugandplayEV That does not surprise me. Ely is largely populated by people who, in one way or another, love the unblemished wilderness and the outdoor life, so it seems likely that a transition to EV would occur there. The same thing is happening here on the Big Island of Hawaii where we now live. EVs are very popular even though the charging infrastructure is poor.

[@rexlutgen6361]

That’s the trouble with going to a International Falls if you have to cross the bridge into Canada to get a charge

[@plugandplayEV]

Yeah, not exactly convenient to require a border crossing just to get a fast charge. Destination charging at all of the Voyageurs visitor centers would be a welcome addition to bridge the gap though.

[@skyemalcolm]

Do you link to live SOC data with the I5 somehow? Which methods have you tried and what are the pros and cons?

[@plugandplayEV]

I have done so with OBD2 via Torque Pro on previous trips, but I've found that it's mostly useful for dedicated charging videos. With 15-20 minute stops there's really not much time to monitor the session in detail and film as well, so I typically just use data available from the CPO and the I5. In terms of route planning/SOC monitoring, I briefly liked the ABRP Premium live data integration via Bluetooth. That started to be patchy in terms of connection, though, and more of a faff to reconnect than it was worth. I should revisit, but in general I find that the car's indications are accurate and I typically know where I want to stop, so I don't really *need* the additional data level. It would be more for the deep dive in videos, which is worth pursuing but not always a luxury I have, depending on the trip.

[@skyemalcolm]

@@plugandplayEV interesting! Yeah I guess thinking back to my experiences with a BT ODB2 dongle and linking that to the BT of the phone, using premium ABRP was often in and out. You’d see the blue connection icon but then it would be red for awhile. Then back to blue. Hard to sus out why. Now where I absolutely love the live SOC and Premium ABRP is ironically now with the Tesla Model 3. I use the API cloud access to the Tesla data and log into that as a one time effort. But since then it’s been absolutely rock solid in the ABRP app giving live SOC 24/7. I rely on it for checking Elon’s math, which it turns out is often times wrong. Plus he doesn’t like me giving other networks money for the kWh so if you want to use off brand charging stations and still do trip planning the Tesla Trip Planner in the car becomes useless. ABRP 1, Tesla 0.

[@plugandplayEV]

@@skyemalcolm It will be interesting to see where they go with Rivian pulling the strings. ABRP has always been a solid tool but the UI never filled me with delight. If they can fuse ABRP's data/planning with Rivian's more modern UI, there could be a strong platform there. Rivian connectivity/mapping sucked when I tried it last year, but hopefully they've improved significantly since then.

[@skyemalcolm]

@@plugandplayEV honestly I think it will remain as the tool it is now and indeed get continued improvements to routing and so on. In fact a lot of the routing issues seemed to revolve around it using a particular map source. Now that it’s getting more US use and now that Rivian is a part of things I’m assuming they’d have an easy fix for that.

[@wayne1559]

When charging level 2 at home do you recommend charging to 80%. I have a 2022 chevy bolt luv

[@plugandplayEV]

If possible, yes, somewhere in the 80-90% range gives you a good chunk of mileage but keeps the pack from sitting full. So that's preferable, but if you need the extra miles, don't hesitate to go to 100%. Just try to drive it not long after it's fully charged so it doesn't sit at 100% for an extended time.

[@gabrielpinto9458]

does hyundai give free 2 year of ea charging?

[@plugandplayEV]

Yes, both the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 come with two years complimentary charging (30 minute sessions) on the Electrify America network.

[@japewaltzer]

Can you tell us how much of the trip was wasted on sitting at charging stations?

[@plugandplayEV]

None. We shopped for camping supplies and ate meals while the vehicle charged.

[@japewaltzer]

@@plugandplayEV so you didn’t have to charge? Are you just not going to say? Thanks for the honesty.

[@plugandplayEV]

You used the loaded term "wasted". I'm saying it wasn't time wasted, as we planned necessary activities. Care to adjust your question?

[@plugandplayEV]

We typically charge in 20 mins on trips, overnight at home. How much time do you spend at the gas station every week? Multiply that by 52 and share how much time you waste annually because you can't fuel at home.

[@japewaltzer]

@@plugandplayEVI only have to go to the gas station once every other week. But even taking your 52 times at 5 mins a fuel up I’m at about half the time you spent on your whole trip for a whole year of filling up. You’re retarded buddy. Cope harder. Wait until you trade it and see the real cost of the ownership.