Hyundai Ioniq 5 helps to prove long-distance EV journeys are possible

Testing electric cars around my hometown of Milan got me to wonder whether an EV could handle one of the longest trips I make: to Paris and back.

I had done the trip, which is 850 km (530 miles) each way, about a half dozen time using a combustion driven car, so I had familiarity with the route.

Plus, I wanted to spend one day in the Paris area exploring before returning home.

I decided my test vehicle needed to have at least 400 km of range on a full charge, a smooth ride and comfortable seats. The choice for the journey was a 2021 Hyundai Ioniq 5.

The bright side

The results of the first leg of the trip were very encouraging. We left Milan at 8:20 a.m. on a Monday morning and drove the 858 km to Paris in approximately 11 hours and 50 minutes.

That included a 30-minute traffic jam getting into the Mont Blanc tunnel that connects Italy and France and nearly one hour battling heavy traffic to enter Paris.

By comparison, at the legal maximum highway speeds in Italy and France of 130 kph (81 mph), it had never taken me less than 10 hours in a combustion car -- even under ideal conditions -- to make the trip including stops.

One major difference in an EV is that you have to drive a bit slower. I kept my cruising speed at 110 kph (69 mph), which kept energy consumption between 19 and 20 kilowatt hours per 100 km (5 km per kWh). Going 130 kph, which I did during the return trip to see how this would impact range, increased consumption 20 percent to 23.5 kWh per 100 km.

The ultimate key, however, to smooth long-range trips with an EV is the availability of fast chargers. Hyundai offers its customers a “Charge my Hyundai” package with access to various networks including Ionity – a consortium that includes the Korean automaker as well as Ford Motor, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Group.

The Ionity network has eight fast charger stations on the direct motorway link between Milan and Paris. We used one in Italy and two in France. At each station nearly every charging point was available.

Charging was very quick because of Ionity 350-kilowatt chargers and the Ioniq 5’s 800-volt electric architecture. I had charging speeds of more than 200 kW in a matter of seconds.

As a result, I increased the battery to 81 percent from 48 percent in 12 minutes at one stop and to 90 percent from 30 percent in 22 minutes at another. Those charging time were significantly less than what we needed for restroom stop, a coffee or a snack.

City and countryside

When in Paris, we topped up the battery using the city’s network of low-speed AC chargers, which were installed in late 2011 for the car-sharing service Autolib. After that service was discontinued in 2018, the Total state oil company won a contract in 2020 to renovate and extend the network.

Charging tariffs are calculated by time instead of kWh. Prices vary according to the location, type of contract and charging speed (3.7 to 22 kWh). For three different recharges we paid 34 to 48 euro cents per kWh.

During our stay we had a one-day, 300-km test on suburban highways and country roads around Paris. Thanks to the lower speeds, higher energy recuperation and limited use of the air conditioner, energy consumption was down to 15 kWh/100 km or 6.2 kms per kWh. This aligns with the car’s promised 450 km of range with a full battery charge.

A hellacious return

The return trip took four hours longer and more stressful because of operator error (my planning mistakes) and a malfunctioning charger.

Here is when things when wrong. During my second stop on the way home the Ionity charger worked at a top speed of 60 kW instead of the 200-plus kW I had at the other station.

Therefore, I decided to end the charge at only 53 percent instead increasing the battery to 80 to 90 percent as I had at previous stops. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough power to reach the next Ionity fast charger.

That forced me to stop at an AVIA station in Valleiry, southeast France, where a 43-kW charger was available. Although I didn’t have a subscription, I managed to start the charge with my credit card. But after a couple of minutes, I realized that no juice was being added. I called the help desk and was told they “had received similar complaints about that charger.” It was time to start searching for another charger.

The next charger worked, unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to stop the charge without calling another help desk to have them shut it off remotely. At least the battery was sufficiently replenished.

Sadly, the multiple delays mean I wouldn’t reach the Mont Blanc tunnel before a scheduled  closing for maintenance at 7:30 p.m.

That meant a detour through Switzerland, adding more time to the trip.

Luckily just one more charge was needed. Using a 350-kW Ionity charger, I refilled the battery to 90 percent from 8 percent in 28 minutes.

Pleasant performance

The Ioniq 5, with its quiet ride, spacious cabin and comfortable seats, proved to be a pleasant long-distance cruiser. The 4.6 meter long, 1.89-meter wide Ioniq 5 was also quite efficient in its energy use despite weighing more than 2 metric tons. According to the car’s on-board computer, the average consumption was 17.4 kWh per 100 km, or 5.74 km (3.6 miles) per kWh.

The 2021 model we tested had a 72.6 kW battery. Because it had four-wheel drive and 20-inch wheels, the WLTP range was 430 km. A two-wheel drive Ioniq 5 with 19-inch wheels would reach 480 km, according to the company.

The 2022 Ioniq 5 has a 77.4-kW battery with a top range of 507 kms. The availability of a heat pump helps limit the range loss when using the air conditioner to a few percentage points.

The car has three drive modes: Eco, Normal and Sport. I use Normal mode most. I briefly test Sport mode to experience the car’s lightning-fast acceleration. I also spent a bit of time in Eco mode to add a few kilometers to the range.

Thanks to the regenerative braking, both the 1,395 m Mont Blanc tunnel and the 2,005 meter Simplon pass did not cut into the range. The key was to make sure the battery had enough juice to handle the high consumption when traveling uphill (27.7 kWh/100 km on the Mont Blanc ascent). A lot of that energy was recovered via braking during the descent.

The bottom line

The test proved EV can complete long trips, but this requires very careful planning. Here are the reasons why:

• High-speed chargers are not widely available in northern Italy and France.
• It is unacceptable for a station to have just one charger, as was the case at the Valleiry station, and even worse when that charger is broken. At the very least customers should be informed of the problem before pulling up.
• There needs to be a reliable Europewide resource that provide information on the availability of chargers in each country.
• The EU should make it a priority to create a a system to facilitate Europewide charging.

I also have these two pieces of hard-earned advice:

1. Don’t cut charges short. Saving 10 minutes now can cost you one hour later.
2. Have the largest possible number of apps/charging cards with you whenever you travel. They are a priceless commodity when you encounter “surprises” during your travels.