Road Tripping in a Hyundai Ioniq Electric: Range Anxiety Strikes
By Linda Beckemeyer – June 22, 2021
After shopping for a Hyundai Kona Electric and realizing that it was slightly smaller than the Hyundai Ioniq Electric (which was smaller yet from the Hyundai Elantra ICE vehicle we were replacing), we opted to purchase a 2020 Hyundai Ioniq. The Tesla Model 3, while great, was not within our budget. So with a starting price in the mid-to-low $30,000s, the Ioniq was a perfect fit for us. What we had never really considered before going EV, however, was range.
Moving to an EV was a relatively simple decision. Financially, there were a lot of federal and state incentives to purchase an EV. And while the Hyundai Ioniq Electric charges comparatively slow at DC fast chargers, being retired, we have lots of time on our hands to sit at charging stations. In addition, we paid off our home solar system, so knowing that we don’t drive much on a daily basis, charging with the sun would be free and fit our lifestyle perfectly.
Then we took our first road trip and encountered a near crisis heading from California’s Bay Area to Southern California as we nearly ran out of charge along a desert road on 395.
Visualize miles and miles of nothingness – there’s not even a regular gas station. We got to 6% state of charge when we finally pulled into Coso Junction, Calif.
For our trip, A Better Routeplanner had us heading north on the South Lake Tahoe Route, passing by Mammoth Lake to Bakersfield to Santa Ana. We had plans for staying overnight in Mammoth Lake to see the resort area and stopping once more for the night in Bakersfield to try Basque food. Like I said, we’re retired, so we have time to enjoy the journey.
Yet as we were cruising at 6% battery with our destination seemingly getting further out of reach, the realization hit that had we known range was such an issue, we would have paid extra for the Kona or the Model 3.
The fact is, there still are not enough chargers in many places in our country. And we were in one of those places.
Finding a charging location for electric cars is rarely an issue in town. But in deserted areas, shorter-range EVs can become problematic. (Image courtesy Hyundai)
Our charging mistake was not charging to 90%, which was what the route planner said to do on the stop before Coso. Instead, we disconnected at 80% state of charge because for the distance we thought we were OK – we weren’t. Other mistakes included running the air conditioning and driving 70 mph.
Two problems arose even before we left home when we realized we couldn’t go through Yosemite route 120 because the road was closed due to snow. As there were no chargers on other routes to get across to 395, we had to go the long route to South Lake Tahoe. The views were beautiful, but it took us miles upon miles out of our way.
The next problem was Mammoth Lake had about 12 beautiful shiny Tesla chargers in the city’s park and ride. The only non-Tesla chargers were in hotel locked parking garages. One hotel let us charge, but another car was charging on their single non-Tesla charger. All the hotels with chargers had more expensive room rates than what we had budgeted, and there was not a single non-Tesla, non-hotel charging station in town.
Our next road trip will involve a 600-mile jaunt from the Bay Area to Boise, Idaho, which his quite a hike for our Hyundai Ioniq Electric and its 173-mile range.
The first issue of note is that what would be a one-day drive in an ICE vehicle will require an overnight stay due to range and charging time. Not a problem, we’re retired. The second problem, though, is less surmountable as according to A Better Routeplanner, we’re facing a 173-mile stretch from McDermitt, Nev., to Nampa, Idaho, where we will likely run out of juice.
This is where having a car like the Model 3 or the Kona with a longer battery range would make this trip work. That said, there is a workaround: There is an RV park that will let us use their electrical current for two hours for $20. They evidently have gotten these calls before as they said a lot of people charge there despite it not being an EV charging station. We also have a portable JuiceBox 40 which we are bringing for this RV stop between our night in Winnemucca and Boise.
Despite the planning, facing this trip is rather stressful.
Tools like A Better Routeplanner can be essential for those road-tripping an EV.
In the movie Rain Man there is a scene where Charlie demands from Raymond that they have to see Jeopardy, so they knock on a farmhouse door to watch the show. I envision us knocking on a farmhouse door with our 110-volt Level 1 charger in hand. But thinking back to our first road trip along 395 and the near-dead battery, that road contained only abandoned houses and no cell phone service.
Having the Hyundai Ioniq has resulted in range anxiety on longer trips – and the fact is, we had not known this would be the case when we bought the car. In the future, we may need to fly to see my daughter in Boise instead of driving. Meanwhile, the next trip to Southern California will be OK as we will be able to take the route that has the California Corridor EV Charging Infrastructure, although the trip may require an overnight stay due to charging time.
One addition to our travel bag is a TeslaTap converter to use Tesla Destination chargers. With it, we could have charged in that Mammoth hotel garage that let us in during that first trip – and Tesla Destination chargers are fairly common. Being able to use Tesla Destination chargers has the potential to be a game changer on these trips.
Products like TeslaTap can be a game changer when traveling long distances with a non-Tesla EV.
Once we left the comfort of our daily routine and hit the freeway, range and charging anxiety became all too real, and a bit stressful. Yes, we’re very happy with our Hyundai Ioniq and its 173 miles of range, but had we known the realities of road tripping, our first EV might have looked a little different.
(Main image courtesy Hyundai)
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