First Time EV Owner: Live experience report

[dreamweaver]

Thanks .

Its been a bit of an adventure, as this was a big decision for us. Saying I belabored it might be understating things.

I hear you on the numbers/the cost. For us this was right on the edge of what we can afford. Well, without dipping into more significant savings or cutting savings for the future (like we wanted to make sure we can still fund the years IRA's, etc).

The difference is that we were pretty sure that we'd be needing/wanting vehicles with more space in the next few years, and this seemed like the best time available to do that. As almost no matter what, it seems like vehicle prices will be up in 2-3 years (Tax credit being gone by EOM is an automatic $7500 price increase, then the general tariff/inflation issues). And we got ours for about the same as/less than many of the other comparable vehicles (even compared to lightly used ones in many situations).

Ironically, the "living" with the vehicle part is probably the least difficult part so far. If you're in the habit of recharging a PHEV, the EV is no different. And we used the PHEV like an EV, and were sometimes charging it 2-3 full times per day, so we've got that habit.

For the first week we sometimes didn't charge it in for a day or few. But I think that is because we have some range anxiety/unfamiliarity. So every day starting with a baseline of 80%, seems to help with that.

I think the lowest we've been down to in a day was ~58% charge. And that day we did ~90 miles or so.

Oh, and we're consistently seeing a smidge over 400 miles of range projected for a full charge (322 miles of range shown at 80%). Not bad for something that is supposed to do 320 miles of range.

Thank you for the latest episode of your EV journey. It is appreciated. Makes me feel better about my Traveler EV reservation.

 

[J Alynn]

Thank you for the latest episode of your EV journey. It is appreciated. Makes me feel better about my Traveler EV reservation.

Same here. The more real world stories the more my mind eases over BEV

 

[Logan]

Same here. The more real world stories the more my mind eases over BEV

Thank you for the latest episode of your EV journey. It is appreciated. Makes me feel better about my Traveler EV reservation.

Glad its helping, even though I don't know if I had a goal in this, other than I guess sharing the process because others asked.

Although, TBH, it doesn't feel like I've shared anything illuminating yet, as everything has been pretty uneventful (ie, everything has worked well, other than I've got a paint defect that has to be fixed at some point).

But... maybe that in and of itself is the "point"?

Also, apparently my wife, and my buddies wife (the family with a near identical Ioniq 9) talked on the phone today and were talking about their likes/dislikes of the vehicles.

And the TLDR was that they haven't missed their old van yet (2014 Odyssey). The storage space in the back is quite a bit smaller... but, still totally livable. And, somewhat surprisingly for a family who hadn't had their toes in the PHEV space like we did... they seem to be taking to it just fine. Their wife said she really likes how it drives, and loves how much they're saving in gas (About $60-90 a week, driving ~350-400 miles a week shuttling 3 kids to and from all the things, coming from a ~21mpg minivan).

And actually, my buddy is noticing it too. He previously joked with me about why I didn't drive my Jeep all that much anymore, as I'd take my PHEV Tucson anytime the family wasn't using it. Now he gets it. Its hard to justify driving the other vehicle unless needed, simply because of the cost savings.

For reference, driving to my local mountain biking spot is ~22 miles round trip. In my Jeep, thats like $7-8 in gas (12-15mpg, $4.50/gallon...). In his truck, its like $4.50.

In my Tucson its like $0.93. In our Ioniqs, its like $0.65.

 

[6-ScoutFamily]

…
Although, TBH, it doesn't feel like I've shared anything illuminating yet, as everything has been pretty uneventful (ie, everything has worked well, other than I've got a paint defect that has to be fixed at some point).

But... maybe that in and of itself is the "point"?
…
For reference, driving to my local mountain biking spot is ~22 miles round trip. In my Jeep, thats like $7-8 in gas (12-15mpg, $4.50/gallon...). In his truck, its like $4.50.

In my Tucson its like $0.93. In our Ioniqs, its like $0.65.

That absolutely is the point, and it’s hard to argue with that math. Thank you for sharing your experiences.

 

[dreamweaver]

Glad its helping, even though I don't know if I had a goal in this, other than I guess sharing the process because others asked.

Although, TBH, it doesn't feel like I've shared anything illuminating yet, as everything has been pretty uneventful (ie, everything has worked well, other than I've got a paint defect that has to be fixed at some point).

But... maybe that in and of itself is the "point"?

Also, apparently my wife, and my buddies wife (the family with a near identical Ioniq 9) talked on the phone today and were talking about their likes/dislikes of the vehicles.

And the TLDR was that they haven't missed their old van yet (2014 Odyssey). The storage space in the back is quite a bit smaller... but, still totally livable. And, somewhat surprisingly for a family who hadn't had their toes in the PHEV space like we did... they seem to be taking to it just fine. Their wife said she really likes how it drives, and loves how much they're saving in gas (About $60-90 a week, driving ~350-400 miles a week shuttling 3 kids to and from all the things, coming from a ~21mpg minivan).

And actually, my buddy is noticing it too. He previously joked with me about why I didn't drive my Jeep all that much anymore, as I'd take my PHEV Tucson anytime the family wasn't using it. Now he gets it. Its hard to justify driving the other vehicle unless needed, simply because of the cost savings.

For reference, driving to my local mountain biking spot is ~22 miles round trip. In my Jeep, thats like $7-8 in gas (12-15mpg, $4.50/gallon...). In his truck, its like $4.50.

In my Tucson its like $0.93. In our Ioniqs, its like $0.65.

These EV journeys stories let people know that EV's are not these scary unknown driving machines that are going to disrupt their lives. They are vehicles with benefits that easily replace ICE vehicles and enhance their lives while while spending less to get where they need to go daily. Thank you.

 

[cyure]

These EV journeys stories let people know that EV's are not these scary unknown driving machines that are going to disrupt their lives. They are vehicles with benefits that easily replace ICE vehicles and enhance their lives while while spending less to get where they need to go daily. Thank you.

More and more everyday I keep thinking just do it. Just get the Bev and jump in both feet. I just made appointments for oil changes for our vehicles and the oil change on a Supra is $250. Just for the oil change. It would be nice not to have to worry about that stuff.

 

[dreamweaver]

More and more everyday I keep thinking just do it. Just get the Bev and jump in both feet. I just made appointments for oil changes for our vehicles and the oil change on a Supra is $250. Just for the oil change. It would be nice not to have to worry about that stuff.

Those are some of the many benefits an EV provides. That's why I called EV's vehicles with benefits.

 

[Cranky Canuck]

Thanks .

Its been a bit of an adventure, as this was a big decision for us. Saying I belabored it might be understating things.

I hear you on the numbers/the cost. For us this was right on the edge of what we can afford. Well, without dipping into more significant savings or cutting savings for the future (like we wanted to make sure we can still fund the years IRA's, etc).

The difference is that we were pretty sure that we'd be needing/wanting vehicles with more space in the next few years, and this seemed like the best time available to do that. As almost no matter what, it seems like vehicle prices will be up in 2-3 years (Tax credit being gone by EOM is an automatic $7500 price increase, then the general tariff/inflation issues). And we got ours for about the same as/less than many of the other comparable vehicles (even compared to lightly used ones in many situations).

Ironically, the "living" with the vehicle part is probably the least difficult part so far. If you're in the habit of recharging a PHEV, the EV is no different. And we used the PHEV like an EV, and were sometimes charging it 2-3 full times per day, so we've got that habit.

For the first week we sometimes didn't charge it in for a day or few. But I think that is because we have some range anxiety/unfamiliarity. So every day starting with a baseline of 80%, seems to help with that.

I think the lowest we've been down to in a day was ~58% charge. And that day we did ~90 miles or so.

Oh, and we're consistently seeing a smidge over 400 miles of range projected for a full charge (322 miles of range shown at 80%). Not bad for something that is supposed to do 320 miles of range.

Yeah I've found Hyundai's in particular to be very good about EV range. The company tends to under-promise and over-deliver which is what you want. I see their quoted range as kind of a 'worst case' range (ie middle of a cold winter day for example). I started out like you did being conservative about charging but over time I've found I only need to charge the car once a week or so depending on how much I drive. I usually charge it when it gets down to 30% or so.

A word of advice from a long-time Hyundai EV owner, make sure to charge it when it goes down to 20% or lower. 20% is the cutoff for when it the vehicle stops keeping the 12V topped up so as long as you don't leave it for extended periods below 20% you shouldn't have any 12V battery drain issues.

The range anxiety will also go away quickly, especially after you've done your first road trip somewhere and realise that it's not a big deal at all and that there's charging infrastructure pretty much everywhere you need it.

My 2022 Ioniq 5 is still showing 100% battery health after three years (using a car scanner app that can interrogate the BMS) so it looks like Hyundai has done well in the battery engineering department as well which I would expect given they're on their third generation EV platform now.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Yeah I've found Hyundai's in particular to be very good about EV range. The company tends to under-promise and over-deliver which is what you want. I see their quoted range as kind of a 'worst case' range (ie middle of a cold winter day for example). I started out like you did being conservative about charging but over time I've found I only need to charge the car once a week or so depending on how much I drive. I usually charge it when it gets down to 30% or so.

A word of advice from a long-time Hyundai EV owner, make sure to charge it when it goes down to 20% or lower. 20% is the cutoff for when it the vehicle stops keeping the 12V topped up so as long as you don't leave it for extended periods below 20% you shouldn't have any 12V battery drain issues.

The range anxiety will also go away quickly, especially after you've done your first road trip somewhere and realise that it's not a big deal at all and that there's charging infrastructure pretty much everywhere you need it.

My 2022 Ioniq 5 is still showing 100% battery health after three years (using a car scanner app that can interrogate the BMS) so it looks like Hyundai has done well in the battery engineering department as well which I would expect given they're on their third generation EV platform now.

I would recommend plugging in whenever possible and stick to the ABC (always be charging) philosophy. Small, short recharge events are better for the battery long term health. It also makes emergency trips easier because your vehicle is always near the charge level you have set.

That said, it's also good to run the charge down to <10% without charging and then up to 100% without driving every once in a while (once a year or so) so the battery management system gets a reset in knowing the charge on the battery. Over time the charge controller loses track of the charge the battery has used and received.

 

[dreamweaver]

I would recommend plugging in whenever possible and stick to the ABC (always be charging) philosophy. Small, short recharge events are better for the battery long term health. It also makes emergency trips easier because your vehicle is always near the charge level you have set.

That said, it's also good to run the charge down to <10% without charging and then up to 100% without driving every once in a while (once a year or so) so the battery management system gets a reset in knowing the charge on the battery. Over time the charge controller loses track of the exact number about of charge the battery has used and received.

Good tip Thanks.

 

[Cranky Canuck]

I would recommend plugging in whenever possible and stick to the ABC (always be charging) philosophy. Small, short recharge events are better for the battery long term health. It also makes emergency trips easier because your vehicle is always near the charge level you have set.

That said, it's also good to run the charge down to <10% without charging and then up to 100% without driving every once in a while (once a year or so) so the battery management system gets a reset in knowing the charge on the battery. Over time the charge controller loses track of the exact number about of charge the battery has used and received.

Hyundai recommends charging up to 100% once a month to help the BMS balance the battery.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Hyundai recommends charging up to 100% once a month to help the BMS balance the battery.

That’s a good recommendation. I do road trips so often that we charge at least one of our cars to 100% at least once a month just for that reason.

 

[dreamweaver]

Yeah I've found Hyundai's in particular to be very good about EV range. The company tends to under-promise and over-deliver which is what you want. I see their quoted range as kind of a 'worst case' range (ie middle of a cold winter day for example). I started out like you did being conservative about charging but over time I've found I only need to charge the car once a week or so depending on how much I drive. I usually charge it when it gets down to 30% or so.

A word of advice from a long-time Hyundai EV owner, make sure to charge it when it goes down to 20% or lower. 20% is the cutoff for when it the vehicle stops keeping the 12V topped up so as long as you don't leave it for extended periods below 20% you shouldn't have any 12V battery drain issues.

The range anxiety will also go away quickly, especially after you've done your first road trip somewhere and realise that it's not a big deal at all and that there's charging infrastructure pretty much everywhere you need it.

My 2022 Ioniq 5 is still showing 100% battery health after three years (using a car scanner app that can interrogate the BMS) so it looks like Hyundai has done well in the battery engineering department as well which I would expect given they're on their third generation EV platform now.

Upgrades and updates can sometimes be a step back rather than forward. Good to hear they are at least neutral with the new generation of platforms battery engineering.

 

[Chavannigans]

I have never driven an EV using OPD. I am willing to try as long as they get the regen/braking smooth but useful. Everyone tells me it is just like the old golf carts, unfortunately, I am not a golfer; never was. And my wife's fancy golf cart is a two pedal affair. We shall see.

I drive golf carts daily at the University.

On some carts, it will begin braking when you take your foot off the go pedal.

We have 3 Club Cars and a Yamaha. All of them are electric.

Our local cart repair contractor removed all of their speed limiters and maxed out our one pedal braking.

Her cart may have the ability, but it may not be enabled.