We own EVs. Ask Us Anything.

[Logan]

While I don't disagree with your point, you left off the cost when DCFC:

• 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9 (DCFC at $0.50 per kWh and 3.3 miles/kwh): $15.15

Totally true, you're right.

We've never DCFC'd, so it literally didn't come to mind .

Given, we have under 1000 miles on it so far.

To be blunt, I think if we were on the "open road" on a road trip it would be even worse than that. I'd expect more like 2.5 - 2.9miles/kwh at the highway speeds of 70-80mph (the posted speed limits between here and Utah where we travel every summer).

Using 2.7 miles/kwh the math works out to $18.51 for the Ioniq.

Even with the lower mpg the Tucson gets at those speeds (27-31mpg, at 85mph, with a bike on the back), it is likely it would be cheaper than the Ioniq (looks like ~$14-15, maybe lower as Idaho and UT have cheap gas in comparison to WA).

 

[BeerParty]

Totally true, you're right.

We've never DCFC'd, so it literally didn't come to mind .

I am planning a long road trip starting on Friday (the 10th) so will be doing a lot of DCFC over the next two weeks. That's the only reason it came to mind.

Given, we have under 1000 miles on it so far.

To be blunt, I think if we were on the "open road" on a road trip it would be even worse than that. I'd expect more like 2.5 - 2.9miles/kwh at the highway speeds of 70-80mph (the posted speed limits between here and Utah where we travel every summer).

Using 2.7 miles/kwh the math works out to $18.51 for the Ioniq.

Even with the lower mpg the Tucson gets at those speeds (27-31mpg, at 85mph, with a bike on the back), it is likely it would be cheaper than the Ioniq (looks like ~$14-15, maybe lower as Idaho and UT have cheap gas in comparison to WA).

It would also vary depending on the DCFC costs. While $0.50 per kWh is close to the national average right now, I picked it because it made the math easier . But, considering how little I DCFC, it does not skew the results. The average fuel costs for an EV are much lower than even the most efficient hybrids. But including that number should help ward off the spreaders of FUD.

 

[Logan]

I am planning a long road trip starting on Friday (the 10th) so will be doing a lot of DCFC over the next two weeks. That's the only reason it came to mind.



It would also vary depending on the DCFC costs. While $0.50 per kWh is close to the national average right now, I picked it because it made the math easier . But, considering how little I DCFC, it does not skew the results. The average fuel costs for an EV are much lower than even the most efficient hybrids. But including that number should help ward off the spreaders of FUD.

I lose track here.

What EV do you have, and how big of a trip are you planning?

And what are you using for your planning?

I've got Hyundai Pay setup (which does plug and charge for a few networks, and app compatability with a few others, so its sort of a one stop shop for "probably a majority" of charging things I'm likely to see on the road). And I've been looking at using a better route planner (free version), and plugshare to get a basic idea of things.

My first road trip with mine will be in about a month... but looking at the planning... I won't need to public charge. Its like 100-110 miles one way. And we have 320 miles of range (EPA). ABRP is showing returning home with ~20-30%, depending on what numbers I throw at it for efficiency and temps/etc.

Someday we'll fast charge .

 

[6-ScoutFamily]

I only get 13 mpg in my Wrangler so those numbers look amazing to me!

Yeah I only get about 17 with my Highlander, so this definitely looks good.

 

[BeerParty]

What EV do you have, and how big of a trip are you planning?

And what are you using for your planning?

I have a 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5. I am traveling from Milford, New Hampshire to Biloxi, Mississippi with a stop along the way to pickup family in Belfast, Tennessee. Without including stops that is about 1,500 miles (or about 2,400km) one way.

I use ABRP to plan the trip. Since I still have free Electrify America access, I set up ABRP to plan the route to prioritize the Electrify America stops. The trip includes nine charging stops along the way. I plan stops at hotels that advertise charging, but I don't depend on them. Sometimes their ads are not accurate or the chargers are not available. So I include DCFC chargers near the hotels in the plan.

While I don't have to pay for the DCFC, I get EA emails for each session that includes what the sessions would cost if I did not have the free access. So I know what DCFC will cost me when my free access ends.

 

[J Alynn]

I have a 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5. I am traveling from Milford, New Hampshire to Biloxi, Mississippi with a stop along the way to pickup family in Belfast, Tennessee. Without including stops that is about 1,500 miles (or about 2,400km) one way.

I use ABRP to plan the trip. Since I still have free Electrify America access, I set up ABRP to plan the route to prioritize the Electrify America stops. The trip includes nine charging stops along the way. I plan stops at hotels that advertise charging, but I don't depend on them. Sometimes their ads are not accurate or the chargers are not available. So I include DCFC chargers near the hotels in the plan.

While I don't have to pay for the DCFC, I get EA emails for each session that includes what the sessions would cost if I did not have the free access. So I know what DCFC will cost me when my free access ends.

That’s pretty cool that EA does that to help understand your free use prior to paid use. Very cool

 

[N Wilson]

I had my first DCFC experience on Thursday evening, and I wanted to share how it went. I probably didn't need to DCFC, I was just being extra cautious and conservative, and I kinda just wanted to try it out to get some experience with it.

This week was a busy one for me with several trips to customer sites to do solar assessments, and with only level 1 charging at home and no trip to my office where there is level 2 charging, my battery state of charge was getting a little lower than I would have liked. I got home late Thursday afternoon with about 40% SOC and the truck was showing 111 miles of range. I knew I had another site visit the next day, then I had to drive to my office to pick up some equipment and plug in for a few hours on the level 2 charger. That trip was 59 miles according to Google maps, but it has a number of elevation changes and a few steep hill climbs that I knew would eat up more range than flat driving conditions . I looked at my charging history and saw that an overnight charge was adding about 15% (43 miles) to my battery. Like I said, I probably would have been fine, but there is an outlet mall about 20 minutes from my house that has both Electrify America and Mercedes Benz DCFCs, and a Tesla supercharger at a grocery store right across the street. Plugshare said the EA chargers were 350 kW and $0.64/kwh and the MB ones were 400 kW and $0.40/kWh. I knew the limiting factor on either one would be the truck.

One of my daughters wanted to shop for clothes at the outlets anyway, so we jumped in the Lightning and headed over to the outlets. We got there at 7:30, about half an hour before the stores closed and plugged in at the MB chargers with 40% SOC. I couldn't believe how fast it charged. That's likely me being a newbie, because the fastest it hit was 171 kW which I know is slow compared to some other vehicles, but with my frame of reference (all 1 and a half weeks of it) being level 1 at 1.2 kW or 32 amp level 2 at 5.8 kW, this was insanely fast.

While we were in the store shopping, I kept checking my Ford app and seeing the SOC going up fast. at 8:00 PM the store was closing and my daughter was finishing up trying things on in the dressing room. We made our purchases and got back to the truck to find it was at 86% SOC. I'm still trying to figure out the settings in the Lightning and thought I had set it to limit the charge to 80% but apparently that was only for AC charging and not DC charging so went a little over 80% which I wasn't worried about.

All in all, a very easy and quick experience. The MB chargers looked brand new and were well lit and easy to access.

 

[6-ScoutFamily]

I had my first DCFC experience on Thursday evening, and I wanted to share how it went. I probably didn't need to DCFC, I was just being extra cautious and conservative, and I kinda just wanted to try it out to get some experience with it.

This week was a busy one for me with several trips to customer sites to do solar assessments, and with only level 1 charging at home and no trip to my office where there is level 2 charging, my battery state of charge was getting a little lower than I would have liked. I got home late Thursday afternoon with about 40% SOC and the truck was showing 111 miles of range. I knew I had another site visit the next day, then I had to drive to my office to pick up some equipment and plug in for a few hours on the level 2 charger. That trip was 59 miles according to Google maps, but it has a number of elevation changes and a few steep hill climbs that I knew would eat up more range than flat driving conditions . I looked at my charging history and saw that an overnight charge was adding about 15% (43 miles) to my battery. Like I said, I probably would have been fine, but there is an outlet mall about 20 minutes from my house that has both Electrify America and Mercedes Benz DCFCs, and a Tesla supercharger at a grocery store right across the street. Plugshare said the EA chargers were 350 kW and $0.64/kwh and the MB ones were 400 kW and $0.40/kWh. I knew the limiting factor on either one would be the truck.

One of my daughters wanted to shop for clothes at the outlets anyway, so we jumped in the Lightning and headed over to the outlets. We got there at 7:30, about half an hour before the stores closed and plugged in at the MB chargers with 40% SOC. I couldn't believe how fast it charged. That's likely me being a newbie, because the fastest it hit was 171 kW which I know is slow compared to some other vehicles, but with my frame of reference (all 1 and a half weeks of it) being level 1 at 1.2 kW or 32 amp level 2 at 5.8 kW, this was insanely fast.

While we were in the store shopping, I kept checking my Ford app and seeing the SOC going up fast. at 8:00 PM the store was closing and my daughter was finishing up trying things on in the dressing room. We made our purchases and got back to the truck to find it was at 86% SOC. I'm still trying to figure out the settings in the Lightning and thought I had set it to limit the charge to 80% but apparently that was only for AC charging and not DC charging so went a little over 80% which I wasn't worried about.

All in all, a very easy and quick experience. The MB chargers looked brand new and were well lit and easy to access.

View attachment 9914
View attachment 9915

We’re you able to use plug and charge or did you have to use a membership setup of some kind?

 

[cyure]

We’re you able to use plug and charge or did you have to use a membership setup of some kind?

Is it a different app for each kind of charger or can you just pay with a credit card?

 

[J Alynn]

I had my first DCFC experience on Thursday evening, and I wanted to share how it went. I probably didn't need to DCFC, I was just being extra cautious and conservative, and I kinda just wanted to try it out to get some experience with it.

This week was a busy one for me with several trips to customer sites to do solar assessments, and with only level 1 charging at home and no trip to my office where there is level 2 charging, my battery state of charge was getting a little lower than I would have liked. I got home late Thursday afternoon with about 40% SOC and the truck was showing 111 miles of range. I knew I had another site visit the next day, then I had to drive to my office to pick up some equipment and plug in for a few hours on the level 2 charger. That trip was 59 miles according to Google maps, but it has a number of elevation changes and a few steep hill climbs that I knew would eat up more range than flat driving conditions . I looked at my charging history and saw that an overnight charge was adding about 15% (43 miles) to my battery. Like I said, I probably would have been fine, but there is an outlet mall about 20 minutes from my house that has both Electrify America and Mercedes Benz DCFCs, and a Tesla supercharger at a grocery store right across the street. Plugshare said the EA chargers were 350 kW and $0.64/kwh and the MB ones were 400 kW and $0.40/kWh. I knew the limiting factor on either one would be the truck.

One of my daughters wanted to shop for clothes at the outlets anyway, so we jumped in the Lightning and headed over to the outlets. We got there at 7:30, about half an hour before the stores closed and plugged in at the MB chargers with 40% SOC. I couldn't believe how fast it charged. That's likely me being a newbie, because the fastest it hit was 171 kW which I know is slow compared to some other vehicles, but with my frame of reference (all 1 and a half weeks of it) being level 1 at 1.2 kW or 32 amp level 2 at 5.8 kW, this was insanely fast.

While we were in the store shopping, I kept checking my Ford app and seeing the SOC going up fast. at 8:00 PM the store was closing and my daughter was finishing up trying things on in the dressing room. We made our purchases and got back to the truck to find it was at 86% SOC. I'm still trying to figure out the settings in the Lightning and thought I had set it to limit the charge to 80% but apparently that was only for AC charging and not DC charging so went a little over 80% which I wasn't worried about.

All in all, a very easy and quick experience. The MB chargers looked brand new and were well lit and easy to access.

View attachment 9914
View attachment 9915

That’s for sharing that experience

 

[N Wilson]

We’re you able to use plug and charge or did you have to use a membership setup of some kind?

I think only Mercedes vehicles can use plug and charge at the MB chargers, but they have a credit card payment option, which is what I used. Super easy. Just tap my card and it started charging.

@cyure this should answer your question too.

 

[6-ScoutFamily]

This is something I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around. Not all dispensers have credit card readers so how do you know which chargers/networks can take payment at the “pump”?

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

This is something I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around. Not all dispensers have credit card readers so how do you know which chargers/networks can take payment at the “pump”?

Most chargers have a credit card or NFC reader at the charger. Those that don’t will have an app requirement. When I travel to a new part of the country, I often have to install yet another app or two to use a charger that is part of a regional network.

Part of NEVI was to require that any charger being installed with NEVI funds have a credit card reader at the charger. I believe that unfortunately that was watered down.

 

[N Wilson]

This is something I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around. Not all dispensers have credit card readers so how do you know which chargers/networks can take payment at the “pump”?

Plugshare has info about the chargers and it said that these ones have a card reader. I also knew that the EA ones in the same parking lot have credit card payment option, so I knew I could use those if the MB ones didn't have a credit card option.

 

[6-ScoutFamily]

But how do you know ahead of time when planning a route? ABRP & Plug Share aren’t obvious in this matter.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

The Mercedes Benz chargers are part of the Blue Oval network, but the only subnets within the Blue Oval network that support Plug & Charge are Tesla and Electrify America.

 

[6-ScoutFamily]

So you have to pay for account set up?

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

But how do you know ahead of time when planning a route? ABRP & Plug Share aren’t obvious in this matter.

Oh. I don’t worry about it. Most of the time I don’t plan my charging stops until no earlier than when I’m about the leave the charger I’ve just used.

 

[N Wilson]

But how do you know ahead of time when planning a route? ABRP & Plug Share aren’t obvious in this matter.

In Plugshare, there is a description of the chargers, and if you click the word more at the bottom of the short description, it brings up the payment methods and other info I showed a screenshot of. But you do have to click that more button to expand the description.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

So you have to pay for account set up?

No.
Most charging networks do require a free account if you use their app.
Some charging networks have a minimum balance scam ($5 or $10, usually) to use their app, which is annoying. I think that will eventually go away.