Brad drives a Hyundai IONIQ 5 Premium RWD 73kWh 2021 electric car.

This is Brad’s first electric car, he’s owned the Hyundai IONIQ 5 from new and drives 10,000-15,000 miles annually. The current mileage of the car is between 10,000-20,000 miles and he achieves 255 miles range from a full charge.

Why did you choose the Hyundai IONQ 5?

• Size: I needed a family car to replace an aged Subaru Outback, with space for 2 adults and 2 teenagers and all the outdoor gear.
• Range: As with all first-time EV buyers I was anxious about range and wanted a car that could easily accommodate day trips in Scotland (to go orienteering, walking etc.) where I was worried about charger availability, as well as longer trips to visit family, go abroad etc. The RWD Hyundai IONIQ 5 has a headline range of 288 miles, which sounded good enough!
• Style: I tested several cars before the IONIQ 5 and was instantly taken by its unique looks and fabulous, spacious interior.
• Handling: Coming from a Golf GTi, I was expecting to be disappointed by any EV but was impressed by how well suited the IONIQ 5’s soft but steady ride complemented the power delivery.

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Positives – List 3 or more reasons why you love this electric car

• Interior: I love how roomy the car is and how versatile it has been for a family of four with various amounts of kit – movable back seats, etc. I’m also very happy with the tech level on the Premium model.
• Driving: it really is a lovely car to drive. Plenty enough poke in the RWD, even coming from a Mk7 Golf GTi.
• Performance – a serene, relaxing experience. It’s not a taut handler but that wasn’t what I was looking for.
• Style: it still makes me smile every time I look at it.

Negatives – List 3 or more things that you really don’t like about this electric car

• Rear wiper: or, rather, the lack of one. When the window gets dirty, it’s opaque. I know that loads of people say “just use your wing mirrors, like a van” but I bought a car, not a van, and not being able to see through that rear window on a wet, mucky day is a safety hazard.
• Poor charging speed in winter: the car charges like a boss (thanks Teslabjorn) in summer but trips in winter need much longer stops. A battery heater should be standard kit on any EV sold in the UK.
• Lane Keeping Assist/Assisted Driving: I find it intrusive and, most importantly, unreliable. Whether it’s bad camera adjustment or just poor software, the LKA can jerk the wheel unexpectedly, the car is not consistently placed between in a lane (sometime worrying right up to one edge) and it wanders with frequent micro-corrections, which can leave you feeling a bit seasick. A friend’s e-Niro does it much better. I just don’t use it.

Have you experienced any faults with the car? If so, what have they been?

Thankfully I’ve been trouble free. Once I had to reset the infotainment system when the nav went haywire after an update, but that’s it. Very solid.

What are the standout technological features of your Hyundai IONIQ 5?

Rapid charging (in the right conditions!) is a game-changer on longer trips. It makes a huge difference to overall journey time as you become the limiting factor that sets the duration of the stay, not the car.

Surprise us! Tell us something people wouldn’t readily know about this electric car 

The glovebox is a sliding drawer, which makes access so much easier, why doesn’t everyone do this? The sliding rear seats make for a huge boot when required. And they can also be reclined which the kids will make great use of when we’re driving home from Liverpool airport to Scotland from 2am in October!

What electric car(s) are you interested in next and why?

When we are looking to replace our second car, I am keen to go EV for that too. The soon-to-be-released MG4 looks like it could be a great option.

Home charging unit – outline both positive & negative elements

We have a Wallbox Pulsar Plus. It’s a neat unit with a decent enough app interface but I can’t get it to hold a connection to the home Wi-Fi, despite having a decent signal. It drops after a few hours and will only connect after a reboot. I tried updating the software but then it didn’t work properly at all, so I’ve downgraded and am sticking with the flaws!

The scheduled charging did work when I tried it, although I tend to use the car’s schedule now. We are hoping to get solar panels installed soon, when I can get someone (anyone?!) to do it and I’m not sure if this charger will work seamlessly with them like the zappi does.

Electricity supplier & tariff – outline both positive & negative elements

I am on Octopus Go, which has been great with 4 hours of very well-priced electricity overnight but with a day rate that was surprisingly competitive, too. I would like to try one of their smarter tariffs where I could take advantage of super-cheap electricity during times of oversupply but my car & charger aren’t currently supported. I honestly don’t have a bad thing to say about them; I’m very happy.

What public charging networks would you recommend to others and why?

So far I’ve had a mostly positive experience. I’ve rarely had to wait for a charger, touch wood, and have only once been totally thwarted by a Pod Point charger at a Tesco store, where it simply refused to initiate a charge through the app. I’ve been hugely impressed by MFG’s sites, particularly Crow Orchard, lots of chargers and all working at good speeds.

IONITY has been more of a mixed experience, both with accessibility and charging speed. Gretna Green is poorly designed and often with poor speeds but it is one that I’ve used a lot due to its location. I do still find the need to have multiple apps and accounts frustrating and that would put my wife off taking the car on a long journey by herself. That’s where Tesla have it nailed. Even finding the chargers isn’t perfect, no one app has all of them listed.

Insurer – outline both positive & negative elements

I haven’t gone for an EV-specific insurer but stayed with my existing one, Churchill, when I switched. It seems to cover most things and was reasonably priced, although I am interested with some of the more EV-aware insurers like LV and will research them more when I renew.

Itemise how much money you’re saving each month owning & running your Hyundai IONIQ 5

£300

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