Anthony Hibbs drove north to Northumberland & Cumbria in his Hyundai IONIQ 5 Premium 73kWh RWD 2022.

Introducing your road trip

This was my first long, multiple charge journey in my IONIQ 5. Only 540 miles over 3 days but a landmark trip for me. This was the first trip requiring public charging where I’d only planned a primary charging stop, no backup!

We set off on a slightly circuitous route from Newcastle-under-Lyme to Keilder in Northumberland, stopping off at Kendal and Burton services to charge at the ultra rapid GRIDSERVE set up there. I have never prioritised a motorway service charge stop previously. My confidence was rewarded however, there were no queues and a charge from 36% to 80% in an astonishing 18 minutes.

Driving on the winding lanes and along arrow straight Roman roads past Hadrian’s Wall we arrived early afternoon at The Pheasant Inn close to Keilder Observatory, and our planned evening event there. Next morning after a hearty breakfast (a cardiologist may disagree), we travelled across country to York via our next charging stop, Warrington Services A1(M). Another motorway services, my confidence knew no bounds! Again, no queue but a disappointment. After a very brief burst of 58kWh the rate settled below 40, wanting as full a charge as possible it took an hour and 15 minutes to reach 95%. How the mighty fall.

Onwards to our afternoon in York, a visit to Betty’s Tea Room, (incredibly no queue there either!), a wander around the city and a visit to the Museum Gardens and a comfortable night at the Principal Hotel. I was feeling quite special parked in front of the hotel until another IONIQ 5 turned up looking very clean. After its adventures along the muddy roads of Keilder mine had the look like it had dishonourably completed the winter stage of the RAC Rally!

After another fix of York and with a bag full of Fat Rascals, we set off home along the M1, M62 and M6. We experienced the most horrendous rain and hailstorms accompanied by strong winds, and arrived home with a respectable 80 miles of range.

Planning & preparation 

I used WattsUp to plan the route, specifically planning GRIDSERVE sites to make the most of the IONIQ 5 fast charging capabilities.

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Charging 

• 1st stop – Kendal with Burton GRIDSERVE. We used a high power charger and charged at 98kW from 36% to 80% in an incredible 13 minutes. No queue, no problems.
• 2nd stop – Washington Moto A1 services, another GRIDSERVE high power charger but an entirely different experience. Charge rate of around or below 40kWh meant over an hour to reach 95%. Disappointing after the previous day’s success.

Did you encounter any great driving roads on your road trip? If so, where were they and why were they great?

The roads from the M6 at Carlisle, past Hadrian’s Wall to Keilder were very entertaining. From narrow, twisting lanes to arrow-straight roads but the undulating Roman roads with their hidden dips like rollercoasters made for an engaging journey in high winds and pouring rain. The car was amazing though, so agile for a nearly 2-tonne lump!

The electric car itself 

The IONIQ 5 is very comfortable, no numb bums on long trips. I averaged 3.6 m/kWh over the 540 miles in sometimes awful weather. It was very agile and surefooted on muddy, wet and winding country roads, eerily quiet and refined at motorway speeds even in high winds and it genuinely made me feel pleased that I had bought it.
In the pitch black, moonless night the car’s headlamps excelled, giving great visibility and the auto main beams working faultlessly.

The climate control kept the cabin cosy with no misting at all, despite the inclement weather. The cars only failing was the realisation that the lack of rear wiper was really the issue nearly every review says it is. The rear vortex, particularly at motorway speeds, creates a fine mist which builds up until the window appears opaque. Worse, even when it stops raining it just doesn’t clear. I pre-empted this problem by using a Rain-X coating on the side and rear windows. It was very effective on the sides, raindrops just blew off. The rear screen? Entirely useless.

Road trip conclusion

I enjoyed my first long trip and the car performed very well exceeding my expectations in many ways.
I had developed an air of disappointment over the past few weeks, build quality issues and poor design features threatened to mar my ownership experience. However, the car’s performance redeemed it.

See other road trip reports here