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Thoughts after test driving Ioniq 5 from a Model 3 LR owner...

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Hi everyone,

While this isn't a comprehensive review, it's some initial thoughts from a 15-minute test drive. For comparison, I drive a 2022 Model 3 Long Range.

On the weekend, I had the chance to test drive the Hyundai Ioniq 5. The weather was windy and snowy, not the best conditions, but living in Southwestern Ontario is reality.

We test drove the 2022 IONIQ 5 Preferred AWD Long Range. I was also shocked by the overall size. It is much bigger than the Model 3, and you sit much higher.

The AWD handles the blowing snow and winter conditions, including snowdrifts blowing on the roads. My wife and I were very impressed with the ride and comfort.

Here are a few things that I noted during the test drive.

  • Depending on the steering wheel's position, it will block parts of the screen behind it.
  • The screen is laggy (compared to my Model 3)
  • The rear window does not have a wiper or spray nozzle for cleaning. Hyundai sales rep explains that the air will clean the back window. I know that marketing teaches the salespeople, but in all practicality, all the road dirt/snow/salt was very evident during our drive.
  • To adjust the regen, you toggle the paddle shifters on the steering wheel. This is a quick way to change the amount of regen. The car would accelerate (a short jump of speed) accordingly to your choice. The first time the Ioniq 5 briefly accelerated when I squeezed the + paddle, it was a little unnerving.

Dealership experience

While I let my dealership know my intent was to only test drive, I got the full dealership experience once again. I've owned 16 cars and have plenty of dealership horror stories that all came rushing back. I've owned two Model 3's in the last three years, so I am more than happy about sitting at home and clicking on the website to order my car. Thank you very much.

The salesperson for our test drive was super nice and tried his hardest to make us feel welcome. His knowledge of the car was less than ideal, and he told us some wrong information about the vehicle. While it wasn't a big deal as I came in very educated about the product, this is where dealerships fail. They think they are still selling gas-powered cars to customers that know more about their product than they do. After the test drive was over, we had to sit through the sales pitch, meet the manager, etc. Since leaving the dealership on Saturday, I have received two emails and one text from them. All three messages told me how important my business is, etc. One email from the manager asked why we didn't buy a car during our visit.

Conclusion

While this vehicle is excellent in almost every way, it will not replace my Model 3, but it could be an ideal replacement for my wife's hybrid when the lease is up. It's not as fast as the Model 3 and doesn't have neck-crushing acceleration, and that's OK. It's still zippier than any comparable gas-powered SUV in its class.

I can see this selling well, and while I don't think it's a threat for the Model Y or Model 3 sales, I can see it eating into sales over the Ford Mach-E and Volkswagen ID.4

We are also going to test drive the Kia EV6 shortly.

Ioniq 5 1.png


Ioniq 5 2.png


Ioniq 5 3.png
 
Also looking to get an Ioniq5. Unfortunately the closest EA charging station is 25 miles. It has 3 CCS and 1 CHAdeMo stations, is 350kw, and $0.43/kwh so the free years could be helpful. Could be somewhat useful but not frequently for me. By comparison, I have two Superchargers within 20 miles, and a Destination Charger 2 miles.
 
Also looking to get an Ioniq5. Unfortunately the closest EA charging station is 25 miles. It has 3 CCS and 1 CHAdeMo stations, is 350kw, and $0.43/kwh so the free years could be helpful. Could be somewhat useful but not frequently for me. By comparison, I have two Superchargers within 20 miles, and a Destination Charger 2 miles.
What’s the rate for the super chargers and what do you pay at home? I get a 40% discount from my utility for off peak charging so home charging is significantly cheaper public charging stations. You also need to factor in convenience. If it’s free but you end up wasting 45-60 minutes every time you need to charge your car then it’s not really free and the savings get eaten up pretty quickly.
 
Not sure what your point is. I simply pointed out that there is one EA charging station in the entire state, so 'free EA charging' is pretty much worthless here.
My Point: Coming to a theater near you.

Screenshot_20220321-091425_Chrome.jpg

Also, I charge less than once a month at a public charger, even though I have free charging at Tesla chargers. They aren't made for daily charging. I top off at home nightly for less than $1 a night.
 
My Point: Coming to a theater near you.

View attachment 783847

Also, I charge less than once a month at a public charger, even though I have free charging at Tesla chargers. They aren't made for daily charging. I top off at home nightly for less than $1 a night.
I do the same - We get a 30-40% discount on off-peak charging from our utility so paying at a public charger doesn’t make sense.

I read the article you linked - it doesn’t say much, just that a MN EV advocacy group is working to get more charging stations. No commitments or definite plans were mentioned. People were touting free charging at EA stations as a potential benefit of the ioniq, but if there aren’t any stations then it’s a worthless benefit.

To be fair, if you’re taking a road trip (outside of the Midwest) it seems like it would be much better. I’ve heard lots of stories about poor reliability of EA stations but 0 actual experience so I can’t say If that’s common or just the exception.

I’ll also note that on one of the few road-trips we’ve taken in our MY we actually ran into congestion with some of the super chargers.
 
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I went to a tesla for a walk-in test drive on M3 yesterday (Sunday). I did not think it would be difficult to do as we did the same when we did test drive on MYLR. Somehow, one of the SAs told me they did not have any M3 for test drive. However, he was kind and nice to show me his M3 and walked us thru. We did spend sometime to chat and understand more on the ordering process, delivery, and some interesting things he told us about big push on the qtr end sales. Anyway, we already ordered a MYLR in Feb, but interesting seeing M3P or MYP are being delivered so much quicker.
as we need 2 cars (currently, we are 1-car family. haha) in next 12 months, as we already ordered a MYLR, we are thinking about getting another EV.

I did some quick looks in the current EV markets. Ford, GM, Kia, hyundai, Fisker, BMW (and I am sure I missed some others). For Honda and Toyota, they won't have their EVs until 2023 so that is out of the picture for my consideration. It seems Hyundai IONIQ 5 is closer to my budget which it is inexpensive than M3LR. (and I know it is not an apple-to-apple comparison as one is SUV/Cross over and the other one is sedan). But once I add the AWD and might be some options that level the features between IONIQ 5 and M3LR, the MSRP becomes a bit closer. Hyundia qualifies for 7.5k Fed EV credit, but I am expecting (possible a wrong assumption) most if not all, Hyundai dealerships in So. Ca will have 5k-10k market adjustment price mark up. So at the end, the total price might be similar to just a bit less than M3LR.

I am not trying to brainwash myself to get another Tesla. However, does it make sense to have a MYLR, and M3LR, or MYLR (which we know we will buy it for sure for my wife), and find something else cheaper, or even a low budget ICE as a commute car?

I am getting tired of bring our current mini-van to dealership to get oil change and all other fluid change. I am currently sitting in a Honda Dealership to wait for them to look into the brake fluid leaking issue, and hopefully it is covered by the honda extended warranty I have purchased.

I also try to look into the charge network. I will charge 100% of the time except for the road trips. i checked the Electrify America, and ChargePort (sp?) seem they are spotty in So. Ca, but have not checked out out of states or beyond So. Ca.
 
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I went to a tesla for a walk-in test drive on M3 yesterday (Sunday). I did not think it would be difficult to do as we did the same when we did test drive on MYLR. Somehow, one of the SAs told me they did not have any M3 for test drive. However, he was kind and nice to show me his M3 and walked us thru. We did spend sometime to chat and understand more on the ordering process, delivery, and some interesting things he told us about big push on the qtr end sales. Anyway, we already ordered a MYLR in Feb, but interesting seeing M3P or MYP are being delivered so much quicker.
as we need 2 cars (currently, we are 1-car family. haha) in next 12 months, as we already ordered a MYLR, we are thinking about getting another EV.

I did some quick looks in the current EV markets. Ford, GM, Kia, hyundai, Fisker, BMW (and I am sure I missed some others). For Honda and Toyota, they won't have their EVs until 2023 so that is out of the picture for my consideration. It seems Hyundai IONIQ 5 is closer to my budget which it is inexpensive than M3LR. (and I know it is not an apple-to-apple comparison as one is SUV/Cross over and the other one is sedan). But once I add the AWD and might be some options that level the features between IONIQ 5 and M3LR, the MSRP becomes a bit closer. Hyundia qualifies for 7.5k Fed EV credit, but I am expecting (possible a wrong assumption) most if not all, Hyundai dealerships in So. Ca will have 5k-10k market adjustment price mark up. So at the end, the total price might be similar to just a bit less than M3LR.

I am not trying to brainwash myself to get another Tesla. However, does it make sense to have a MYLR, and M3LR, or MYLR (which we know we will buy it for sure for my wife), and find something else cheaper, or even a low budget ICE as a commute car?

I am getting tired of bring our current mini-van to dealership to get oil change and all other fluid change. I am currently sitting in a Honda Dealership to wait for them to look into the brake fluid leaking issue, and hopefully it is covered by the honda extended warranty I have purchased.

I also try to look into the charge network. I will charge 100% of the time except for the road trips. i checked the Electrify America, and ChargePort (sp?) seem they are spotty in So. Ca, but have not checked out out of states or beyond So. Ca.
I obviously don’t know your situation....but...since you have a LR already wouldn’t it make sense for your second car to be a M3AWD? Most people with two cars have a touring car and a city car...the cost would come right down
 
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I remember the cheap (not cheap as inexpensive, but cheap as in cheap) cars Hyundai peddled in the late 80s (that infamous $4995 Excel) and early 90s. Horrible, but built to a price and there was a ton of demand. They were nearly as plentiful then as compact SUVs are today, but they didn't stick around long.
Common wisdom at the time was if you wanted a car that would last until it was paid off, you buy Japanese and get it rustproofed.

Hyundai's quality has come a helluva long way since those days and the Ioniq is probably a good entry-to-mid-level EV that isn't quite as much of a radical departure from traditional ICE vehicles as a Tesla (S/X yoke, 3/Y with only the center screen).

But like the poster before me, I can't get past the styling.
We had one of those Excels when we started out in life as a married couple. It was all we could afford then.
  • They entered the market on price.
  • Then they nailed safety.
  • Closed with quality.
They’ve done spectacularly well since those days. Would I buy one today? Nah. We are a Tesla family now. :)
 
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Can I use Tesla wall charger with different adaptors for other non-Tesla EVs to charge? I would not want to install 2 different wall chargers - one for Tesla and one for non-Tesla.

Yes, I charge my Tesla and Porsche (using an adapter) on my Tesla charger.
You can find Tesla to J1772 adapters but if you haven’t already installed a charger it would probably make more sense to get a generic charger and use the J1772 adapter to charge your Tesla.
 
I obviously don’t know your situation....but...since you have a LR already wouldn’t it make sense for your second car to be a M3AWD? Most people with two cars have a touring car and a city car...the cost would come right down
Hopefully, we can take delivery on MYLR by December 2022. For the M3AWD LR, that is what we have in our mind as the 2nd EV.
 
You can find Tesla to J1772 adapters but if you haven’t already installed a charger it would probably make more sense to get a generic charger and use the J1772 adapter to charge your Tesla.
Would you mind to provide additional information about the "generic charger" such as brand and model? we have not installed any EV chargers yet but would like to go with generic if we end up to have 2 EVs under 2 different brands/mfgs. Of course, if we get MYLR and M3LR, then we will install one Tesla charger at home and will take turn to charge each car.