Drove my Ioniq 5 down to Florida again. Here's how it went.
I was more familiar with charging and it took me less time messing around getting the charging session started. I actually managed to use the Hyundai Pay feature at the Circle K stop. Used the FPL app at Macclenny.
Some observations.
I had to make quite a few rest stops - for me! These were typically about 5 minutes time off ramp to on ramp. The Circle K at Tifton was as conveniently located as a rest area - at the end of the exit ramp - no lights. The FLP at Starbucks in Macclenny was close to the exit, but required navigating a traffic light.
I left home with 100% charge and travelled to Tifton - 194 miles and arrived with 15% charge. I had to edit the route on the Hyundai nav to make it route to this location. I left Tifton with 80% and arrived Macclenny with about 25%. I left there with 60% and arrived at destination with 25%. I am getting better at estimating and managing the state of charge with each trip.
Choosing a charger. Chargers continue to be built out to the point you can be a bit choosy - and you can run a bit lower on your state of charge because your "plan B" location will be fairly close. At Tifton, plan B was literally across the street - Flying J. At Macclenny, it was one exit down a BP charger at a TA truck stop.
Rarely are stations full or broken. So, it's ease of access, amenities and price that drive choice. I really like Ionna. They are cheap. 39 cents all in. 31 cents with Hyundai discount and promotion. Most others are in the 50 to 70 cents range. The Ionna managed to average 193 KW, the FPL only 139. I will definitely try hard to plan trips around Ionna chargers. The wide range of prices between charging locations needs to come down - and it needs to be posted on the station - like gas stations.
If I had driven our Telluride, it would have cost me about $20 more for "fuel" and cut no more than a half and hour from from my drive time. Is my time worth $40 an hour? Maybe. That's the quantitative stuff. Qualitatively, the Ioniq 5 is smoother and quieter and produces less driver fatigue. I also have the advantage of having the cheap and fun to drive EV at my destination.
With the high price of gas, fast DC charging is now on par with gas. Pairing it was cheap juice at home to start the trip make taking the EV cheaper. Hopefully, the other charging companies will chase Ionna to the lower end of the price spectrum. Things are only getting better for EVs.
