W-EVdnesday

Here we go for the first EV post! We’ve been happy owners of a 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 for 1.5 years, that is since February 4, 2022.

Expensive

One of the first things people say to me is how they couldn't afford a $100K vehicle. Our Ioniq 5 cost $50K, which included some extras like tinted windows, and $2400 in admin fees🙄.  The $50k price includes a $5k rebate from the federal government. I've had it said to my face, "Oh, my daughter/son/I couldn't afford that." I'm not sure if those people have checked into the price of a new vehicle these days but there aren't too many crossovers much less than that.

Let's compare type and size of vehicle to vehicle. Ours is similar in size to the Hyundai Santa Fe, which we owned prior to the Ford F150 which we had just prior to the Ioniq 5. All three vehicles were bought brand new. We paid about $40k for the 2013 Santa Fe ten years ago. You can check your local prices for comparison.

What also needs to be included in the "it's too expensive" concern is the fact that you are never going to have to make a trip to your gas station again. Nor are you ever going to need an oil change.

Our previous vehicle, a 2019 Ford F150, was very fuel efficient. We were spending $200 on average per month on gas and around $70 per oil change twice a year.

We charge at home. That is a huge thing for people to wrap their heads around.

You do not need to 'charge up' at a station.

Hold on. I will qualify that statement. We have 220-volt in the garage already, so that part was easy. Everyone has 220-volt in your house; it’s just a matter of running it from your breaker box to wherever you want to do your charging, just like where you ran the electric to your air conditioner or heat pump😉, which, yes we have for our upstairs level. You can plug in with a regular 110-volt plug, but that will take you forever to charge. Think of how long it takes for your phone to get to 100%, and then think how much bigger your car battery is!

220-volt, also known as Level 2 charging, is much faster. We plug our car in overnight, while we sleep, when we need to, which is maybe twice a week depending on how much we've been driving it. The power is the cheapest at that time here in Ontario, and the car isn't needed. Ontario has time-of-day power costs: on-peak, mid-peak, and off-peak (currently that is 7 pm to 7 am, or overnight) when it's cheapest because there isn't as much draw on the grid.

We bought a Grizzl-E charging station. No affiliation.

Basically this is like a big powerbar similar to what we plug our sewing machines into. It prevents surges from hurting your machine, and your battery from overheating. Grizzl-E is made in Canada, so it's heavy duty, made for colder climates. It can go on the outside of your house or inside your garage; wherever is convenient. A Grizzle-E is probably one of the most expensive charging stations out there, around $600 when we bought it, but we figured our car was worth it. We also knew that within three months it would pay for itself through the gas savings. Other brands cost a lot less. My husband installed it with no issues. Obviously if you are not electrically or mechanically inclined, you'd get an electrician to install it and add the breaker if needed.

How much power does it use then to charge up? Like aren't your power bills a lot higher now? Again, we looked at a year's hydro (aka power) bills, and on average our bill is $17 higher per month. You read that right. 

$17 per month compared to $200/month (not counting oil changes).

What if you live in a condo or apartment or you rent and therefore cannot install a charging station? Then you will need to go to a public charging station. These work exactly like gas stations: you plug in the cable as opposed to sticking in the gas hose and pay with your debit or credit card. 

How much do these charging stations charge? Usually it’s by the minute. When we are on the road, we usually just charge it to 80-85%. It takes 10-15 minutes depending on the charging speed. This, however, is a place where the infrastructure needs improvement: kW/h speed. Think of charging your phone: the first 80-90% doesn’t take very long at all; that last 10% takes some time due to battery and charging technology beyond me!

That's lots to think about for the first post, so I'll stop and be back next week with another post. I’ll go into charging stations information more indepth in another post. 

Comments and questions are welcome! I will probably address them in future posts, so be patient as there are lots of myths to debunk and points from experience to relate!

Hateful or comments with dis- or misinformation will be deleted.