Thanks for sharing. Always great to see members and hear what they like about their current/previous cars.
If I remember correctly, you dumped the Kona for the Tesla due to the charging network. Do you think the CSS charging network is currently satisfactory enough for you to get to the locations you where having issues before with the Ioniq 5? Do you see this as a potential issue going forward with the number of vehicles using CSS?
I have been interested in electric cars for a long time and did lots of research and have driven most available EV's and I'm glad to be able to share my experience.
Charging network was the main issue as it was not possible to visit our family in South Texas using CCS. It's still a huge challenge to get there with CCS. Another issue with the Kona was charging speed. My charging time with the Kona would have been 3 times that of the Model Y on the trip to South Texas if I did have available CCS chargers. So, the Kona was a less than ideal road trip car. Doable.. certainly but ideal? Not even close... The Electrify Network is expanding and Tesla will open up their superchargers, so it becomes more convenient owning a CCS charging vehicle. Still, there are certain areas where you can't get to using CCS whild you can get there with Superchargers. I think that Tesla's prices are too high for the Model Y right now. You end up paying over $70k while you can get a Ioniq 5 with similar range and charging speed for $40k after tax credit. Is the better charging Network worth $30k?? If I would be looking at an electric SUV right now and if performance wasn't a consideration, the IONIQ 5 SEL RWD would be the vehicle I would be getting. $30k difference is a lot... I got the Model X Plaid for the insane performance. I got the Model Y at a low price ($50490 base price) and at that price, I'd take the Model Y over the IONIQ 5 but not at $65990. Just to add.. size was also a considerable parameter on why I went from the Kona to the Model Y.
I my concern with CCS is that new installations wouldn't be able to keep up with the number EV sales, and we will see some like what is happening to Tesla in California and Las Vegas. On top of that, it doesn't seem that they are reliable enough to me. As to the Hyundai/Kia product, I will never buy another Hyundai due to my experience with their vehicles. However, I do agree that Tesla vehicles are now over priced for what you get. Unfortunately, every EV made is sold out and probably will be for the next few years. So a price drop for Tesla vehicles is not likely to happen in the near term.
I had the Kona Electric for 2 years, 58k miles. I had zero issues other than the battery recall..but that wasn't Hyundai's fault but LG.
We have used CCS-1, fast DC chargers with our 50 kW limited BMW i3-REx and remain unimpressed. In contrast, the Tesla SuperCharger network expands in charging locations and performance, now peaks at 170 kW. The CCS-1 chargers tend to be unreliable with less redundancy than a SuperCharger station. They run more expensive as the slow BMW 50 kW charge rate leads even gasoline to be a cheaper cross country option. The large, bulky CCS-1 plug is about three times larger yet one third the rate. Reports are it is getting better with recent improved EVs. But there are 50 kW limited EVs still sold today. The Tesla SuperCharger rate has gone up from a peak of 100 kW to 170 kW both car and stations. The number of stations has increased with more charging slots than a typical CCS-1 station. Not perfect, we can move from an under performing slot to a faster one and get back on the road. So my 7% degraded battery has more SuperCharger performance and offering than it did new in 2019. Bob Wilson
There is no doubt that the Supercharger Network is superior but the question if it's worth $30k to someone to have the Supercharger Network? Again, if I was on the market for a non performance long range EV, the Ioniq 5 or EV6 (basically same car) would be my choice. They charge super fast, even faster than Tesla and have good range (not quite Tesla range but close) for a price $30k cheaper after tax credit. Of course, outside of the SUV segment that I referenced, the Standard Range PLUS Model 3 is still a great deal, especially considering the LFP battery pack on the new ones that can and should be charged to 100% on a daily basis which is fantastic and gives you more daily range as a Long Range on an 80% charge. Before I decided to get the Model X Plaid, I actually offered to buy the wife an Ioniq 5 or Model 3 SR+. The Model 3 SR+ was too low for her taste.. She even found the Ioniq 5 to be on the low side compared to the Model X LR that we had. Wife decided that she wanted to keep the i3 for another couple years, so I used the budget that I had for her new car to upgrade mine.
I think you have to move up to at least the SEL model with the all wheel option to get somewhat close to what is offered in a Model Y. So it's more like $51,000 vs $66,000. So it's more like a $15,000 difference plus the $7,500 tax credit, or about $23,000.
I wouldn't recommend losing all that range to AWD. I was comparing it to the long range RWD version. There is no way that I would pay more to get less range. There really is no benefit of AWD unless you live up north with snow. Sure, performance is better but the Ioniq 5 AWD would still lose to a Model Y LR with 70 miles less range. So, I don't think that typical Ioniq 5 buyer will care too much about AWD considering that it costs valuable range. The particular SEL I was looking at for the wife was a $48k MSRP SEL RWD, white with gray interior. Tax credit would have brought that to $40500. Dealer fee etc. and you are at about $41500 before tax (not adding tax as some states do not have sales tax on EV's like NJ). Now, the Model Y LR is $65990 + $1200 destination charge + options if needed. $67190. If you want the optional white interior (which I would choose), it would be $68190 before tax. $68190 - $41500 = $26690.. That's quite a difference. The Model Y has better performance but if someone doesn't care too much about that, the Ioniq 5 is a much better deal. I personally DO care about performance and that's why I got the Model X Plaid as I wanted to have one of the baddest cars on the street..
While I agree that I can't see much benefit for AWD around here unless you are snow skier, however, it appears that the local buying public doesn't agree. Of the seven Ioniq 5 listed on Autotrader for the Seattle, six of them come with AWD. Only one of the cheaper SE models comes with 2WD. As far as AWD, didn't Subaru build a car brand on AWD? However, I still stand by my statement that you have to get an SEL with AWD to come somewhat close to what you get with model Y.
It really depends on what allocation a dealer can get.. Here in my area, most of the dealers get the SE RWD version and you rarely see a AWD.
