The EV Revolution: My First Two Weeks with the Hyundai Ioniq 5

I finally made the jump to an electric car. Two weeks ago, we bought the Hyundai Ioniq 5, after waiting years for an alternative to Tesla to show up on the market. While this won't be an in-depth review, I do have a few thoughts I'd like to share after processing a bit.

First, let me say, I hate cars. More specifically, I hate car culture and car dependence: cars are a blight on society which ruins cities, communities, and siphons money out of our city budgets that could be better spent on mass transportation and social services. The cost and demand of car ownership and maintenance is just another factor that keeps the vulnerable in our society from gaining economic ground.

With that out of the way, I have to accept that I live in America, and owning a car is mandatory. So if I have to own one, I want to own the best car I can reasonably afford. And after a couple of weeks of ownership, I can honestly say that I love this car. It's just so much fun to drive, and the interior spaciousness is unmatched for what appears to be a relatively compact vehicle. Now that we have a level 2 charger installed at our home, the convenience of just having it always charged up and ready to go makes it the perfect family hauler.

But in these past couple of weeks, we were able to take it on a road trip to northern Washington, and I am actually surprised how rudimentary and confusing the charging infrastructure still is. I never intended to be an early adopter necessarily, and it was striking how early in the EV revolution we still are. A couple of anecdotes from the trip are worth sharing:

The concept of a travel fueling station needs to be rethought

With the ~250-mile range, when leaving from Portland, our navigation system routed us to stop at a Bank of America in Seattle. While a shorter leg than we're used to, it still felt like sufficient range, and the break was welcome. What wasn't welcome was the awkwardness of stopping at a bank. It was a natural point to refresh and use the bathroom, which of course the bank was not accommodating. We wound up having to walk to a gas station while the car was charging to use their bathrooms even though we weren't customers.

It's a small thing, but it was a stark reminder of how closely we've associated car fueling with all human travel needs. Should every business with fast chargers also just accept that they're going to be used as travel rest stops? Or should every gas station and convenience store be required to install chargers so that you can continue handling all your travel needs in one place?

Charger options are still limited

After reaching our destination (Whidbey Island), I was surprised to learn that there are exactly zero fast chargers in the area. There are a couple of level 2 chargers around, but they were still hard to find, and stopping for 4 hours to fully recharge wasn't an option.

I found myself spending a lot of mental energy just managing my charge, in a way that is so unlike owning a gas-powered vehicle. It reminded me how contingent the EV experience is on being a homeowner. If you don't own a home and don't have the means to install your own charger, the infrastructure just isn't ready for you to make the switch.

Everyone talks about "range anxiety" as if it's something for car designers to solve. In reality I the current standards of EV range are more than sufficient. The real issue is "infrastructure anxiety," and we must demand that our local and state governments improve in this area.

I'd really love for everyone to buy an EV. And when you buy one, you really shouldn't have to stress about how to keep it charged. That's how it is with ICE vehicles -- if you walk into a dealer, you don't have a single consideration about where you will find gasoline. It's just EVERYWHERE. I hope it won't be long before we can say the same thing about our charging infrastructure.

Are you ready to make the switch to an electric vehicle?