Eoghan and Méabh Keane O’Regan
Suzanne Keane goes on an EV roadtrip in a Hyundai Ioniq5
I’ve had a bit of a love hate relationship with electric cars for the last few years. The idea is great, the potential cost savings are excellent but I just didn’t think they were quite there yet so when I was given the opportunity to test out a Hyundai IONIQ 5 I decided to be brave and use it for a planned road trip to Dublin, rather than staying safe and close to home.
I picked up the car on a Friday morning, fully charged. As the last time I had tested an E.V. charging was free I had to figure out how you could actually fill up the car when out and about without being a regular user – turns out it’s relatively easy. The ESB ecar connect app offers pay-as-you-go or prepay options as long as you have your phone and a data connection – they also have a card you can use but as I left it so late to sign up the card arrived after the car had been returned.
Being ever cautious I decided that a test charge, before we left the next morning, was essential so I opened up the app to find that there was only one Fast Charger (Combo CCS) available in Killarney and when I got there it was blocked by a diesel Mercedes. 10 minutes later the car was finally moved out of my way and I hooked up the IONIQ 5 with the assistance of the Nissan Leaf owner parked beside me.
The official range on the Hyundai IONIQ 5 is 481km and I decided to stop in Moneygall, Co. Offaly for a top-up on the way – I wasn’t sure that the car would get to our South Dublin hotel without a recharge (306km of mostly motorway and a heavy right foot) and the fast charger was free so we plugged in and the 45 minutes flew between drinks and snacks and “are we there yet” conversations – there’s a 45-minute limit when you use a Combo CCS
charger and after that, there are penalty fees charged.
So far so good – we’d stayed at the same hotel before and I knew they had two charge points so I didn’t think I’d actually have to look for a charger the whole time we were in Dublin.
However, after arriving at the hotel with just 120km range left we discovered that both charge points were out of order and a Tesla was hogging the only 3 pin socket in the basement. This was when my charging nightmare began – we were in Dublin for 2 nights and while we are certainly lacking in the number of charge points available in rural Ireland, in the city it’s impossible to find one that isn’t occupied. This might be okay if you’re on your own but
anyone travelling with young children will understand that waiting 40 minutes for a charge point to become available followed by 45 minutes of charging just isn’t an option. I eventually waited until everyone was asleep on the second night and managed to find a charge point that wasn’t being used, in the car park of another hotel. With an almost full battery, I made it back to our own hotel and plugged into the 3 pin socket for the rest of the
night to get an extra few km from the battery.
The next morning luggage and children were loaded back into the IONIQ 5 and we started on the long journey back to Kerry. Thankfully, the fast charger in Moneygall was available on the way home too so we got a nice top-up to soothe my range anxiety for the rest of the journey.
The verdict – I could live with an electric car on a daily basis, especially with home charging, and a range of 481km is enough for most people on most days. However, the infrastructure just isn’t there yet to support anyone on a longer journey, especially with young children on board. We are a two-car family and the IONIQ 5 would be a realistic option as one of those cars but I’m afraid I’ll still have to rely on fossil fuels for longer trips until I see a big upgrade in charging infrastructure!
Suzanne Keane
14th February 2022
