Electric Vehicles

My own experience going long distances in an electric car is less rosy. We drove from Ottawa to Toronto, about 500km, in two days. Our car is a Hyundai Ioniq 6, with a maximum range of just over 500km. However, in cold weather we are lucky to get 400 km.

On the first day, we drove about 200 km and there was only one charging station. That charging station could handle two vehicles, but one of them was not working. There were three cars waiting in line to use it. We kept going.

The next day, we drove another 50 km to get to a charging station. It had three days open, but the maximum charging speed was 100kW, and we managed less than that. It took almost 90 minutes to get a full charge. It could have gone faster if we had pre-conditioned the battery, but we were worried we wouldn't be able to reach the charging station if we had done so.

Between Ottawa and Toronto, there wasn't a single charger that could do more than 150kW. In ideal conditions, the ionic 6 can charge up to 80% in under 20 minutes, but in the winter, when there are no 350kW charging stations, that's a dream. And there are so few charging stations that it's common to have to wait for one or two cars to finish before you can even begin.