Guy took Hyundai IONIQ 5 on a road trip across America to see how an EV would cope with the high mileage

In a test to see just how an EV can handle high-mileage road trips, this electric advocate took a Hyundai IONIQ 5 across America.

With EVs on the charge, and saving people hundreds of dollars a month on running costs, there still remains skepticism that some models can’t hack long-distance travel.

So, in a bid to find an answer to this conundrum, one man wanted to drive one the entire span of America so that’s exactly what he did.

And for such a huge trip, the charging costs were surprisingly minimal.

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Hyundai IONIQ 5 pushed to the limit in American-wide high-mileage road trip

Just how well an EV performs on high-mileage routes is something of deep interest to electric fans, with the biggest anxiety being that the cars don’t have enough charge and chargers to make it long distances.

Over in the UK, some road-trippers put the BYD Seal, Volkswagen ID.7, and Tesla Model 3 through their paces on a coast-to-coast trip.

But now one man is really upping the ante and testing how his Hyundai IONIQ 5 copes on a 4,000+ mile trip from the easternmost point of America, across to the westernmost landmark.

YouTube account Plug and Play EV documented their journey, where they continued to stop off at numerous national parks and campsites to recharge the car and give themselves a rest.

To have access to chargers, the trip would mainly follow the usual routes but would have to dip south towards some major cities on the way.

Still, the five-episode vlog series saw the Hyundai IONIQ 5 cruise from coast to coast without as much as an issue.

How did the EV do?

The YouTube host offered little description of the car’s performance on the road.

However, if there’s nothing to moan about in a week-long trip, it seems like the Hyundai IONIQ 5 did quite a stellar job.

It even doubled as the bed for the road trip, where a double inflatable mattress was erected in the cabin, rather than needing a tent.

So the Hyundai IONIQ 5 is clearly spacious.

Overall, the trip lasted 4,331 miles, as they crossed an impressive 15 states, where the Hyundai IONIQ 5 drank 1,547kw of juice, averaging around 2.8 kw/m.

But for such a huge trip, the charging costs were minimal.

In total, the road trip included 33 stops, where they used DC charging for 29 of them.

The total cost was $110.58.

Considering most cars would drink 30-40 miles per gallon of gas, (according to Carplus), the average SUV holds around 25 gallons, and the average gas price per gallon in the US is around $3.12 (per AAA), you’d be roughly spending over $385 on gas.

The Korean manufacturers seem to have done seriously well with this SUV, and will soon be looking to follow up on the success with an all-electric pick-up.