What You Should Know Before You Buy an Electric Car

You may have noticed that the entire automotive industry is abuzz with electric vehicles (EVs). Many newly launched cars are EVs. You are seeing new charging stations at various locations, and of course, regular episodes of erratic weather remind us why non-polluting cars are a good idea in the first place. Electric cars can work beautifully for some people, and after they’ve tried it, they never want to go back. For others, EV ownership can be a little more complicated. Rairdon’s Hyundai of Bellingham is proud to carry some of the highest-rated EVs on the market. But we still know that they aren’t for everyone. Here are some questions you will want to have answers to before you consider your first EV.

Can You Charge at Home?

This may well be the biggest factor in EV ownership satisfaction. If you can charge at home, then EV ownership is much like your cell phone. You charge it after you get home, and every morning you’re ready with a full charge for the day. If your daily routine involves traveling comfortably fewer miles than your EV’s range, then you are set. About 80% of EV charging is done at their owner’s homes. 

If you own your own home and have your own dedicated off-street parking, such as a garage or driveway, you should be able to install a home charger. The chargers themselves cost between $300 and $700, however, the installation will likely be about twice that. If your home’s electrical panel has no space for a new circuit breaker or is too old to handle the additional electrical load, it could cost another $1-2000. It’s not pennies, but most EV owners consider it well worth the cost. A Level 2 charger should be able to fully charge your EV overnight. However, if you live in an apartment or condo, or rent your home, installing a home charger may be impractical to impossible. This is not an immediate deal-breaker, but it does lead to the next question.

Where Besides Home Will You Charge Your EV?

You probably never bought a car and had to ask where you will refuel it, but if you can’t charge at home, you must have an answer to this question. Perhaps there are plenty of public chargers where you work. This could work but check in advance if there are open spots when you arrive. And, consider how long your car will need to be there. If your commute is relatively short, you may be able to go a couple of days between charges, or just charge a few hours each day. But you will also want to consider if you will stay at this work location for years to come, and if not, what is the likelihood of charges at your next place of business? 

If you live in a fairly busy area, there might be a charging station close to your home. Hopefully, it is within walking distance. If so, how do you feel about leaving your car there for much of the night? As mentioned, it is easiest if you can charge at home, but if you feel that charging away from home will not be a problem, then we can move on to the next questions.

What Is Your Longest Expected Drive?

The range between charging is a metric connected to every EV model. To be honest, it may or may not matter to you. If you plan for your EV to be a daily commuter and have another vehicle in the household that you will use for long trips, then as long as the range comfortably exceeds your round-trip commute, a longer range will largely be effectively irrelevant to you. But if your daily routine involves various levels of driving that can run well into 3 digits of miles, then a vehicle’s range can be of greater concern. You will want to have a sense of how far you may travel during the day, and then make sure you find an EV with a range that comfortably exceeds that. 

If you plan to take long trips in your car, this is not an EV deal-breaker but expect to plan your trips around where you can stop on the way for fast DC-direct charging and how you will charge at your destination. DC-Direct charging can shorten charge time from several hours to within an hour. Fortunately, Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 and 6 EVs feature some of the fastest DC charging in the industry, where on a charger of 175 kWh or higher, they will charge from 0 to 80% in 17 minutes. Most other EVs charge more slowly. 

That 80% figure is important. Charging is different from filling a gas tank in that it takes longer the closer you are to full capacity. So, charging from 80% to 100% can take as long as from 0 to 80%. Keep this in mind when planning your trips. After your first recharge, your subsequent range will likely be reduced by 20%. If your car has 260 miles of range and the trip is about 500 miles, don’t count on getting there with just one recharge on the way. You might, but you will need a backup plan. Fortunately, Hyundai EVs, as well as most others, have smartphone apps that locate charging stations for you.

What’s the Weather Like Where You Live?

If you live in our Bellingham, Washington area, then we have good news for you. Our relatively moderate temperatures across the year suit EV batteries well. This doesn’t mean it will die when it’s freezing. Consider after all, that 79% of cars registered in Norway last year were EVs. Still, exceptionally cold weather will reduce an EV’s range. Climate control for both heating and AC will impact range as well, significantly more so than in a gas-power vehicle. If you charge at home, one way to mitigate this is to pre-climatize your EV cabin while it is still plugged in. Most EVs including Hyundai’s will let you warm or cool the cabin to your preferred temperature remotely from the vehicle app. That way, the car is comfortable when you get in, and the energy required to get it that way comes from the grid rather than your battery. 

How Long Do You Plan to Keep Your EV

The concern here is battery life. EVs haven’t been around long enough in great enough numbers to get a strong sense of how long the batteries last. Hyundai’s warranty terms state that the battery on an Ioniq 5 or 6 will last for eight years or 100,000 miles and guarantee the battery against any deterioration that would cause the vehicle to lose more than 30% of its capacity. This should keep you from worry for several years after the last monthly payment. Still, people are keeping their cars longer than ever before. If you measure how long you keep your cars by decades rather than years, this may be a concern, but the actual data is just not available yet.

To sum up, charging and battery issues are the only real concerns when considering an EV. There is no technical skill required and no unique maintenance issues. In fact, EVs have basically no drivetrain maintenance at all. If you know the answers to the above questions and feel that an EV can work for you, then perhaps you will join the thousands of happy EV owners who never want to go back to gas. If that is the case, you certainly will want to see two of the most award-winning EVs on the planet, the IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6, here at Rairdon’s Hyundai of Bellingham.