Life Without Gasoline Continues
I like to drive an electric vehicle (EV) because it helps fight climate change by reducing the burning of fossil fuels. Besides their many advantages (and a few disadvantages at the moment), EVs are wonderful cars to drive and live with. I’m now on my third different one in eight years, the popular Hyundai Ioniq 5.
My story is likely typical of many EV drivers, who, for environmental reasons, got their first EV and then kept driving them. The market has grown tremendously over the last decade and a half, so today there is a range of choices, and it will just get better with time.
My story begins in 2011, when, as an auto writer, I tested the Nissan Leaf for a week. I drove every other EV I could get back then, too, including the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, but there were precious few offerings.
2016 Fiat 500e – Fidelio
Wanting to be like the pros at the big car magazines, I asked my press contact from Fiat-Chrysler (today part of Stellantis) for a long-term Fiat 500e EV test car. I normally got a test loaner for a week, which is fine for a quick impression, but I wanted to live with an EV long term. The press man sent me a new 2016 Fiat 500e for three months—I even got to pick the color. I named the little car Fidelio.
Fidelio was super cute in his light blue paint with white trim, and he sported a bright white interior with orange and black accents and a retro styled dash and trim. He was perfect for my then 36-mile round trip commute to work. I used the 240-volt Level 2 chargers at the office to feed him, and slow Level 1 120-volt household current at home to top off his battery as needed.
The three months passed quickly, and I grudgingly returned Fidelio. As a second car, he was a star. He was pleasant to drive, the hatchback made him surprisingly practical, and I had no problems.
Even though I normally drove a press fleet test car, I began to wonder how I could have my own EV. As I ruminated on this, I thought about Fidelio’s two weaknesses. Despite his enormous charm and faultless performance, he was small (but not as tiny as you might think). I could carry four people in a pinch and even transport an upright bass if I positioned it perfectly.
But the second weakness was the real concern. The EPA official range—the distance he could go before recharging—was a mere 84 miles. This is fine for commuting, but I had to be diligent with charging and couldn’t decide impulsively to take the long way home.
2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV – Bolty
When I heard about GM’s plan to produce a new EV—with a much better range—I was thrilled. In 2016, the only real long-range EV solution was the Tesla Model S, and it was big and expensive. But the Bolt EV, starting at an advertised price of $37,495, was much more affordable. With 238 miles of range, it solved the range issues. And it looked cute, in a hatchback way, while being significantly larger than the Fiat.
I tracked the Bolt EV’s story carefully and put in my order in October of 2016 without having driven one. I had faith that I’d like it. I agonized over the color, and finally picked a bright Kinetic Blue, opting for the light gray interior. Then, it became a waiting game.
Bolty, fresh off the truck
One day, I got the call I’d been waiting for—my Bolt was being offloaded from the transporter. I arranged to pick up the car a couple of days later, in the first week of January of 2017.
My Bolt EV was a huge improvement over the Fiat in every way. When I opened the hatchback and dropped the rear seats, I had 56.6 feet of cargo capacity. The much longer range meant fewer charges and longer trips. I installed a ChargePoint Level 2 charger in my garage, so I no longer needed public chargers.
My car, the upper-level Premier model, had a few extras, and came to over $44,000–the most expensive car I had ever had. My wife thought that it seemed expensive for a car that didn’t feel luxurious, despite its leather seats and satellite radio.
The Bolt EV sold OK, if not briskly. Many people still weren’t ready for it—and hatchbacks are less popular in the U.S. than in other parts of the world. Looking back, I can’t remember much except that “Bolty” did a superb job. The official EPA 238-mile range turned out to be pretty accurate, based on my driving. I used the one-pedal driving feature, where lifting on the accelerator generated power and slowed the car down. I savored the silence in the cabin, which let the Bose stereo system sound rich and full on the freeway.
I was surprised and a little disappointed that I didn’t get more attention from other Bolt drivers—or really from anyone. I think, despite its distinctive styling, the Bolt EV looked too much like other hatchbacks, such as the Honda Fit, and wasn’t glamorous or sporty enough to attract attention.
Bolty was mine on a three-year lease, and when it came to an end, I considered buying him, but the monthly cost was too high, so I grudgingly turned him in.
2017 Fiat 500e – Fidelio II
While looking for a reasonably priced EV to replace Bolty, I remembered Fidelio and ran across a nearly identical 500e—same color, similar white interior, and one model year later—and snapped it up for a mere $10,000. This was a three-year-old vehicle with 24,000 miles on the clock and looked showroom new. The original sales price was north of $30,000, so it felt like a steal. I knew its limitations, but with another vehicle in the household, I thought I could live with them. Fidelio II was just like Fidelio I and fit right into my commute as before.
I ended up keeping Fidelio II for about four and a half years. Granted, he was my ride when Covid-19 shut down my commute, and later, when I went into work only a day or two a week. But I managed to put 25,000 miles on him in that time, again, with no problems other than replacing the 12-volt battery (not the high-voltage one), tires and wiper blades.
2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5
By 2024, I was starting to get antsy about my little Fiat’s size and range problems. By then, many enticing options were popping up, and there were lease deals to be had. One day, I was admiring a colleague’s new Toyota BZ4X EV in the parking lot, and he told me he had leased it for about $200 a month. This piqued my interest, since I was paying $195/month on the Fiat loan.
I decided to check out the nearby Toyota dealer that afternoon. I test drove the car and it felt like I could live with it. I sat down with the salesman. But—he couldn’t hit the $200/month mark. It was more like $400/month. That was no longer a “deal” (although by today’s standards, not bad). I walked.
I then started thinking about the new Hyundai Kona I had read about. They were offering the base vehicle for an extremely attractive lease rate. I called my local dealer, but learned that there were none available. The salesperson told me that they were expecting more soon and that he would call me when they arrived.
Weeks went by. One day, I happened to be near the Hyundai dealership and dropped in to check on the Kona situation. The salesperson said they still didn’t have any, but calmly listened to my story and then said, “We do have the Ioniq 5 available now on a special lease offer.” It was only $239/month plus tax, and bigger than the Kona—with a better range, too.
“Hmmm,” I thought. I went out to the lot and test drove one. I had seen the cars around, with their retro edgy hatch styling and rectangular headlights and taillights. The drive was very impressive. When we got back, he invited me to choose a color (teal, white, black, and blue were available—I chose blue). Then we went in to talk.
Most people are not big fans of car dealerships, because salespeople are often pushy (and for EVs, ignorant), but this was not the case that day. My salesperson explained how the deal worked, and it truly was at the price he had quoted. However, I needed to put something down, and I had to deal with Fidelio II.
“Oh,” he said, “maybe we can just take your car as the down payment.” That would solve that whole problem of selling him privately. But I still owed about 7 months of payments on the loan. My salesman checked and said that if I paid the car off then, he could take it in trade, and I would drive off with no other money changing hands. I called my wife and got the OK, and before long, I was heading home in my new car. The entire stress-free transaction took four hours.
No Name Yet
My Ioniq 5 has not received a cute name, perhaps because it’s not particularly cute. I have warmed to its retro looks. The car has been perfect for every purpose and routinely shows well over 300 miles of range on the all-digital dash. It’s bigger than the Fidelios and Bolty too, with plenty of passenger space. With the seats dropped, the cargo area is cavernous. The car swallows up band gear with no problems.
My mid-level model has durable cloth seats, not leather, but the accommodations are spacious and everything works perfectly. I have been able to visit my grandkids 85 miles away without even thinking about it. The center touch screen is easy to operate and has hard buttons below that help select categories, such as Navigation or Media.
The car accelerates quickly away from stoplights, but I rarely use a heavy right foot. After years of driving EVs, you get used to thinking about conserving charge. Although with this car, it’s not a concern. I haven’t taken my Ioniq 5 on a long trip where I would need recharging, such as to Los Angeles (or New York), but it comes with DC fast charging if I needed to.
As with the other EVs, this one cruises on the freeway in silence, with only overt pavement roughness intruding. While it uses screens inside for most functions, there is a manual volume knob for the audio, and there’s a full instrument panel screen behind the steering wheel, so you’re not looking at one big center panel, like with a Tesla.
One amusing feature: A few seconds after you plug in the charging cable, a voice emanates from the car, saying, “Charging started.”
At this point in my EV adventure, life is good. My only concern is what I’m going to do a year from now, when the two-year lease runs out. There should be even more attractive options by then.
Steve Schaefer works for Rivian, but the opinions expressed here are his own.
The post Personal: My Ongoing EV Adventure first appeared on Clean Fleet Report.
