“EVs are the future,” is how the nice guy who sold us his Hyundai Ioniq described his transition to owning too many electric cars. After admitting that one of the cars had to go, we were lucky enough to pick up the Ioniq at the used market.
At first we thought of a used hybrid like Corolla, Camry or something similarly exciting. Then our thinking shifted to promoting the adoption of non-planetary vehicles of destruction. So we swallowed our nervousness about spending money on a rapidly decaying asset and looked at new vehicles.
Oh. The truck stops don’t have any in stock. Oh. You have to order them. Oh. Delivery will take place in 3-5 months. Maybe. Terms and conditions apply. Especially the one that there is no guarantee of this delivery time.
Three to five months? We wanted to start saving the planet now.
Then our friend mentioned that he knew about someone who was thinking of selling their electric vehicle. So we bought our sufficiently new Hyundai Ioniq from a friend of a friend.
Now, before you say you buy something from a friend of a friend, do it with drugs, not cars, I want to point out that I don’t have these types of friends. Hit me in the comments if you want to correct this situation.
Anyone who’s been through a private sale will know how the process goes. You check the car isn’t on fire, take a test drive, talk a little about cars, discuss the price, fill out the paperwork, and then hand over a huge pile of cash like you’re buying drugs. Not that I know of.
The main difference with our purchase was the test drive. The mantra “The best way to convert people to electric vehicles is to let them drive them” still seems to apply to people who are about to buy. Not only were we allowed to drive the Ioniq, but also the owner’s other cars, including their pride and joy Tesla. As an aside, Tesla’s don’t spin that well.
Driving an electric vehicle was an interesting change. Not having to brake is great. The continuous acceleration and power without changing gears or adjusting the speed is fun. Likewise the calm driving feeling.
Our Ioniq is the premium edition and therefore has several other functions that make driving a pleasure. It also makes zero to a hundred who gives an @ # $% and has heated and cooled seats. Not a feature I’ve ever looked at on a datasheet, but now I can’t imagine having a car without it.
We were lucky enough to have a friend of a friend. The used car market is not dissimilar to the new market. The offer is just not there.
Unless we can find a way to get the federal government to subsidize electric cars the way they do. Maybe pay Scott Cam a six-figure sum to drive an electric car? And that’s important because most people are introduced to electric vehicle ownership through the second-hand market.
Ever since we got the Ioniq, we’ve been getting all the usual questions. As they are? How far can you go? How long do they take to charge?
Can our little car pull a huge caravan and boat non-stop uphill for a week at 150 km / h while it solves a Rubik’s Cube and mines Bitcoin? But the question of battery life and the lifespan of the car also arises from second-hand sources.
Well, used Evs are actually pretty good. If batteries are handled well, they will last. Just like any other vehicle and its auto-make-go bits.
Recharging the battery at home was a revelation, and we certainly didn’t fail to visit the gas station for the weekly smoke-sniffing exercise.
We have installed a Zappi and mainly charge through our solar panels. We expected a shocking electricity bill, but obviously the starvation wages we received for feeding into the grid were better spent on charging our car and we did not see any increase in our bill.
And instead of fear of range, can we speak of fear of fuel costs? We didn’t fail to adjust our refills to the cheap day – that means best not to piss with rain. With lead-free prices currently above $ 1.70 / L in Perth, choosing this cheap day is something other people may be concerned about. It sucks to be her.
The last service was an eye opener. It was so cheap for the dealer to put it on the lift for an hour while they checked the wiper fluid and polished the Hyundai badge. As the technician said to me afterwards: “There are simply not enough moving parts in it for something to go wrong.”
Compared to our old ICE vehicle that the Ioniq replaced, servicing a used electric vehicle is a fraction of the cost. And this is compared to a 20 year old Ford Falcon, which is relatively cheap to maintain. The main reason for this is that parts for a Falcon are easy to find in front yards and on roadsides across the country.
Mileage – shouldn’t that mean mileage in Australia? – is pretty impressive at Ioniq. The sports car-like drag coefficient, the rain braking, which we keep at the highest level, and the great engine mean that we struggle for more than 14 kWh / 100 km even at motorway speeds over long distances. Our lowest consumption was 1.4 kWh / 100 km, which our on-board computer assures me that it is not a fault. And computers wouldn’t lie to us, would they?
On the few thousand kilometers that we have driven so far, the average consumption is 11.97 kWh / 100 km. This means that our real-world experience with lots of hills and half of our journeys at freeway speeds give us 320 km of range on the 38 kWh battery. Still popping on what Hyundai says it will be new.
Electric cars are the future – along with a larger public transport network and an increase in commuter cycling – and they’re an excellent used purchase.
Tyson Adams is a scientist, writer, and satirist, sometimes in that order. Especially in the third person he doesn’t like to brag, but he has a few science degrees, is married, son and daughter and is loudly committed to renewable energies and the betterment of the world. He owns 0 shares of Tesla.
