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Are EVs ready for Canadian summer road tripping? We decided to find out
Published Sep 08, 2023 • 13 minute read
Homeward – ONRoute Ingleside – 2023 Ioniq 6 Road Trip
Photo by Stephanie Wallcraft
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There’s a big shift happening this summer: EVs are appearing in places they haven’t before. At a campground, there’s a family piling out of a Hyundai Ioniq 5. Cruising down the highway, a Kia EV6 is towing a boat. At a rest stop in Atlantic Canada, a couple from B.C. arrives in a Hyundai Kona Electric. Canadians are buying EVs, and they’re getting on with their summer adventures. Clearly, the age of the great Canadian electric road trip has begun.
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We’re professional road trippers around these parts, but we’ve admittedly been slow to the game with this transition. Reports of unreliable public charging infrastructure have left us questioning how feasible electric road trip travel can be. But now that EV owners are putting their vehicles to the test, the time has come for us to do the same. This is how we find ourselves in southern Quebec touring national historic sites and other attractions in a 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6. Quebec has come a very long way since forts and waterways were the primary methods of travel, but is this part of Canada ready for another historic transportation shift? We set off to find out.
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2023 Hyundai IONIQ 6 MSRP $54,999 to $57,999
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What is the 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6?
We made this first attempt at an electric road trip easy on ourselves by selecting the 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6. As we’ve noted, it’s the most efficient EV available in Canada in 2023. And even in its least-efficient guise — the Preferred AWD Long Range with the Ultimate Package, seen here — the estimated range is 435 kilometres, a healthy distance for the Windsor-to-Quebec corridor.
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Adding the second electric motor to create all-wheel drive bumps the Ioniq 6’s power output to 320 horsepower and 446 lb-ft of torque, more than most drivers truly need. And since it qualifies for the full federal iZEV rebate as well as provincial programs where they exist, expect to knock $5,000 to $12,000 off the listed fees-in MSRP of $64,689, depending on where you live in Canada.
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The exterior design hasn’t grown on us, though with a ridiculously low drag coefficient of 0.21, its looks prioritize function over form. The inside, however, is easy to warm up to. It’s comfortable and spacious, and the technology works well, though wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto would be welcome. Driver assistance systems like automatic high beams and the optional Highway Drive Assist II all function flawlessly. My few quibbles are relatively minor. It’s too easy to confuse the shifter with the wiper stalk, and the car has a wide turning radius that would benefit from rear-axle steering, though that would add significantly to the cost.
How much is the 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 in Canada?
The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 starts at $57,652, including destination charges and other fees. All versions of the Hyundai Ioniq 6 qualify for federal and provincial EV incentive programs in Canada. The fully loaded 2023 Ioniq 6 Preferred AWD Long Range with the Ultimate Package we’re driving is priced at $64,689, fees in.
The Ioniq 6 is a safe choice for our first EV road trip, but so is Quebec: it has the most robust charging infrastructure in the country. We may be picking low-hanging fruit here, but we tend to run a tight program on these things. We’re also bringing a friend we’ve never travelled with before, so there isn’t a lot of room for error. What’s not ideal is starting this drive with less than a full charge. We set off on a summer Wednesday morning with the Ioniq 6’s 77.4 kWh battery at 50 per cent. (If you own an EV, you’ll likely have a Level 2 charger at home and would charge overnight prior to departure.) Our first hotel has a charger, so all we need to do is get to Montreal. Fortunately, the Ivy Charging Network now has Level 3 DC fast charging stations installed at nearly all of Ontario’s ONRoute rest stops. For charging convenience along the 401, this is a game-changer. It means a lot less advance research is needed before an electric run between Toronto and Montreal.
Pre-Montreal – ONRoute Port Hope – 2023 Ioniq 6 Road Trip
Photo by Stephanie Wallcraft
Our starting range of 218 kilometres is enough to get us from Etobicoke to the Port Hope ONRoute, where we plug in at 20 per cent to a charger rated at 100 kW.
EV charging tip for road trips #1: Aim to charge only as much as you need
The most helpful tip for mapping out EV charging is not to aim for a full charge. All EVs throttle their fast-charging intake significantly once they hit 80 per cent to protect the battery from degrading prematurely. But even 80 per cent is often unnecessary: you only need to get to your next charger, plus a cushion for emergencies. It feels counterintuitive, but you’ll often get where you’re going faster if you hit the road once you’ve recovered the range you need.
When we return to the Ioniq 6 after breakfast in Port Hope, it’s showing a charge of 67 per cent, or 322 kilometres. That should be more than enough to get us to the Mallorytown South ONRoute, 221 kilometres away.
Pre-Montreal – ONRoute Mallorytown North Cones – 2023 Ioniq 6 Road Trip
Photo by Stephanie Wallcraft
Imagine our mild heart attack as we pull up to the chargers and see bays lined with safety cones. Fortunately, only two chargers aren’t available.
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