The task was simple - a group of fifty of us, marshalled by Green Fleet Magazine, were given a route to cover 1,200 miles visiting five capitals in five days, all in electric vehicles from cars, vans, trucks and even an electric motorbike.
RouteThe route would follow the five capitals in bold:
What EV?
This was my third EV Rally and as you can see from the blogs below, I have driven most EVs. I wanted something very different.
There are now a whole host of EVs out there in all shapes and sizes although some of the mid-range SUV shapes are now much of a muchness. I needed something different.
The new Hyundai IONIQ 6 saloon seemed to fit the bill. It was also the 2023 World Car of the Year.
The IONIQ 5 was one of the defining cars of the past few years with its standout bold design and performance. I liked that but now for something completely different.
Looks
The IONIQ 6 is more of swoopy new saloon with attractive looks – there is a certain rear view which in the dark could be confused with an older Porsche 911. The shape is not only pretty but aerodynamic with various air inlets which open and close. Despite the swoopy style, akin to a coupe shape, there is plenty of room inside both up front and indeed in the back. Legroom and headroom in the back were fine and comfortable for someone just under six feet.
The 6 does not look big but it is deceptive due to its sleek shape and is bigger and taller than a BMW 5 Serries.
Obviously when driving a car, you see much more of the inside than the outside. It’s like a house - some ugly houses are designer paradises once inside. The 6 is classy inside and out. The door closes with a solid thud. The interior is automatically attractive.
The steering wheel is flat at the bottom and circular at the top but well-padded throughout. The dashboard and screen seem integrated rather than add-ons as they appear in some cars. The head-up display is fantastic. It not only shows speed and directions but also shows vehicles approaching or over-taking. I really missed the head-up display when I tried a phone-based sat nav as the instructions weren’t shown on the head-up screen.
I also loved the storage space below the central console which gave me and my co-driver lots of room for maps, charts, charge post instructions, check point guides, sunglasses and of course snacks. The two cup holders also worked a treat.
The boot isn’t massive, but the 401-litre luggage area was fine for the rally, but I guess a family with a buggy would struggle. As a bonus the IONIQ 6 gets a space under the bonnet which we used for storing charging cables.
InstrumentsThe controls and switches were mainly intuitive and sat nav was easy to programme. The steering wheel controls are also a good safety feature as it means you aren’t searching for controls outside of your field of vision.
The design is generally clean, simple, and modern which I like. However, the drive select stalk is in an odd place fairly low down behind the steering wheel and at times difficult to see what gear you are selecting as the steering wheel is in the way. I guess with time this would become intuitive although I was still learning, and I did put it in reverse rather than drive when disembarking from the ferry but did manage to avoid the vehicle very close behind. A close shave.
The interior became our home for five days and we loved it inside. We didn’t use the infotainment system much on our travels, but the sound system was good until we lost some of the stations in Ireland.
Edmund and Quentin Wilson at the 2023 EV Rally
DriveOver the five days I personally drove about 1,100 miles and my biggest compliment is that I was never tired nor uncomfortable. The ride is good and even in eco mode the steering is relatively firm and reactive. In sport mode it is even better but we didn’t use that much as we were looking to extend the range.
We drove on all sorts of roads on our adventure from motorways to toll roads, from the streets of London to cobbled streets of York, from Scottish b roads to the docks in Belfast. Whatever, the terrain the IONIQ 6 just lapped it up. It is a very comfortable car with a very comfortable ride but not in a boring American sedan way but in an exciting modern way.
ChargingThe IONIQ 6 is equipped with a 77 kWh battery available with two powertrains (rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive) with a good range of 322-338 miles. Its 800V technology, available as standard, allows you to benefit from 800v charging technology in just 18 minutes if using 350KW ultra-fast chargers. We probably managed to get close to these figures using a combination of roads. We were also tipped off that via the sat nav you can tell the car where you intend to charge so it can pre-heat the battery so that the quick charging is even quicker. This was a very useful tip for the EV Rally.
Cost & SpecThe Hyundai IONIQ 6 has a RRP range of £47,040 to £55,290.
It doesn’t feel like the fastest EV out there, but its performance is more than adequate.
Verdict on the car
I loved this car. I like the way it looks, drives, and charges. It is a modern, sophisticated, and ultra-comfortable car. It has a good range and great rapid charging speed. It does the business in towns, cities, rural roads, Ireland and in between.
My only niggles were the sat nav directions were sometimes too slow as in ‘now leave the roundabout’ when you have left. Also, I couldn’t get used to the position of the drive selector stalk which is somewhat hidden by the steering wheel. But those aren’t game changers.
If you want a great, attractive car that can cruise five capitals in complete comfort over five days, then I would recommend the Hyundai IONIQ 6.
Verdict on the rallyThis was my third EV Rally, and we learnt a lot. As well as the performance of my car I was impressed with the array of vans and indeed couple of impressive heavier trucks that completed the route. The AA support team in an Electric Toyota Proace with vehicle to vehicle charging and a VW Buzz, also showed that as a business we can continue to incorporate more electric vehicles onto out fleet.
Highlights of the rally for me were the Angel of the North, Stranraer ferry, Belfast’s Titanic dock, the rural lanes of Ireland, the comradery of the teams and of course the IONIQ 6.