[Sammoj]

Hi

I had a Nissan Leaf 30kWh for 3.5 years and liked the car but got frustrated with realistic range of around 90-100 on the motorway. Just before I retired I changed to an Ioniq Hybrid 2019 Premium SE and that has been my car for the last 14 months, 6000 miles. I liked the car but just felt ‘dirty’ going back to petrol even though it returned 62-68mpg. I longed for the days of electric again.

Today I went back to my dealer who had a Aug 2019 28kWh Ioniq Premium for a good trade in price with just 36 miles on the clock and I put 26 of them on test driving it! Loved the car but was tempted by a 2018 Leaf Tekna 40kWh due to the bigger battery. The Hyundai dealer also has a Nissan dealer next door and let me go out in their Leaf 62kWh e+ which I did. The ioniq returned 4.4 m/kWh and the Leaf I could not get higher than 3.5 m/kWh. Quick calculation showed a realistic range on the Ioniq of 130-140 miles and similar for the LEAF 40kWh.

I didn‘t enjoy the leaf drive and loved the Ioniq so I bought it! I am now the owner of a 2019 very low mileage 28kWh Ioniq Premium - should I have gone for the bigger battery LEAF, although older and 24k on the clock, or have I done the right thing with CCS charging and a 28kWh Ioniq which I need to give me 120+ range ideally for me not to feel frustrated.

What do you Ioniq 28kwh owners think?

John

 

[AndrewC]

I own a Zoe 50 CCS but I think you did the right thing. I have always been envious of the Ioniq's efficiency. If the boot is big enough then I think you will be happy.

 

[srichards]

Leaf 40 is very flawed. Long journeys in the Ioniq will be far easier as you can drive and charge and drive and charge as much as you want. Leaf 40 is a couple of rapids and it'll be in a mood.

 

[Hitstirrer]

I think that you did the right thing - but I would say that wouldn't I as an owner of the same model. The classic Ioniq can achieve incredible efficiency if driven sympathetically and excellent figures if driven enthusiastically. That makes its range equal to the Leaf 40 but at a lower energy cost. The flappy paddle system of regen selection is a great feature. Particularly the ability to cancel all regen and coast in suitable situations. That emphasises the 'slippy' shape of the car as it will coast for hundreds of metres without losing much speed - as if a Startrek traction beam has latched on. Quite spooky until you get used to it. Gaining such distance without the use of any energy is satisfying and much more efficient than being forced to regen as in other EVs which will always lose some energy from system losses. You made the correct decision. Enjoy.

 

[IoniqHugh]

Pat yourself on the back for making a good decision. The range will be fine. We travel most weekends to our holiday caravan that is exactly 120 miles. We usually start with an indicated 160 something and arrive with around 35-40 left. We sometimes charge up at the 90 mile mark on a Polar charger, and it usually charges back to 95% in 20-25 minutes. I read, and understand some people love the stats and enjoy calculating to the nth degree. We just drive it and love the car, the range and the lack of fuss. On my suggestion my brother has bought a secondhand one and also loves everything about it. Enjoy! Agree with everything Hitstirrer has put too!

 

[Ralkbirdy]

Virtually no other car can charge as quickly as 28kWh Ioniq, 65kW on new 125kW chargers at 4-6 m/kWh and just recharger as often as needed. Happily does 350 mile Birmingham to Scotland journey with 90 mile charging breaks.
At 20c, did 148 miles, but less at 5c.

Others have rightly criticised the CO2 emmissions of battery production, the 28kWh is plenty, also much better cost effective than a £35k car.

 

[Drewby80]

I could not get higher than 3.5 m/kWh

What type of driving were you doing? My 40kw Leaf averages 4.4 miles/KWh without me even trying!

If I drive it carefully it’s more towards 5!

Did you do a good chunk of the test at 70mph + failing that did it have a flat tyre? 😂

Now I know the 62 is a little heavier than the 40 but that can’t be correct.

Did you reset the average prior to testing it, as it’s possible that someone had been driving the wheels off it before your test that gave you a false average?

 

[Sammoj]

What type of driving were you doing? My 40kw Leaf averages 4.4 miles/KWh without me even trying!

If I drive it carefully it’s more towards 5!

Did you do a good chunk of the test at 70mph + failing that did it have a flat tyre? 😂

Now I know the 62 is a little heavier than the 40 but that can’t be correct.

Did you reset the average prior to testing it, as it’s possible that someone had been driving the wheels off it before your test that gave you a false average?

Yes I reset it, having had the 30kWh I am fairly familiar with the controls on the LEAF. I did 26 miles mainly motorway, I tried to emulate the same conditions in both cars. Some at 70mph and some slipstreaming at around 60. I used ProPilot and Adaptive Cruise on both cars.

Ironically you ask about the flat tyre and it was the Ioniq that I had that, actually had to pull over and inflate it!

Maybe it was just the extra weight of the 62 but either way I preferred the drive of the Ioniq to the leaf and it felt more modern to me but then I had just got out of my Hybrid into the Electric so it was also familiar.

I am sure the 40kWh Leaf can probably do a greater range than the 28kWh Ioniq in some conditions but i was surprised how close they were to each other.

J

 

[srichards]

My long term average with the leaf 40 was 3.8 miles per kWh. If you tend to drive mostly 50mph-70mph roads that's what you get. It's built for bimbling.

 

[Drewby80]

Yes I reset it, having had the 30kWh I am fairly familiar with the controls on the LEAF. I did 26 miles mainly motorway, I tried to emulate the same conditions in both cars. Some at 70mph and some slipstreaming at around 60. I used ProPilot and Adaptive Cruise on both cars.

Ironically you ask about the flat tyre and it was the Ioniq that I had that, actually had to pull over and inflate it!

Maybe it was just the extra weight of the 62 but either way I preferred the drive of the Ioniq to the leaf and it felt more modern to me but then I had just got out of my Hybrid into the Electric so it was also familiar.

I am sure the 40kWh Leaf can probably do a greater range than the 28kWh Ioniq in some conditions but i was surprised how close they were to each other.

J

Ahh 70mph will not give good m/KWh, early 60’s is the sweet spot.

I forget how much more air resistance there is doing those extra 10mph but it’s pretty significant!

Also slip-streaming only really delivers benefits if you are driving an inherently un-aerodynamic vehicle which a leaf certainly isn’t!

So it’s not really worth it, it doesn’t really matter which EV your driving travelling at 70mph delivers much worse range results than doing 60.

I just accept I’m going to arrive a few minutes later.

 

[Sammoj]

Ahh 70mph will not give good m/KWh, early 60’s is the sweet spot.

I forget how much more air resistance there is doing those extra 10mph but it’s pretty significant!

Also slip-streaming only really delivers benefits if you are driving an inherently un-aerodynamic vehicle which a leaf certainly isn’t!

So it’s not really worth it, it doesn’t really matter which EV your driving travelling at 70mph delivers much worse range results than doing 60.

I just accept I’m going to arrive a few minutes later.

I take your point @Drewby80 but the journey was as identical as I could make it for both cars, same route, same driving style, gentle right foot, used ePedal on the Leaf most of the time and Pro-Pilot but still a 1 mile / kWh difference between the two cars. If I take your figure of 4.4 miles per kWh it would be more equal to the Ioniq on that particular trip. I have seen reports of Ioniq figures up to 6.8 miles per kWh but don’t know if I would achieve these.

What I do know is when I had my Leaf 30kWh I never saw much about 4.2-4.3 and in its final 6 months i would not want to do more than 80 miles between charges. I loved that car but didn’t feel the same when I got back into the new 62 e+ Leaf for some reason, maybe I have just got too used to the Hyundai driving position and controls, it was familiar I guess.

Out of interest what do you think the realistic range is on your car?

John

 

[Drewby80]

I take your point @Drewby80 but the journey was as identical as I could make it for both cars, same route, same driving style, gentle right foot, used ePedal on the Leaf most of the time and Pro-Pilot but still a 1 mile / kWh difference between the two cars. If I take your figure of 4.4 miles per kWh it would be more equal to the Ioniq on that particular trip. I have seen reports of Ioniq figures up to 6.8 miles per kWh but don’t know if I would achieve these.

What I do know is when I had my Leaf 30kWh I never saw much about 4.2-4.3 and in its final 6 months i would not want to do more than 80 miles between charges. I loved that car but didn’t feel the same when I got back into the new 62 e+ Leaf for some reason, maybe I have just got too used to the Hyundai driving position and controls, it was familiar I guess.

Out of interest what do you think the realistic range is on your car?

John

That rather depends on what type of driving you are using it for, I’m self employed and multi drop deliver with my leaf all day.

I generally drive around 70 miles per day all city driving.

I usually charge to 80% and generally finish my day with around 30% so used like this from 100-0 around 140 miles in theory.

I have motorway driven in it but it’s rare that I drive above 60, in fact I usually set pro pilot to 58mph on the summer I’d be disappointed to get less than 125 miles like this.

I selected the leaf because it was the best vehicle to do my job on balance of cost and capability.

I don’t need to rapid charge very often or drive beyond the range of the car with 1 rapid on a long journey ever.

the 40k is perfect for my needs, I guess you need to look at what you require and choose the best all rounder for you.

I chopped a BMW for my leaf and it was the best choice ever made! 😃

e-pedal is the best thing about the 40k leaf in my book, doing my job it’s a god send! I almost never touch the bake pedal, in fact unless another manufacturer delivers this I would only really consider another leaf or an i3 in the future which I’m informed is permanently locked in this mode.

But as they say each to their own.

 

[IoniqHugh]

5-6 miles per kWh is the norm in summer for us at mid-60’s. Incidentally, your charger perfectly suits an overnight charge of four hours on Octopus Go at 5 pence .....another advantage of a 28kWh car. Octopus discount of £50 on my code below for anybody who is interested
I looked at Kona for example, and it just doesn’t stack up for me, for extra cost and extra charging. Might be the same on the big battery Nissans? Everyone will have different priorities of course, but my Ioniq feels a keeper for me.

 

[Sammoj]

5-6 miles per kWh is the norm in summer for us at mid-60’s. Incidentally, your charger perfectly suits an overnight charge of four hours on Octopus Go at 5 pence .....another advantage of a 28kWh car. Octopus discount of £50 on my code below for anybody who is interested
I looked at Kona for example, and it just doesn’t stack up for me, for extra cost and extra charging. Might be the same on the big battery Nissans? Everyone will have different priorities of course, but my Ioniq feels a keeper for me.

Thanks, I am already on Octopus Agile - has saved me a packet....of course will need to think ahead and manually set the charge timer to get the best out of that when I plug in - no app for Ioniq - not that it always worked on the old Leaf anyway,...

J

 

[Sammoj]

Picked up the car this afternoon and managed 5.1 miles/kWh on the way back up the A1 at a combination of 70 and 50 mph. 14% charge used on 26 miles so very happy with that. Car had to have a new 12v battery fitted as wrecked due to lack of use, 13 months sitting in the compound from new, hopefully the main battery didnt suffer any damage but seems good so far and have 4 years warranty left + 7 years battery warranty so not too bothered.

Much nicer than the Hybrid it replaced.

J

 

[MDave]

The Ioniq is really great at telling how many miles/kWh you do for each journey in a day.

I get 154 miles fully charged with an average of 5.5miles/kWh, and I drive it only in Sports mode with level 3 regen. But I drive it in that mode conservatively (I don't go into the grey PWR gauge on the far left), I just prefer Sports mode for a more sensitive accelerator pedal.

Weight, aerodynamics, battery size/weight and motor power make it reach a golden ratio for range.

 

[Bill N]

Good decision OP.

Smaller battery cars just get more and more viable and attractive as more and more rapid chargers are installed.