Welcome.
You can use app route planners in ZapMap or A Better Route Planner - they will give you plenty of choices for charging points and route/s (e.g. avoid tolls etc)
If the car SatNav has been kept up to date (about very 6 months) it will be pretty accurate and unlikely to cause any headaches.
When I have driven long'ish motorway trips in England - I've found the Gridserve charge points (almost every motorway service station) to work easily - just plug-in and contactless card to start.
I work on the top-up whenever I fancy (up tp 80%) principle otherwise you can start getting range anxious or upset when the charge point is already in use . . .Patience is necessary as an ev person.
Bluelink is handy but the car tells you (on the dash screen) how long it will take to reach the desired charge level.
Above 80% charging slows down to a very slow pace - so I rarely set higher.
Relax and I hope you have a great journey.

 

Thank you for the reply @catstevecam
I've been looking at Gridserve map and they seem to have plenty of chargers available along the route. Do they charge the same flat rate per kWh or do they vary like petrol/diesel? I've now signed up to Zap-Map and reading some very useful info on there. I've also had a quick look at A Better Route Planner but the app doesn't get very good ratings, at least on Android. I'll have another look at it anyway. Thanks!

 

I'd suggest that you do some (no, a lot of) pre-planning your route and stops and charges. The main "rule" I'd follow is to always intend to stop somewhere where there is contingency; namely where you have other charging opportunities nearby (and always well within your range) - in case of queues, outages etc. Don't leave it until the last "minute".

When doing so, I would not rely on any one source for chargepoint data; I have yet to find one (please let me know if there is one) that is 100% accurate. So I tend to use several - and take the worst position indicated by them together (eg if one offers a charger and another does not - then I'd assume "not"). Once you have a plan - send those locations to the car's navigation using BlueLink.

Do not rely on the car's estimated range. It is a calculation based on recent driving history and therefore consumption and your usage may differ. That may mean the actual consumption (and therefore, range) is worse or better than the estimate.

Max out your range by cruising on the motorway at, say, 60mph rather than 70. That can mean a difference of 20 miles on a full battery, and doesn't add much time. Don't use aircon or heat unless you absolutely have to. If it's too hot - turn on the seat ventilation before you use aircon. Too cold - heat the seat in preference to the cabin.

If you have cause to make an unplanned stop (eg for your own needs) then look to make a top-up - even if it's not complete. Every bit adds range and therefore the distance you can go before having to stop again.

This car is absolutely NOT a quick charger under any circumstances. Equally, it's extremely efficient so the actual number of kWh you need to feed it will be lower than just about any other. Expect that - even between 20-80% - it will take probably well over 30 minutes.

My understanding of ULEZ is that - as a zero emission vehicle you can go where you please without formality. But note there is also a central congestion charge zone and that's very different. Keep away.

As to roads - in my experience (so - very much E&OE), for driving/making progress - the A1 is preferable to the M1, although they both can have their moments - and, being motorways, once you are in it, you can't get out. But I can't speak for EV chargers being as plentiful; I do know there are a good number.

 

The main "rule" I'd follow is to always intend to stop somewhere where there is contingency; namely where you have other charging opportunities nearby (and always well within your range) - in case of queues, outages etc. Don't leave it until the last "minute".

Thanks a lot for that. This is something I am conscious of, but obviously have zero experience. I've plotted stops with multiple chargers but of course, there is no guarantee they will be available. I'll definitely do more research on nearby chargers just in case and change stops if they are too isolated.

When doing so, I would not rely on any one source for chargepoint data; I have yet to find one (please let me know if there is one) that is 100% accurate.

Thanks for that. I don't know if the likes of Zap-Map source their updates from users or the actual charging network. Either way, I won't take it at face value that a bay is available. I'll try to stop at stations with close-by alternatives.

Do not rely on the car's estimated range.

The Zap-Map gives a default estimate of 100 miles and I've set minimum recharge to 20%. The longest trip I have I think is 138 miles between charging so hopefully that will be enough if I drive sensibly.

Max out your range by cruising on the motorway at, say, 60mph rather than 70.

Thanks! I was thinking somewhere between 60-65mph. I've heard about 'hypermiling' and that some following a large lorry can add a decent few miles to the range. This might be unnecessary but very interesting regardless.

turn on the seat ventilation before you use aircon. Too cold - heat the seat in preference to the cabin

I'd completly forgotten about the seats having cold ventilation too! I've never had that in a car before. Only heated. Does this make much a difference in power draw versus AC? I'd never have thought of that. Thank you!

If you have cause to make an unplanned stop (eg for your own needs) then look to make a top-up - even if it's not complete.

Again, something I never really thought of. I'll look closely along the route and consider additional stops. Thanks.

Expect that - even between 20-80% - it will take probably well over 30 minutes.

I anticipate something between 45-60 minutes and hopefully I am over-estimating here. I hope the "coldgate" issue isn't a thing here as it seems to only affect very cold climates.

But note there is also a central congestion charge zone and that's very different. Keep away.

That's probably what I got myself confused about. My route does not go through any congestion charge zone thankfully. I just wasn't totally sure if the extended ULEZ zone was anything to worry about and if there was some silly cost involved, even for an EV.

the A1 is preferable to the M1

It looks like the route will start on the M25 towards Birmingham. What does concern me is when and where I will hit heavy traffic. That is probably an ideal time to charge, but then maybe this is the thinking behind a lot of other EV owners. As an EV noob, I don't know if there can be issues with availability.

I will be collecting the car near Leatherhead and I hope to be gone by 10 or 11am latest. The sailing is at midnight. The trip should be 8-9 hours. with 3 hours or so of charging, that should leave me an or 2. Worst case, I miss the ferry and get the next one at 4am.

 

I don't know if the likes of Zap-Map source their updates from users or the actual charging network.

I think parts of it are supposedly live data from providers - but you can't even rely on that. Example: one PodPoint outlet near here was showing as available by PodPoint two years after it went down and, importantly, two years after it last communicated with their server. (IMO that should have rung an alarm bell.)

The longest trip I have I think is 138 miles between charging so hopefully that will be enough if I drive sensibly.

It should be easily doable, esp if you ensure you are at at least 80% when you leave the previous stop.

..seats...cold ventilation....Does this make much a difference in power draw versus AC?

Much, much less power usage. It's just a set of fans. No actual cooling. But it still helps in less than unbearable temperatures. Also - cabin fan but aircon off (if bearable).

I hope the "coldgate" issue isn't a thing here as it seems to only affect very cold climates.

Coldgate won't be a factor, I believe.

What does concern me is when and where I will hit heavy traffic. That is probably an ideal time to charge, but then maybe this is the thinking behind a lot of other EV owners. As an EV noob, I don't know if there can be issues with availability.

Heavy traffic - there may be some predictability based on time of day etc., but there is always the random factor.

 

That’s an epic journey for an EV novice but you seem to be up to speed on it all, well done on the research.

Motorway speeds zap range and charging past 80% is time consuming, a balance is needed to stay efficient in both time and energy. The Ioniq is a really efficient car and I have found that driving at 65 rather than 70mph on motorways still gives me around 5 mi/kWh, at 70mph the efficiency drops to the mid 4 mi/kWh.

Good luck and enjoy your Ioniq

 

Wow, that's quite an ambitious plan! Quite sure you'll be fine, but I don't think many people would be quite so daring!

I think Android auto does require a cable. I wouldn't rely on the built-in navigation, it might well not have been updated in a while. Ours certaily wasn't (I think it's maps of our neighbourhood outdated the car by some years...) Then again, driving on the motorway to a ferry is just about as easy as it gets for driving based on signpostes alone.

Maybe someone here can back me up on this: but I have the impression that when I bought it, my 2017 Ioniq would go from "30 km range" to "--- range" just like that. That is scary, but I think it's somehow been updated to give a proper estimation down to 5 km or so. Your newly bought Ioniq may still go to "---" early. If you do drain the battery, it will go into "turtle mode" and reduce the power available. This gets worse the further you drain the battery, but even in the beginning I would say driving in turtle mode on the motorway is unsafe.

DC charging is really fast, I doubt stopping at 80% is going to be beneficial to your total travel time if it means an extra stop on your journey. But please also consider your own fatigue: if you don't drive too fast, your body should probably need recharging before your car does.

Edit: also ask the seller to properly inflate the tyres for you. This can make a huge difference. There's probably some thing on this forum about the ideal pressure for "hypermiling".

 

Good luck and enjoy your Ioniq

Thank you!

But please also consider your own fatigue: if you don't drive too fast, your body should probably need recharging before your car does.

Thanks for that. Yes, 8-9 hours is quite the journey. So far I think I have 3 stops in but I'll likely stop 1-2 times more than that just for a quick toilet break and a coffee or something. Maybe even another 10-15 minute charge during this short stops wouldn't do any harm

Edit: also ask the seller to properly inflate the tyres for you. This can make a huge difference. There's probably some thing on this forum about the ideal pressure for "hypermiling".

It is a main Hyundai dealer, so I would expect them to ensure the tyres are properly inflated, but thanks. I will definitely remind them to do this. The tyres look to be in great condition at least.

I'm quite looking forward to the trip. If I'm able to leave the dealer at 10am, that gives me 14 hours to make the midnight ferry. 8-9 hours driving and 2.5-3 hours charging stops should hopefully leave me enough time. If I miss the midnight ferry, I'll just put the driver seat right the whole way back to sleep for a few hours and get the 4am ferry. I might be late for work that morning though

 

I'm in WInchester, recently did a trip to Galway & Northern Ireland in my 38. Went via Fishguard, stayed overnight at accomodation in/near Rosslaire which worked perfectly. Left Winch 6am ish, got to F'gd around noon for afternoon ferry arriving 5 ish, perfect for overnight rest. Ireland has excellent motorways with decent Rapids on them, tho as we were on hols we avoided them & went cross-country to near Galway. A week later motored up to Kesh for2nd week here. Plenty of towns have 1-3 Rapids in, these seem to be little used, so they worked fine. Charging's cheaper in Ireland!

FYI here's the 38 charging curve. Best rate up to 60% SOC, then drops to 33 kW. If the battery is cool, it'l charge at around 33kW from empty up to 60%, so allow an hour for a really large topup.

Original image by FASTNED, thank you! Updated by me a bit.
https://support.fastned.nl/hc/en-gb/sections/4428932764573-Vehicles

 

Thank you! I absolutely plan to go on a few trips to southern Ireland at some point and its good to know the charging network is good down there. It doesn't seem to be too great in Northern Ireland but I've honestly not looked a great deal considering almost all my charging will be done at home. I plan to get a proper 7kW home charger installed when we move house, hopefully in the next few months. For now, I'll have to use the granny cable but it's still cheaper than the rapid chargers. Rapid charging in NI is about 55p per kWh currently. At least if Zap-Map is accurate!

 

Example: one PodPoint outlet near here was showing as available by PodPoint two years after it went down

Wow. That is utterly ridiculous. There's no excuse for that. Podpoint straight on the **** list for me.

It should be easily doable, esp if you ensure you are at at least 80% when you leave the previous stop.

Thanks. I set the max charge to 80% at each stop when planning the route, but may go a few percent above that depending on time.

Coldgate won't be a factor, I believe.

Good to know! My battery will be quite active for a number of hours obviously so hopefully that'll mean it should be at a nice temp at each charging stop.

Much, much less power usage.

AC off it is then! I've never used a cold air blowing seat before so it'll be interesting to try it out.

Heavy traffic - there may be some predictability based on time of day etc., but there is always the random factor.

This is way I've made preparations if I can't make the midnight ferry, I can get the next one, or even the next one after that. I should make it comfortably if the trip goes according to plan, but outside factors like, delayed at the dealer for various paperwork reasons, unforseen traffic, vehicle issues (hopefully not!) and so on.

Still more prep to be done but I'm learning more about the Do's and Don'ts thanks to the folks on this forum.

 

FYI here's the 38 charging curve.

How did you get that chart? I'm definitely interested in doing this myself. Is there a third party app I can use along with a Bluetooth ODB2 dongle? Thanks!

 

Originally a Fastned curve, with a lot of editting by me to reflect recent change to BMS in the 38, and my own experience. I'll add a credit note to that post! See this useful link for shed-loads of such info!
https://support.fastned.nl/hc/en-gb/sections/4428932764573-Vehicles

 

A better route planner uses this graph and will ask you to charge till 60,65 or 70%.
In the setting, fiddle with max speed to find out that 110km/h is the fastest speed for long trips.
In the settings, set min amount of chargers on a station to 2 to avoid stranding at a broken charger.
On vacation, I do such distances without problems. Simulate the remaining trip in abrp, export destinations to google maps and display with android auto.

Succes,
Johan ioniq2020

 

Wow, a lot of posts! Something nobody has mentioned is: When on a motorway with ups/downs, keep your foot position constant on the pedal when going up- don't keep your speed constant (if safe to do). Let it drop a few MPH and re-gain it coming down the grade. This is why manual throttle control is superior to cruise control. It will clearly boost your available range, Also, don't speed. Anything over 65mph reduces range significantly. Arrive Alive. (and with charge left!)

 

A better route planner uses this graph and will ask you to charge till 60,65 or 70%.

Thanks. Maybe I'm being silly here, but how does ABRP know the exact charging rate? Can you pair it with a Bluetooth dongle? I'm not familiar with the app.

On vacation, I do such distances without problems. Simulate the remaining trip in abrp, export destinations to google maps and display with android auto.

Thanks! I was wondering how the navgation works with Zap-Map/ABRP. So the idea is to export the journey to Google Maps? Out of interest, does ABRP warn you if the next charging station on your route is fully occupied or is it pot-luck?

keep your foot position constant on the pedal when going up- don't keep your speed constant (if safe to do). Let it drop a few MPH and re-gain it coming down the grade.

I plan to use the cruise control as much as possible, but I assume from what you're saying is to override this on uphill parts of the motorway by increasing a few mph. My planned cruising speed is 65mph, but I can adapt that up or down depending on time and projected efficiency.

Also, don't speed. Anything over 65mph reduces range significantly. Arrive Alive. (and with charge left!)

I don't speed anyway . 65mph should be more than fast enough provided there are no major traffic catastrophes along the route. Thanks!

 

No, do not keep your speed constant up hills. Keep your accelerator foot position relatively unchanged. Cruise control tries to keep the speed constant. You don't want that... no need to. Let it drop a few MPH and regain the speed going down the hill. ABRP may not work in the UK. It is the main route planner here in the states. You set up your profile in it first...dictating many parameters so that it will be most accurate. It is an excellent program.

 

Charging rate is lower than most chargers can deliver, 50kW charger will do, more recent cars prefer the faster ones. Abrp knows the power of the dc chargers. Your car will keep you informed of rate, %battery and time to set % or 80%. I find stopping a charging session easiest by dropping the dc charge limit.

I use abrp without dongle. Works fine for me. You can use abrp in android auto as well, but that's not free. Keep an eye on the difference between distance to do and distance guesometer (will adjust with a delay to your driving habits).
Pitty you can't set temp an windspeed/direction anymore in the free version, it uses typical weather for the time of year&place.

Check the tires on your car. If not low energy, wrong season, you'll consume more electrons. (Bought mine near Lyon in freezing weather with cheap winter tires on it ... while northern France was still a charger desert ... much better these days though)

Study average availability of free apps like shell Recharge on beforehand to get a feeling.

Get a free charge card (does not mean free electrons) to avoid numerous sign up sessions for every chargerstationbrand. Don't try to find the cheapest ones on the first trip.

In abrp settings, block chargers that are not 24/7.

As the fastest travel time (including charging) is at 110km/h on highways, there is room to coast downhill (use the flippers) speeding up a little. Regen breaking will generate some waste heat in the power electronics you can avoid, mechanical breaking generares only heat.

If driving alone, use cooling/heating driver only.

Pick it up 100% charged, see that it comes with an ac charging and granny charging cable. As with any car, check fluit levels before you drive off. Read the users manual on beforehand.

Expect after the first charge charging sessions 15 to 20' every 60 to 80 minutes. Perfect for small pittstops.

Succes

 

I use abrp without dongle. Works fine for me. You can use abrp in android auto as well, but that's not free. Keep an eye on the difference between distance to do and distance guesometer (will adjust with a delay to your driving habits).
Pitty you can't set temp an windspeed/direction anymore in the free version, it uses typical weather for the time of year&place.

ABRP has a 14 day free trial. As this is a one-off journey, it would probably be wise for me to take advantage of it. I'll sign up to the trial once I have a confirmed date and that will give me access to the premium options. It should be within the next couple of weeks.

Check the tires on your car. If not low energy, wrong season, you'll consume more electrons.

The tires appear to be the Michelin EV specific tires but I will double check this with the dealer.

Get a free charge card (does not mean free electrons) to avoid numerous sign up sessions for every chargerstationbrand.

From the stops I have planned, all of them accept contactless payment, except for the last one in Scotland, but that one can easily be paid online. Is there a particular UK charge card worth getting that would be more convenient? I know absolutely nothing about these.

In abrp settings, block chargers that are not 24/7.

I didn't even know there was an option for that. Thanks! I've just been looking back on my planned trip and thankfully, all the charging stops appear to be 24x7. I'll triple check this to be sure.

As the fastest travel time (including charging) is at 110km/h on highways, there is room to coast downhill (use the flippers) speeding up a little.

So using the flippers to disengage any regen when going up/down hills and use the pedals? Would this make a significant difference to range? Thanks.

Pick it up 100% charged, see that it comes with an ac charging and granny charging cable. As with any car, check fluit levels before you drive off. Read the users manual on beforehand.

The dealer has already assured me the car will be fully charged, valeted and serviced upon collection, so I would expect all fluid levels to be checked. I'll ask them again anyway, and also ensure they have set the correct tyre pressure. Thank you for your helpful comments!

 

From the stops I have planned, all of them accept contactless payment, except for the last one in Scotland, but that one can easily be paid online. Is there a particular UK charge card worth getting that would be more convenient? I know absolutely nothing about these.

You can sign up for ChargeMyHyundai card, has a lot of European Rapids on it. The pay-as-you-go one I think adds 50p cover charge to whatever the Rapid costs. Worth having as it's an RFID card, worked at one very new Aldi 7kW Type 2 near Athlone where nothing else I had did!
I also have Elli card, again costs nothing. I have Chargemap mainly for France, but this worked at a rapid near Rosslaire where oter cards failed! I do sometimes wonder what's going on behind the scenes! Not cheap to use this card in Ireland though!

So using the flippers to disengage any regen when going up/down hills and use the pedals? Would this make a significant difference to range? Thanks.

As you drive along a nominally level road, no cruise control, steady speed, the tiny bumps mean your foot goes up & down a bit on the pedal. So you're likely to have microscopic accelerate-decelerate-accelerate commands going to the motor. That decel implies regen, so the higher your regen setting, the more braking & current fluctuation.

Regen is inefficient, you don't get back 100% of what goes into battery, so it's best not to put that extra energy into the motor in the first place. So regen=0 minimises these accidental, tiny losses, and it also encourages you to coast up to traffic lights, slowing naturally, rather than belting up to them & braking hard. Gentleness and minimum acceleration are good aims. Hence the tip about easing off as you approach top of hill, recovering that speed later as you go down again. Exactly as per petrol car, trying to minimise petrol burnt. Cruise Control works well to keep speed constant, but fails to anticipate crest of hills, traffic stalled ahead etc.

Choice of speed - we reckon that Ioniq 28/38 at 40 mph on the flat uses about the same energy to overcome tyre Rolling Resistance as it does the Wind Resistance. RR goes up very slightly with speed, not a big problem.
Wind resistance goes up hugely, with square of speed.

So at 40 mph let's say you're using 1 unit of energy for RR during the trip & 1 for Wind, total 2 units used.
At 60 mph you'll use maybe 1.1 units RR, but (6*6)/(4*4) units Wind, call it 2 units. Total 3 units used on the trip.
At 70 you'll use (7*7)/(4*4) units Wind, call it 3 units, so Total 4 units for the whole trip.

These are ballpark figures, but you get the idea. Driving in Ireland recently with 45 top speed, I was getting 7 miles/kWh around the country lanes!

So I try to keep my top speed to my chosen limit. Let's say 64 on speedo, about 60 real acc to TomTop satnav.
If descending a long slope, it's tempting to set regen=0 & let the car speed up to 74 (70 real) for e.g.

But this is wasteful, as that high speed is costing you a lot more windage loss, so you're better off increasing regen to maintain 60 on the descent. That way you've put a bit of energy back into the battery you'ld have lost.
Ok, for the last bit of the dip I might adjust to regen=0 & let the car speed up to 70 for a few moments, won't make a lot of difference, and it might be fractionally more efficient storing that final burst as kinetic energy in the car's increased speed, rather than converting it to electricity then back again to motion a few seconds later.

Headwinds are bad news - a 10 mph headwind means your chosen 60 mph real is 70 mph relative to the wind, so very lossy! Ideally you'ld slow to 50 mph, to restore that planned 60 mph cruising speed relative to wind. But that's not always convenient!
OTOH a tail wind is great news! Makes that 60 mph super-eco!

Electrical losses in motors, wires etc go up with the square of the current you take, so hard acceleration may get you to the same speed as slow acceleration, but is likely to cost you more in themal losses in the wires. So again, super-gentle acceleration avoids that, reduces tyre wear, generally less stress on you & the car, good stuff all round.

Pull & hold the left paddle in the 38 brings car to a complete stop, somehow seems to manage to hold car on uphill stops without using the discs & without any current used - dunno how they manage this! But it's a bit flakey on down-slopes, always gives strong slow-down, but that final halt is rather hit&miss! So allow plenty of space infront & be prepared to press the brake pedal! In practice I hardly ever use brake pedal, instead I like to play with regen paddles to slow & stop the car, keeps my brain active & it's fun! Who needs an Xbox?

The rear discs get virtually no use, and are likely to rust away because of this. So when it's wet, and after washing the car, I go round the block, make sure the road's clear behind, select N so no regen allowed, and bress the brake pedal. This forces the car to use all 4 discs, so dries then & polishes them. Worth doing this every few weeks anyway just to keep rear rust at bay.

 

Thanks. Maybe I'm being silly here, but how does ABRP know the exact charging rate? Can you paid it with a Bluetooth dongle? I'm not familiar with the app.

It won't know the exact charging rate but has a typical charge time to get to an expected SOC while planning but you can get the premium version that can connect via OBD to get real time SOC and speed while driving so can update the trip if needs be. Ive never used this.

Think there is a list of compatible devices on the site.

 

One last: getting to know abrp works best on a computer screen. Ones you played with the features, you can of course use it on a smart phone.

 

I've been playing around with interface on my laptop and you are right. It's much easier to plot the route. It does look a lot more useful than I originally thought. Zap-Map just seemed a little bit more intuitve but there's definitely some useful features in ABRP, albeit with with a premium subscription. Even upgrading to premium for a month when going on a long trip like this is probably worth doing.

 

Leatherhead is not the ideal starting point for joining the M25 at 10am due to the road works at the A3 junction. You may lose quite a bit of time getting through there. I drove from South London to Glasgow last week in the same car, similar 450 mile journey but I chose to leave at midnight as roads were really busy with rail strikes. Turned out to be a nightmare start as the M25 was closed in a couple of places that I hadn't checked beforehand I won't tell you how long it took as I was so tired I ended up stopping at most service stations on the way up

Check that the dealer has updated the Navigation software as the last update includes charging station availability status as you approach them, as well as it choosing charge stops for the route if you wish.

 

Thanks! I wonder will the sat nav redirect me to another junction? We shall see.

I've asked them about updating the software too. I'm planning to use ABRP with Google Maps. I don't know if ABRP has the same feature of warning you as you approach the charging station if it's full.

 

Does anyone know if the navagation/infotainment system can be updated whilst driving? I was thinking of doing this if when I get the car it is using outdated maps/firmware. I can just use the navigation on my phone to get to the first charge point and go from there, but just want to make sure I can use the car whilst it's updating via USB. I already have it on a USB stick ready to update.

 

Does anyone know if the navagation/infotainment system can be updated whilst driving?.

Yes you can, I did it a few years back by accident

 

Oops. Well from a selfish point of view. That helps me . How long does the update take on average if you recall? Thanks!

 

I think the last full update (June 2023?) took between 30 and 40 minutes inside the car - though I can't imagine doing the update while driving - maybe at a charge stop . . .

 

Yes that is the date on the current update which I just downloaded and put on a USB stick. I suppose I could just wait on do it at the first charging stop. That would be wise, though if the Android Auto widescreen issue isn't fixed with whatever update is on it, I might just do it from the start anyway. It will otherwise just annoy me

 

How long does the update take on average if you recall? Thanks!

Around 45 minutes for both the map and infotainment update. Might be an idea to install the update at one of your charging stops, at least that is what I would do.