I have a 2022 Limited AWD, stock 20 inch wheels, with a little over 18,000 miles. I usually drive in normal mode (not eco or sport) at level 2 regen. Most driving is in the suburbs, but with occasional jaunts of around 50 or 60 mph. Lifetime efficiency is 4.3 miles per kWh.

I have made several day trips of about 220 miles, arriving home with about 90 miles to spare. The trips were in eco mode at level 1 regen (wife's preference). Most of the trips were around 50 or 60 mph, and not in the interstate highway system.

Efficiency has therefore been better than the official figures.

 

I've been driving the 2025 Limited for about 7 months now.
Country roads averaging about 50 mph and relatively few stops gets about 4.2 miles per kwhr
Local driving with many stops gets about 3.8
Interstate driving at about 65 MPH gets 3.6.

Very happy with its overall performance considering its size. We do most of our charging using L1 and L2 units, keeping the cost very economical.

 

I’ve averaged 3.7 with local/highway at 50/50.

 

I mostly drive in normal mode, use auto regen, and I'd rather charge more often than turn off climate control, so, probably not a match to your ascetic style. I live in a city, with stop and go traffic around home. I'm not surprised to see about 4.3 mi/kWh in those conditions. On the highway, travelling near the speed limit, I might drop to about 3.1 mi/kWh. My overall average, over 11,000 miles in 5 months, is 3.7 mi/kWh.

 

After a LEAF, Tesla, and three Ioniqs, I just really don’t care anymore what “mileage” I get. I drive with HVAC in ”Auto” always, almost always pre-condition the cabin, and drive the vehicle. On trips I drive speed limits and select recharging spots one bladder volume length (BVL) away. After learning all sorts of hypermiling tricks in the very range-limited 2012 LEAF, totes don’t care anymore.

 

After a LEAF, Tesla, and three Ioniqs, I just really don’t car anymore what “mileage” I get. I drive with HVAC in ”Auto” always, almost always pre-condition the cabin, and drive the vehicle. On trips I drive speed limits and select recharging spots one bladder volume length (BVL) away. After learning all sorts of hypermiling tricks in the very range-limited 2012 LEAF, totes don’t care anymore.

My boss for several years was an early Prius owner, then Tesla. When I got a Chevy Bolt and marveled at efficiency, he laughed and said hyper milers are a sure sign of rookies to the efficient car world.

Nonetheless, I carefully tracked my efficiency on a 130 mile commute for nearly two years, best was 5.2 mi/kWh round trip. But along the way, my attention to efficiency enforced my understanding of the relationship between efficiency and range. I could accurately predict the GOM based on all of the relevant factors in a variety of conditions, which translated well to road trip strategies.

My obsession with efficiency was more of a curiosity aimed at understanding the car. After less than a year, the rookie in me retired and I just drove the car without giving it much thought. Since getting the I6 19 months ago, efficiency has never really been more than a curiosity, and a way to understand range estimates on road trips.

I see value in being aware of efficiency, but have to laugh a little at the naivety of over obsession with it. It isn't a contest, it is just a measurement to provide feedback and reinforce your understanding of driving styles, and environmental impacts. Good to know, but not worth obsessing over.

 

I’ll give you two scenarios, all real world experience. I have AWD Ultimate (your version of Limited I think), so 20” wheels, etc.

Highway driving at constant speeds of 80-85mph with AC at 70F in 86-90F weather in Normal mode, I will get about 220 miles.

Highway driving at constant speeds of 70-75mph with AC at 72F in 75-80F weather in Normal mode, I will get about 255 miles.

Any further reduction of speed or use of HVAC will continue to cause an increase in range, speed being the most notable factor, but you know this as a Bolt owner

 

Arob, personalities and interests differ. Some of us still enjoy the efficiency "game" after decades. Others, which I do not understand, pay to hit a little white ball around a hundred acres of over-fertilized, pesticided and manicured grass to end up with the most efficient number of strokes. I don't understand them, but neither do I laugh at them.

 

Understand the number of people that Arob and others like myself have spoken to on here about the same thing for like 8 years now. Even I’ll admit to over-obsessing about it at first, especially when the real world stuff was unknown. I obsessed more when I only had 200km per charge on my older Ioniq, but admittedly, now that range far exceeds 99% of my daily drives, I barely think about it. I recognize the traits of the car enough now to recognize when my efficiency seems a bit off than normal, but most people settle in to the range after owning the car for a month and don’t even think about it. Similar to reflections on the windshield… annoys new owners to no end and launches “safety issue” rallying cries, but then the issue disappears once owners have adjusted

 

Our I5 is at about 4.3 miles/kwh after 65k miles of driving. A friend with an Ioniq 6 is more efficient. If you are good with a 4 door sedan and want the best efficiency then look at the I6.
in general I see:
Highway speeds 3-3.5
Local roads 4-5
city is up to 6 miles/kwh

 

You would expect the Ioniq 6 to be more efficient, and all things being equal it probably is.

However, as I have posted before, our 2023 Ioniq 5 SEL AWD is actually more efficient than our lighter, more aerodynamic 2025 Ioniq 6 SEL RWD for our typical driving (most trips are 1700ft down or up with about 50% curving, steep freeway and the rest country roads or town driving).

Over the last few months (both cars driven similar distance, on similar routes, in normal mode, by the same drivers and in the same climate)

• 2023 Ioniq 5 SEL AWD averages 4.1 miles / kWh
• 2026 Ioniq 6 SEL RWD averages 3.8 miles / kWh

The only logical explanation is the 2023 Ioniq 5 SEL AWD has 19" wheels and 2025 Ioniq 6 SEL RWD has 20"wheels. So it seems the slightly smaller wheels overcomes the better aerodynamics of the body and lower weight (one less motor) of the Ioniq 6.

So for someone interested in best efficiency make sure you get small wheels (the EPA estimated range for the Ioniq 6 SE RWD with 18" wheels is 342 miles vs 291 miles for the Ioniq 6 SEL/Ltd RWD with 20" wheels)

 

All points made, nobody meant to offend. Let’s all move forward as the good people we are and appreciate different perspectives. That’s what these forums are about

 

i find it difficult to drive conservatively with 446 lb/ft torque. a couple of days ago, there i am, first at the lite, and alongside is a dodge challenger, loud exhaust. he wanted to get in front, and cut into the lane i was in. so, for about 4 or 5 seconds, i was 16 again. yup. worth every penny.

 

That scenario is cutting into my efficiency too! Probably at least once a week.

 

i find it difficult to drive conservatively with 446 lb/ft torque. a couple of days ago, there i am, first at the lite, and alongside is a dodge challenger, loud exhaust. he wanted to get in front, and cut into the lane i was in. so, for about 4 or 5 seconds, i was 16 again. yup. worth every penny.

OP here. Following a test drive ironically I am also drawn to the AWD for that reason. My plan would be to swap out the 20" for 18" for better range and tire replacement price and I would drive in eco 99% of the time, but it would be fun to play that other game too, 1% of the time.

Yep, I’m in ECO mode almost all the time because it has the easiest time with getting smooth acceleration from a stop. Even in ECO mode it will at least keep up with casual stoplight pulls and ahead of most coal-roller’s splash zones.

I wonder how much real world difference using ECO mode makes driving efficiency? Anyone have some real-world comparative data?

That said we basically stay in Normal Mode apart from occasional use of Sports Mode (in similar situations to the ones @hochiinn describes or short freeway entry ramps etc) and very occasional use of Snow Mode.

Our AWD Drive Ioniq 5 in Sports Mode certainly brings out the grins! I was also pleasantly surprised our Ioniq 6 RWD (in Sports or Normal) is plenty quick enough in most situations. It feels quicker than the quoted acceleration times (probably because of the instantaneous torque typical of all EVs)

For day to day driving and with 3 regular drivers of both cars it is just easier to leave them in Normal Mode and Level 3 regen most of the time (and then no-one get surprised when they get in the car.....)

 

For day to day driving and with 3 regular drivers of both cars it is just easier to leave them in Normal Mode and Level 3 regen most of the time (and then no-one get surprised when they get in the car.....)

Makes sense to me, and we do the same for the same reason but with only two drivers.

As others have noted, our Ioniq5 yields better “mileage” than our Ioniq6, both 2025s, both RWD. Don’t get it.

 

Our 2022 Ioniq 5 (AWD SE) has averaged 4.0-4.1 miles per kWh over the the past three and a half years and 38,000 miles. That involved a mix of town and highway driving but relatively little at Interstate speeds. Most of our highway miles are on mountain roads with speed limits less than 65 mph. The majority of the time it has been in Eco mode and Level 1 regen, although I sometimes use Normal mode, higher regen levels or Auto mode in the mountains.

 

I have a 2025 RWD Ioniq 5 Limited. Given the type of driving you do, think you could come close to the Bolt efficiency you experienced. You could do slightly better (than what my car would get) if you got the smaller battery since it would lighten the car.

I drive mixed freeway and city and use the AC a lot. I’ve averaged 4.0 since my last charge. That said, with your kind of driving I’d expect at least 4.5.

 

I get 4.8-5.2 m/kwH with my AWD sel i5. I drive 80/20 city to slower highways. if I am roadtripping, i definitely drop a bit but we have a Model Y also and its better than that. Either way, the difference between 4.2 and 5.0 is so negligible, Id never choose car based on that.

 

We have both, though the Bolt is a recent addition (bought used in August with 44K miles). We have just short of 10K miles on the i5 (LR, AWD, SEL), half of that accumulated on a 4,600 miles trip moving from the East to West coast. We get around 4.3/4.4 on the i5 and I see a little over 5 on the Bolt.

We headed off on a European trip just after we got the Bolt, so our experience on that is limited. I will say that the systems on the i5 are far more sophisticated than on the Bolt which we got to a) have a second car after the move, and b) to ensure that we stay within the lease mileage limits.

Cheers

 

We have a 2022 Ioniq 5 SEL, RWD, 19 inch wheels with about 78K miles on it. We routinely drive from Los Angeles to the Olympic Peninsula in WA state, we are snow birds. We get great efficiency in our little town of 10,000 people, but it drops a lot when doing 75 mph on I-5 and in Los Angeles. Also, efficiency really drops when it gets cold up north. But, that's when we head south.
Overall, we have an efficiency of 4.2 mi/kW.

 

Good question @i5maybe

I won't try to talk you out of seeking efficiency. To get the best answer to your question you would need to drive an i5 over the same 3000 miles with the same weather, road, traffic and topography conditions that get you the 5.2 kWh in your Bolt. The best car to car efficiency comparisons I'm aware of are run by Out of Spec Studios70 mph range test — Out of Spec Studios That comparison is run mostly at 70 mph, but the relative efficiency would be useful to estimate an answer to your question. In their tests, 2 Chevy Bolts ran 3.4 and 3.5 kWh respectively. A 2022 Ioniq 5 AWD with 19" wheels ran 3.1. So, it would be reasonable to estimate that the Ioniq 5 would be about 10% worse (4.68 kWh) on your 3,000 mile efficiency route than your Bolt.

My 2022 Ioniq 5 SEL with 19" wheels in Connecticut suburban driving will sometimes give me extended periods of 4.9 - 5.0 kWh over 200-300 miles, but it's easy for that average to drop to 4.5 even driving with an eye toward efficiency.

You will also notice on the chart that the Ioniq 6 is incrementally more efficient at 70 mph (as other posters have suggested). If you don't need a hatchback for your use case, an i6 might be worth considering.

 

My first hybrid car was a 2008 Honda Civic and that was such an underpowered, boring car to drive that I loved playing the hypermiling game with it, used to regularly get 3.6L/100km, driving 10km/h below the speed limit. Made a lot of friends on the highway ;-)
Then my first EV was a 2019 Bolt. With that one too, I drove it very efficiently, especially on longer trips due to the slow charging speeds. Now with my Ioniq 6 Ultimate AWD (not the most efficient), I mostly just drive it normally in Normal mode. At home, charging costs are so low, I don't bother to try and save 15 cents and on the road, it recharges so fast that again, driving it super efficient won't change much in the grand scheme of things.
Now OP if you enjoy hypermiling to death, have fun, it is after all the most efficient and cost effective way to do it but I understand what ARob says too.
It took me a while to get used to the I6 but now when I get back into the Bolt (now my wife's car), I really appreciate the I6 even more.

Good luck with your reflexion.
P.S. perhaps a different perspective on the efficiency numbers: my Bolt got an average of 21kWh/100km yearly due to the resistive heating in winter. My I6 got an average of 18kWh/100km for the first year.

 

Timely question as we just drove a 175 mile trip yesterday in our 2025 AWD Ioniq 5 Limited. From our home on Orcas Island, Washington, to the Seahawks game south of Seattle.
Rained on the way down, so wet roadways then, drove at freeway speeds (well, when we could), drove in Normal and not Eco mode, and temps were in the mid-60’s. Used HVAC for maybe 25% of the trip. Two adults.
We used 61% of our battery in these 175 miles, 39% remained when home. I have found that this car consistently outperforms the EPA rating, while the several Nissan Leafs I owned consistently underperformed.

 

As a new "lessee" of a 2024 I 5 sel , I really have no idea how efficient my driving has been since November ! Not sure I'd even know how to check? But then again, after driving ice vehicles for 50 years, I never knew, nor payed much attention to what my avg mpg was! I'd just pull into a gas station when the tank got low and kept on driving. Now I just plug my car in at home when it gets low and the next day just keep on driving! Too many other things in this world to concern ourselves with than kw/hour or per mile or whatever the metric is when we're talking pennies not dollars. (just my 2 cents!).
And as far as tire size goes....I'm happy as long as they remain round!

 

@i5maybe - You have explained that your particular 'thing' about EV ownership is pretty much focused on how many miles per kWh you can achieve. To the extent of deliberating about buying a car that might not be able to match the figures that you have seen recently. And that's despite comparing apples with oranges over car size.

I tend to view such matters from a different perspective. Here in the UK I drive my Ioniq 5 AWD exactly as I have always driven my cars. I don't even consider whether the car is managing 3.5 or 4.8 or even 5.2 miles per kWh. It is what it is after any one drive whether thats in winter with horizontal rain up a mountain, or a bimble through English villages in summer. Again, it is what it is. And I'm unconcerned about the bald figures. Much of this comes from a previous life when I was involved in shaving pennies from processes.

I can't help applying costs to changes in methods.

For instance. Over 3000 miles, a car achieving a decent average of 3.5 miles per kWh would need 857 kWhs. And a car managing an excellent 5.2 miles per kWh would only use 577 kWhs.

That's a min and max figure for almost all modern EVs. The difference between superb efficiency and normal over the 3000 miles mentioned is 857-577 = 280 kWhs. I use an overnight tariff that costs me 6.7p per kWh here in the UK, and almost all of my mileage is at that figure. So, the difference between excellence and normal is 280kWh @ 6.7p = £18.76.

Now, I realise that to some people, striving for an excellent economy is a cross between a good game and a fixation. But really? Less than $20 in three months. $7 a month. 20c a day? And that's the maximum difference between superb economy and OK? Made even more ironic when someone is prepared to spend $shedloads on changing rims and tyres in an effort to shave off another 0.1 figure from the average m/kWh.

Just buy the damn car. And drive it he same way that you have always driven cars. Then live with the figures, even if they are a tad lower than you managed in a smaller and lighter car.

 

@i5maybe -
Just buy the damn car. And drive it he same way that you have always driven cars.

That won't move me along much. I could pull out the spreadsheets showing all my mileage back to our '94 Jetta sometime in the previous millennium. One of the better ones was averaging 50 mpg on a 6500 mile cross country (and back) road trip in our '04 Prius-- me, wife, two teenage daughters, all the camping gear, roof rack.... It is still one of our best family memories. This isn't for a lot of people, but it is for me!

 

We've put 10,273 miles on the '25 Ioniq 5 RWD we got in late June. On the road trip we just took, we averaged 3.3 mi/kWh.

In local driving we average about 4.4.

 

Range on the 2025 AWD Ionia 5 is way better than the the 2024 that barely got 300. Our 2024 was just a year old when I got rear ended and totaled. So we bought a 2025 RWD and I was amazed to see that on a full charge the average range showing was over 400 which is more than they advertise! You actually get a max/avg/min range showing on the screen now. So the max estimate is like 425. Of course, flipping the AC on the range reduces to compensate.
I don’t know how to find the miles/kwh but a recent 6 mile trip used 1 kWh, with part of the time on AC.
A 1 mile trip used 356 Wh (60 of which from accessories) and regenerated 345 Wh.

 

My 2023 Ioniq 5 says 3.2 miles over lifetime (24K miles). Lately, good temps and in town driving, 4+ mi/kWh is the norm, but I cannot get the lifetime one to budge. Admittedly, I drive a LOT of freeway miles in chunks of 300 miles where I am driving at 75 MPH or in excess of that...

 

Range on the 2025 AWD Ionia 5 is way better than the the 2024 that barely got 300. Our 2024 was just a year old when I got rear ended and totaled. So we bought a 2025 RWD and I was amazed to see that on a full charge the average range showing was over 400 which is more than they advertise!

Basically, the range has very little to do with the battery capacity and a great deal to do with how fast you drive. Just like a gasser but more so. Please read the GOM thread (https://www.ioniqforum.com/threads/...-range-estimates-aka-the-guess-o-meter-or-gom.49243/?post_id=599305#post-599305) which all new members need to read.

I don’t know how to find the miles/kwh

See my post just before yours. https://www.ioniqforum.com/posts/652178/