The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is one of the best DC fast charging EVs available today, and under the right conditions can replenish its battery from 10% to 80% in only 18 minutes.
However, the "right conditions" means the battery temperature must be correct - somewhere north of 65° F (18° C) and you also have to be a high-powered DC fast charger that can deliver the 235 kW that the vehicle can accept.
We recently had the opportunity to record three separate DC fast charge sessions on three different DC fast charge stations in cold temperatures to analyze how much the colder temperatures will affect the Ioniq 5's DC fast charging time.
The conditions of the three charging sessions were as follows:
- Session #1: 10% to 80% on a 150 kW DC fast charger at 23° F (-5° C)
- Session #2: 10% to 80% on a 350 kW DC fast charger at 28° F (-2° C)
- Session #3: 0% to 100% on a 350 kW DC fast charger at 32° F (0° C)
In all three sessions, it took us exactly 30 minutes to go from 10% to 80%, 12 minutes (66%) longer than Hyundai's promised 18 minutes. We knew going into this test it would take longer, just not exactly how much longer. Now we know.
But do new Ioniq 5 owners understand this, or will they be disappointed when they plug into a DC fast charger and realize they need to budget 66% more time to recharge in the winter months?
We think it would be useful if manufacturers would do a better job explaining how DC fast charging is temperature-dependent, and perhaps provide collateral literature with the vehicle that shows the charging times they should expect in different ambient temperatures.
Check out the InsideEVs 70-mph cold weather range test on the 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5:
Additionally, it would be helpful if the Ioniq 5 had a preconditioning feature to optimize DC fast charging, like many other EVs offer (Tesla, Porsche, Lucid and more). We also think a battery temperature gauge would be enormously useful and would help set realistic expectations when EV owners arrive at a DC fast charger. Currently, very few EVs offer battery temperature information, which is unfortunate.
We also need to point out that the version of the Ioniq 5 that we used for the range test and DC fast charge recordings was an all-wheel-drive long-range Limited, with a 77.4 kWh battery pack.
Hyundai also offers a long-range Ioniq 5 with rear-wheel-drive (303 mi EPA), and a standard-range rear-wheel-drive option (220 mi EPA). The standard range battery pack is 58 kWh.
We plotted out how long it took to add 100 and 200 miles, according to our cold weather 70-mph range test and also according to the EPA range rating. Since we were only able to go 195 miles in our range test, we could only show the time to add back 100 miles of range which happened after 23 minutes of charging.
When we used the EPA range rating of 256 miles, we add back 100 miles of range in 18 minutes, and 200 miles of range in 38 minutes.
The maximum power draw we witnessed in all three recordings was 147 kW, much less than the 235 kW we've seen others achieve with a warmer battery. However, it was better than our own Kyle Conner observed when he recorded a cold-weather DC fast charging session with an Ioniq 5.
We've already requested another Ioniq 5 loan during the summer months and we'll repeat these charging tests, as well as our 70-mph range test, and compare the difference that 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit makes.
