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For those who are interested in EV's, Hyundai released the Ioniq this year in a Hybrid and an EV version. There is a 3rd version, a plug-in hybrid, that is expected later this year. The hybrid is a relatively conventional car at this point, competitive with the Prius, but the EV, with a 28 kWh battery and 124 mi of rated range, is where it gets interesting.
In the USA, the EV is only available in CA, from a handful of dealers around LA (Temecula and Laguna Nigel dealerships are the closest to San Diego), with very limited allocations. They are offering it for sale in three different trim levels, or on a 3 year lease. They call the lease an "Unlimited+ Subscription", and it includes a few novel elements:
1) Unlimited miles.
2) Free maintenance and wear items up to 50,000 mi per year.
3) Up to 50,000 mi over three years, Hyundai tracks the mileage each month, and gives a credit for the cost of the electricity used to charge it . The formula is $0.1844 / kWh, assumes 4 mi / kWh, with the cost of electricity following what the EIA publishes for average residential cost of electricity in CA (0.1844 was January's number, I'm not sure yet how often they adjust it)
The upfront cost is $2500, which should be rebated by CA Clean Vehicle Rebate Project. Rebate funding for this year is exhausted, but the source is the cap and trade program which was extended from 2020 to 2031 a couple weeks ago, and if this year follows the same track as last year, new funds should become available by September.
The monthly cost for the base trim is $275 + taxes, about $297 for me.
It look a couple months of shopping / talking to dealers, but last week one was made available to me and I made the trek up to Mission Hills (north of Pasadena) to take possession. The unlimited miles is a big deal for me, since my wife commutes 60 mi daily and over 20k mi yearly, so the charging rebate from Hyundai could be ~$62/ mo at current electricity prices. Since I've got a PV system that was oversized (at low cost, DIY), that essentially knocks the cost of the car down to $235 / mo, it provides a meaningful reduction in total cost per mi relative to what she had been driving.
The car is *nice*... I already drive a Chevy Spark EV, which isn't much more than a glorified golf cart. This is a real car, with space to seat 5, decent trunk space, while still preserving the feel of driving an EV. Going from the 85ish miles of range of the Spark to the 124 mi is just enough to make it possible to get out for evening activities anywhere in the city, on top of the commuting miles. Not too often, but a couple times a month, I've been finding that we've had to modify plans to deal with the Spark's range, and I'm hoping that this is able to kick the range anxiety completely.
Some dealers, recognizing they have a hot item for a certain niche of the market, have been jacking up the price with dealer add-ons... the first base model I was offered last month was going to be $350 / mo + tax, which I negotiated down to $305 / mo + tax but still passed on, holding out that one would eventually show up without the add-ons. Each dealer is managing it differently... a couple will take deposits, some will maintain a waiting list, and some claim to be strictly first come first serve. InsideEV's reports 157 total released into the USA through July, and production has apparently been hampered since global demand was under-estimated, and the battery production was not in place at the needed level.
In the USA, the EV is only available in CA, from a handful of dealers around LA (Temecula and Laguna Nigel dealerships are the closest to San Diego), with very limited allocations. They are offering it for sale in three different trim levels, or on a 3 year lease. They call the lease an "Unlimited+ Subscription", and it includes a few novel elements:
1) Unlimited miles.
2) Free maintenance and wear items up to 50,000 mi per year.
3) Up to 50,000 mi over three years, Hyundai tracks the mileage each month, and gives a credit for the cost of the electricity used to charge it . The formula is $0.1844 / kWh, assumes 4 mi / kWh, with the cost of electricity following what the EIA publishes for average residential cost of electricity in CA (0.1844 was January's number, I'm not sure yet how often they adjust it)
The upfront cost is $2500, which should be rebated by CA Clean Vehicle Rebate Project. Rebate funding for this year is exhausted, but the source is the cap and trade program which was extended from 2020 to 2031 a couple weeks ago, and if this year follows the same track as last year, new funds should become available by September.
The monthly cost for the base trim is $275 + taxes, about $297 for me.
It look a couple months of shopping / talking to dealers, but last week one was made available to me and I made the trek up to Mission Hills (north of Pasadena) to take possession. The unlimited miles is a big deal for me, since my wife commutes 60 mi daily and over 20k mi yearly, so the charging rebate from Hyundai could be ~$62/ mo at current electricity prices. Since I've got a PV system that was oversized (at low cost, DIY), that essentially knocks the cost of the car down to $235 / mo, it provides a meaningful reduction in total cost per mi relative to what she had been driving.
The car is *nice*... I already drive a Chevy Spark EV, which isn't much more than a glorified golf cart. This is a real car, with space to seat 5, decent trunk space, while still preserving the feel of driving an EV. Going from the 85ish miles of range of the Spark to the 124 mi is just enough to make it possible to get out for evening activities anywhere in the city, on top of the commuting miles. Not too often, but a couple times a month, I've been finding that we've had to modify plans to deal with the Spark's range, and I'm hoping that this is able to kick the range anxiety completely.
Some dealers, recognizing they have a hot item for a certain niche of the market, have been jacking up the price with dealer add-ons... the first base model I was offered last month was going to be $350 / mo + tax, which I negotiated down to $305 / mo + tax but still passed on, holding out that one would eventually show up without the add-ons. Each dealer is managing it differently... a couple will take deposits, some will maintain a waiting list, and some claim to be strictly first come first serve. InsideEV's reports 157 total released into the USA through July, and production has apparently been hampered since global demand was under-estimated, and the battery production was not in place at the needed level.
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