Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Line: 560 km of electric driving without wasting time

The challenge is a daunting one: dispelling a myth, that "with an electric car you have to constantly stop to charge and spend two hours in a parking lot at a charging station." It's a fairly widespread myth, but incredibly wrong if you plan your trip carefully. All it takes is five minutes on the clock with your smartphone to get an idea of ​​total kilometers, the estimated distance the car will travel on a full charge, the location of charging stations on your route, and where it's best to schedule a short stop, choosing the best balance between charging power (which translates to less time at the charging station) and price per kWh. To travel to Munich from the Milan office of Gazzetta dello Sport and report on the IAA Mobilità 2025 (Munich Motor Show) on the spot, we combined business with pleasure by pampering ourselves with the elevated comfort offered by the Hyundai Ioniq 5, in this case in the N Line trim (from €62,300).

When driving a car, especially an electric one, it's important to understand its technical specifications. Understanding battery capacity, fuel consumption (and therefore range), the vehicle's architecture, maximum charging power, and so on isn't just information for car nerds, but it can be crucial for a more relaxed, informed, intelligent, and cost- and time- efficient journey. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Line currently in use boasts, in addition to 325 hp, all-wheel drive, and just under 500 km of range, an 84 kWh battery pack, and, most importantly, an 800-volt architecture. This means that compared to a traditional 400-volt electric car, it has double the voltage. This translates—for the same power—into significantly faster charging times and improved energy efficiency, thanks to the use of lighter components that contribute to lighter weight and therefore improved fuel economy. This, however, must be combined with columns optimized for ultra-fast charging, with power exceeding 300 kW . Yes, they exist in Italy, but they're not yet so widespread. And this is where planning comes into play.

Taking a trip whose total distance exceeds the car's range inevitably involves stopping to recharge. Proper planning becomes crucial for peace of mind, wallet, and time. Assuming we'd start with 100% charge, the planned itinerary was to take the A4, turn onto the A22 at Peschiera del Garda/Affi, pass Trento and Bolzano, cross the Brenner Pass, cross Austria, staying southeast of Innsbruck, and reach Munich. Without stops, taking the route during rush hour on a Sunday, it would take an eight-hour drive. Now, assuming for a moment we were making the same trip with an internal combustion engine, wouldn't we stop for even 10 minutes once or twice in eight hours for a driver change, a bathroom break, or a coffee? Hardly. So it's a no-brainer to optimize the intermediate stop to stretch our legs by including ultra-fast charging at more than 300 kW of power.

Ideally, the Ioniq 5 would have been recharged once it reached the famous 20% threshold, the optimal range for a quick pit stop up to 80%. Before setting off, we assumed we'd actually cover about 350 km of the 495 km range declared by Hyundai, assuming we'd maintain a 130 km/h highway speed (the worst conditions for an electric car), with the air conditioning on, with three adults on board, three days' worth of luggage, and all the equipment needed to capture the highlights of the IAA Mobility show in Munich. In short, we added another 300 kg to the Ioniq 5's 2.2 tons—quite laughably. Then, considering a 20% margin, we realistically expected to stop after about 280 km. It's always better to be conservative in your calculations than the opposite. Once you've found the charging stations along the route that best suit your needs, using one of the many apps dedicated to this topic, all that's left to do is save the two or three stations that—according to other users' reviews—proved to be the best for your needs and set off. Based on our calculations, there were two viable options: either do a quick charge in Affi to bring the car back to 80% after just 150 km, then make another very brief stop at the Brenner Pass after another 200 km before tackling the final stretch of about 300 km; or stop in Bolzano after 280 km. The costs all came to around 84 cents per kWh. This (also) why it's always best to charge at home or at work, using low-power, with a subscription, and not a single charge, whenever possible, when you're not traveling: this way, you can save a lot.

The reality is that, after an initial stretch at 130-135 km/h, Sunday traffic on the A22, with Germans returning from the last summer weekends, slowed the pace to 110 km/h, dropping from a consumption of 22-23 kWh/100 km to an average of 20 kWh/100 km, a flat 5 km/kWh, by the time we reached Bolzano with a whopping 38% charge. In 13 minutes, not even enough time to pick up our order at the fast food restaurant just steps from the ultra-fast charging station with over 300 kW of maximum power, the car had reached the 80% target, giving us enough range to get to Munich on just one very short charge. It was ready, we weren't. After a leisurely lunch, the journey continued in a single stretch to the center of Munich, where the Ioniq 5 N Line arrived with a whopping 42% charge after having brought it back to 99%, and a consumption of around 19 kWh/100 km. Astonishing results considering the size and weight of the car (charged to the max as described above), with the declared range not far from reality, even in unfavorable conditions.

Before drawing any conclusions from the experience, a couple of considerations: the quietness and travel comfort of this Ioniq 5 N Line are also due to the fact that the vehicle uses a dedicated platform, called E-GMP. It must be said that not all EVs are the same: there are adapted ones, starting from a design originally conceived as an internal combustion engine and then modified to accommodate electric motors; and there are optimized, native electric platforms. The advantages of having a native electric platform are numerous: the batteries are positioned very low, under the floor, for improved driving dynamics and more onboard space; the small electric motors with fewer components allow for a longer wheelbase (on the Ioniq 5 it is a full 3 meters) to maximize the spaciousness of the cabin; and there is no need for driveshafts (so much so that to have rear-wheel drive as well, simply placing a second electric motor at the rear), resulting in a flat floor that allows for an optimized and modular use of space.

It was a long trip, yes, but due to the route itself and the traffic, as well as having to film all the scenes for the video. But the amazing thing is the time wasted at the charging station: zero minutes, the sandwiches weren't even ready. And even assuming we didn't have to have lunch, in those 13 minutes to reach 80% (to be precise, Hyundai claims 18-19 minutes from 20% to 80%, but we started at 38%) we could have had a coffee, changed drivers, stopped for a restroom break, walked for a bit to stretch our legs, or smoked a cigarette. In short, all things we most likely would have done anyway, even with an internal combustion engine. So the question is one and very simple: even if we had had a gasoline or diesel car, what would have changed? Absolutely nothing.