The Perfect Road Trip: A Fifth Gear Challenge for Hyundai's Ioniq 5

As we set off from Inverness, Scotland, the perfect place to test the range of a modern electric vehicle (EV), we couldn't help but feel excited. The North Coast 500 route, which spans an impressive 500 miles, is a big loop that starts and finishes in Inverness, winding its way along the stunning north coast of Scotland. We're tackling this iconic route in our futuristic Hyundai Ioniq 5, equipped with a 73 kilowatt-hour battery and a range of nearly 300 miles.

Our goal was to put the Ioniq 5's mild-munching power to the test, only stopping to recharge, eat, or sleep. We were eager to see how our EV would perform in this beautiful but remote landscape, where the scenery is truly staggering every year, tens of thousands take a week or two to gently tour around it. To make this challenge even more thrilling, we'd be driving anti-clockwise, heading up the east side first.

As we left Inverness, we felt a sense of excitement and anticipation. Our battery capacity was at 97%, which meant we should have plenty of range for our journey. We had 250 miles to go before our first charging point, and we were ready to relax and enjoy the car. "Vicky, I absolutely love it," I said, turning to my co-driver. "I think it's so eye-catching; it's so different." Vicky agreed, adding, "There's nothing else on the road like it. It looks a bit like the DeLorean, but a grown-up version of that – a DeLorean for your mum."

As we climbed up the hills, our battery mileage was measured in miles per kilowatt hour. Currently, we were managing three miles per kilowatt-hour, which might test our battery slightly under these conditions. However, with 154 miles still left in our tank, life in the cabin was still serene. The seats were comfortable, and I could put my arm on them without feeling cramped. "I've got a nice bit of padding here," I said to Vicky, who replied, "Yeah, we've got a nice bit of padding here because your arm's been rested." We'd also discovered that the car had a clever feature – a gap in the seat where you could place your phone.

As we continued driving north, we approached John o' Groats, the most northerly part of the North Coast 500 route. We'd never been before, and I was excited to take some photos by the iconic sign. "We have to have a picture by the John," I said, agreeing to a quick top-up at the UK's most northerly charging station. Our battery had started with 97% charge but now was down to 41%. We were hoping for a quick recharge to get us going again.

Luckily, the charging point we found would do 120 kilowatts, which is pretty good. The maximum charge rate for this car is 220 kilowatts, so it's great that we could find a charger that would do that or more. "This one here will do 120 kilowatts," I said to Vicky, who replied, "Yeah, it's enough for a photo and a cup of tea." It was indeed enough to give us a boost – barely 15 minutes later, our battery was almost back to full strength.

The cost of this recharge? A mere £12.12, which is pretty reasonable considering the equivalent petrol would have cost around £20. We plugged in, and I took care of the financial side of things while Vicky joined us for a short drive. "Are you going to actually do some driving on this?" she asked, and I replied, "Yeah, now who's got the key?" We were back on the road, ready to continue our journey.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is northern scotland which features some of the greatest most remote driving roads in the world in other words it's the perfect place for a fifth gear challenge because we want to see if the real-life range of a modern ev can handle a good old-fashioned road trip and not just any old road trip yes we are tackling the north coast 500 and as the name suggests it's 500 miles long and on the north coast yes of scotland the route is a big loop which starts and finishes in inverness we'll be going anti-clockwise heading up the east side first the scenery is truly staggering and every year tens of thousands take a week or two to gently tour around it but to truly test the mild munching power of our ev we're planning to only stop to recharge eat or sleep our weapon of choice is the futuristic hyundai ioniq 5. on paper hyundai's new ev should be the perfect car for our journey its 73 kilowatt-hour battery gives it a range of nearly 300 miles and its roomy interior means vicky and i shouldn't suffer from cabin fever on our marathon drive now we would love to stop and chat but it is one o'clock and we've got a long way to go before our first stopover keys no i'm driving what got it let's go the ev infrastructure has grown to the extent that even this remote chunk of northern scotland boasts 19 charges if they're all working and not occupied then we shouldn't have anything to worry about okay so we are now leaving inverness we have 97 battery capacity that means we should be good for over 250 miles of range and as our first charging point is only a hundred miles up the road for now we can relax and enjoy the car what do you think of the way this thing looks vicky i absolutely love it i think it is so eye-catching it's so different yeah there's nothing else on the road like it looks a bit like the delorean but a delorean for your mum like a grown-up version of that back to the future yes time travel in this particular ionic would cost you or my mum 42 000 pounds that buys a rear-wheel drive single motor version that can hit 62 miles an hour in a respectable 7.4 seconds wow we are climbing up now this might test our battery a bit an incline an ev's mileage is measured in miles per kilowatt hour we were currently managing three miles per kilowatt-hour and the ioniq has a 73 kilowatt-hour battery so under these hilly conditions a full charge would get us 219 miles about 80 less than the official figure however with 154 miles still left in our particular tank life in the cabin was still serene these seats are really good yeah we've got a nice bit of padding here because my arm's been rested you can put your phone in that gap as well oh my giddy aren't you kidding me why don't other cars do that we'd been heading north now for just over two hours it would soon be time to turn left so we're coming up to johnna groats soon which is the most northerly part of the north coast route i've never been ah we have to have a picture by the john a great sign please please can we stop 100 yes and the reason i'm agreeing to the sightseeing break is this a quick top up at the uk's most northerly charging station and look the bay is empty range anxiety what range anxiety charging yes well our battery to start with was at 97 and now we're down to 41 the maximum charge rate for this car is 220 kilowatts so if you can find a charger that will do that or more happy days because it will go from 10 to 80 of battery charged in 18 minutes yes this one here will do 120 kilowatts which is pretty good that's a decent speed it is yeah it's enough for a photo and a cup of tea definitely yeah if you plug it in yeah you do that and i'll look after the financial side of things barely 15 minutes later and the ioniq was almost back to full strength how much does that cost us let's have a look almost 12 pounds 12 pounds pretty reasonable in fact that had bought us another 53 of range or around 120 miles our current rate the equivalent petrol would have cost us around 20 pounds could you unplug please yes it's manual labor it's not what i do thanks um are you going to actually do some driving on this yeah now who's got the key i'll give it to you join us later as we continue our journey we've still got almost 400 miles to go and a little more than a day to do it in and apparently the charging points get thinner on the ground the nearer we get to the finish line i'm sure i'll be fine though you\n"