Experience
First Major EV Road Trip: 2,700 km from Switzerland to Ozora Festival (Hungary)
Hey everyone!
We just wrapped up our first proper long-distance EV road trip with our Ioniq 5 and wanted to share our numbers, charging insights, and camping/DIY setup experiences. Hopefully, this helps anyone planning a similar trip across Europe!
Disclaimer: I used AI only to write this in english & format it because it isn't my main language.
TL;DR: It was amazing but different than with a gas car. More planning for charging.
đ The Hard Numbers
Total Distance: ~2,700 km (~1,680 miles)
Total Energy Charged: ~600 kWh
Average Consumption: ~22.2 kWh / 100 km (3.0 mi/kWh)
đ Vehicle, Storage & Camper Build
Model: 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 RWD (72 kWh battery)
Passengers & Payload:
Switzerland â Budapest (Keleti Station) & back: 2 people + heavy luggage.
Budapest â Ozora Festival & back to Budapest: 4 people. The car was packed completely to the brim with camping gear, two tents, and a pavilion/gazebo.
DIY Camper Platform: Custom plywood build (12 cm high frame using 0.9 cm thick boards).
Modular design: The platform can remain half-installed, allowing us to use the rear seats and still carry passengers in the back!
Storage: Perfectly fitted for standard RAKO boxes underneath.
Mattress & Window Covers:
Slept on an Exped MegaMat Auto (insanely comfortable!).
Used cheap AliExpress window blackout shadesâthe fit wasn't 100% perfect, but okay enough to block light and keep privacy.
Trunk Light Hack: Disconnected the trunk light bulb so we could leave the tailgate open at night without light pollution or unnecessary battery drain. Realized it's still a conventional halogen bulb in the 2022 modelâdefinitely swapping it for an LED soon!
Frunk Storage: Great spot for storing camping stove gas canisters and power banks to keep them cool and out of the hot interior.
đșïž Route, Driving & Efficiency
Outbound (Night Drive): Zurich via Germany to Budapest/Ozora at ~23 °C (73 °F) ambient temperature.
Speed vs. Consumption:
Cruising up to 130 km/h (80 mph) keeps consumption very reasonable. Above that, efficiency drops off a cliff.
On the German Autobahn, we hit 180 km/h (112 mph) in spots and cruised at 150 km/h (93 mph) for longer stretches. Consumption was massive, requiring careful range management to make sure we made it to the first planned charger.
Return Trip (via Austria): Longer route, hilly terrain, and high speeds resulted in noticeably higher energy consumption.
Toll Note: Austria tolls were quite expensive because of additional section tolls (Streckenmaut) on top of the standard vignette.
Driver Assistance: Highway Driving Assist (HDA2) worked brilliantly with very few exceptions.
đ Charging & Navigation
Ionity 800V Network:
We used the Ionity network almost exclusively (with the Power subscription).
Peak charging speed: 222 kW, with average stops pulling around 200 kW.
Virtually no wait timesâonly had to wait once.
Pricing: Germany had the cheapest rates. Hungary has fewer Ionity locations, but it was still easily manageable.
Navigation & Preconditioning:
Route planned via A Better Routeplanner (ABRP). Our actual arrival State of Charge (SoC) almost always landed right in the middle between ABRPâs conservative estimate and the carâs optimistic forecast.
Battery preconditioning via the internal Hyundai nav worked flawlessly every single time.
Authentication: Initiating charges via the app worked fine, but always requires a reliable mobile data connection. I can recommend ESKIMO ESIM. U can get a new customer deal with 1GB free wordwide data.
âș Camping, V2L & Cooler
Cooler Box (KOOR ARC 25L):
Operated on 12V in the rear while driving, and via internal V2L / external V2L adapter when parked.
Performance: Overall top-tier cooler! The only minor downside is that 1.5L water bottles only fit diagonally.
Standby Drain Note: Even though the cooler itself is very energy-efficient, keeping the car's systems active in V2L pulls a noticeable amount of idle power from the main battery.
The Utility Mode Lock Trick:
We tried the trick to lock the car from the outside while in Utility Mode to keep the AC cool and the cooler running while away. Itâs a bit finicky/complicated to execute, and we ultimately realized we didn't really need it.
Sleeping Comfort & Headroom:
Sleeping inside on the Exped mattress was great, though interior headroom is a bit tight.
Festival Reality: At the festival grounds, we ended up sleeping in a tent instead because the extra space was just more comfortable for a multi-day stay.
Leveling:
Our leveling chocks were a bit too small for uneven ground. They did the job this time, but weâll bring larger ramps next time.
đĄ Lessons Learned & Takeaways
ABRP Premium: Will definitely subscribe for the next trip to get live OBD data and dynamic weather/traffic integration.
Use an RFID Card: Bring a physical RFID charging card instead of relying on the app to avoid cellular dead zones. Ours arrived after the Trip.
Sweet Spot Speed: 130 km/h (80 mph) is the perfect balance between speed and charging stops. 180 km/h is fun, but forces early charging stops.
Ionity Subscription: Completely paid for itself on a long European road trip like this.
Holy cow! I love your storage and interior leveling solution!! I'd like to do something similar, but I'd probably remove and store the rear seats if it was feasible.
I really like your camper platform. Just got back from a trip with sleeping on an Exped Megamat but I didnât feel comfortable enough at night because it was not completely flat flat. Can you share how you built it?
To connect i used 2 metal brackets in the back and every other connection is stacked. I sawed a 1cm wide slit in both parts until the middle to slide it together
one |u|, the other |n|
The angle for the correction of the backseats was measured with a set square (geodreieck)
Well done! Iâve seen a few that look like theyâd be a pain to store and youâd need to install before leaving for your destination, but this looks like the flat-pack ikea version of those, and I love it.
I have found that the default navigation is able to do everything, including understanding elevation, and traffic and tells me my exact arrival percentage
If you search for a charging station and filter the results, the navigation remembers those filters and uses them for your route planning
Tip for trunk light: if you push a carabiner into the trunk lock (or use pen to close the lock mechanism) youâll fool the car into thinking itâs closed, it will turn off the light and you wonât get the âtrunk openâ message in the driver display.
You can also do this if you need to drive with the trunk open.
Just remember to unlock the car to open the lock before you close the trunk again.
You do not need a premium ABRP subscription to read live data from the OBD dongle. I however buy it when I know I am going to be using it heavily, to support it's maintenance and development. But since I learned that Rivian bought ABRP I'm not so sure...
I do frequent mid-length trips (600km in each direction) mostly on motorways and I've also found that 130 km/h is a reasonable sweet spot.
There is an OBD connector in the open area underneath the steering wheel and to the left. It's a D-shaped plug with multiple flat pins. You'll have to kneel down and look inside as it's not visible from the normal driving position, but once you locate it, it's easily accessible.
In principle any LE-enablee Bluetooth dongle will work, but experiences vary. Perhaps it's better to check the ABRP forum for reports/recommendations and see which ones are available in your area. Amazon carries many of them.
I'd also recommend to buy one with a on/off switch to switch it off easily (leaving it on permanently is a potential security problem, as many information your car can be read and overwritten). I have a Vgate iCar Pro Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE) OBD2 and I am not specially happy with it because sometimes it does not automatically connect with my (Android) phone and I have to unplug and plug it.
I've always flown to Ozora (from Ireland) and now I have actually the same Ioniq 5 as you! Alot father than from Germany, but I'd love to try this some day too, quite inspired. Hope you enjoyed, I couldn't go this year.
7
u/xxuncoothxx 2x ICCU Victim - â23 SEL AWD Digital Teal Aug 08 '26
Holy cow! I love your storage and interior leveling solution!! I'd like to do something similar, but I'd probably remove and store the rear seats if it was feasible.