Thanks for sharing! I have an EV6, and as much as I love it, I completely agree that it is just not worth the money right now compared to what you can get away with spending on a Model Y. You’ll be very happy with the Ioniq 5 SEL. That actually was originally the car I hoped I’d wind up with, but there were none for sale in my area back when I was in the market. Wound up with an EV6 Wind RWD because, out of those two models, it was the only one that was for sale within 50 miles of where I live. I thought I’d be a bit disappointed by the slightly smaller rear cargo area, but it has come to pass that I am A-OK with it. I like the EV6 styling just a bit more, but there’s no doubt at all that the Ioniq 5 SEL is a very fine sister car to this one.

It’s nice to hear that your husband came around on the subject, too! I find that almost anybody who gets near my car and talks to me about it walks away a lot more comfortable with the idea of living with an EV than they started off. Enjoy the car! Also make sure it has all the software updates that are available both over the air and also from the dealership–a lot of improvements have been made to these cars through said software updates.

It’s possible to use a Pacifica PHEV such that you get every inch of that ~32 mile all electric range. It’s also possible to use (or abuse) one such that it gets barely even half of that. Weather (outdoor temperature), cabin climate control settings, whether you preheated the cabin before departing while still plugged in for charging, and how heavy your accelerator foot is all have an impact on things.

Most PHEVs actually do get pretty close to their EPA stated all electric range. Or, at the least, they really are capable of it if you’re driving in the right conditions. But that’s not a guarantee.

I have a Kia EV6, RWD. It’s rated for 310 miles of range on a 100% charge. During the winter, when the environmental conditions are the worst they can be for my range and efficiency, I can only get ~240 miles of estimated range at 100%. But during this past summer, driving a more efficient route at warmer temperatures, but otherwise in the same car on the same tires would get me a 340 mile estimated range at 100%. Weather and how it’s being driven matter a lot. Weather and driving style also matter in ICE vehicles, for what it’s worth, but because ICE powertrains are already inherently no better than 40-50% efficient (and usually worse), you don’t notice the further losses to efficiency quite as much.

I think we could get away with leaning on another agency’s work toward defining bag sizes to help us out here: the TSA has a maximum size for carry on bags set at 22" x 14" x 9", including handles and wheels. That’s a relatively small bag size, but I don’t think there is a standard maximum in each direction like that for checked bags. Those bags can be bigger, but the restriction is in 62 linear inches (i.e. the total sum you get from adding together the width, length, and height of your bag has to be less than 62")–not a maximum in each dimension.

People tend to be familiar with checked bag sizes. There is a max in each direction already established by a well known industry/agency. And since it’s a smaller bag, you can more efficiently cram the nooks and crannies of a vehicle’s cargo area with them (the same can’t be said for the larger, 24", bags that Alex on Autos uses–I like his general method here but there is no true standard for a 24" bag like there is for a “checked” / 22" bag).

Here’s where I think it matters most: throughput.

You can charge 3 EGMP cars (Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, EV6, etc.) in the time it takes to charge 2 Mustang Mach-Es. Over the course of a 16 hour day from 6 AM to 10 PM, that’s 48 cars charged vs. 32. If your charging station has 4 blocks which can support those peak EGMP charge rates, then that’s 192 vs 128 cars that can be handled.

For an individual, the 5-15 minutes you can save by having the faster charging EV (vs. a fast but not quite as fast charging EV) is probably not that big a deal. Even on the longest travel days–where you could be fast charging 3 or 4 times–that’s no more than an hour of time difference, and probably less. Unless you’re on an unavoidably tight time crunch (a rare conundrum), or have impatient kids in the backseat who can’t be reasoned with because they’re just plain sick of being in car seats, that’s acceptable. But what’s not acceptable is waiting for 1 or more other cars in front of you in the queue to do their entire charge before you can even have your turn to plug in. That’s why I say throughput is where it matters, and is the real benefit of having a higher percentage of the EV fleet being super fast charging.

This throughput issue is, of course, remedied with more charging infrastructure in more places, and so it’s good that not only are charge speeds of the fleet averaging upward, but also that more stations are being built every day!

Increasingly, all I want is a tally of how many pieces of luggage of a certain size will fit behind each row of seats. After going through a couple vehicle hunts by now, I’m used to the standard of cubic feet as the universal cargo space measurement units. But frankly they’re useless. One vehicle’s 38 cubic feet might be a lot easier to maximize than is another vehicle’s 41 cubic feet.

No, what I want is Bjorn’s “banana box” test result. Or, if quirky isn’t your style, then let’s go with 24" roller bag suitcases. It’s what we all want to know anyway: “how many of [bulky item] can we fit in here?”