Thinking about switching to an electric car? This amazing story might just convince you! A Hyundai Ioniq 5 owner in South Korea has shown just how much you can save and how long these electric cars can really last. After driving a whopping 5.8 lakh kilometers, this owner has saved an incredible ₹18.2 lakh on fuel costs! What’s even more impressive is that the car’s original battery is still going strong with 88% of its health remaining.
Lee Young-Heum, who works as a salesman, managed to clock up this massive mileage in just under three years. That’s like driving an average of over 580 kilometers every single day! This kind of heavy use really puts the Ioniq 5 to the test and proves its reliability.
Many people worry about how long electric car batteries will last, especially with frequent fast charging. Fast charging is often thought to make batteries wear out quicker. However, this Ioniq 5’s battery has held up incredibly well, even though it was mostly charged quickly. This shows that the battery technology in modern EVs like the Ioniq 5 is very advanced and can handle regular fast charging.
The Hyundai-Kia Research Institute was so interested in these results that they took Mr. Lee’s Ioniq 5 for research after it hit 6.6 lakh kilometers. They even gave him a new battery and motor for free! Their tests on the old battery showed that it still had a fantastic 87.7% of its original health.
Let’s talk about the money saved. Hyundai calculated that charging Mr. Lee’s Ioniq 5 for 6.6 lakh kilometers cost him around ₹30.36 lakh. If he had driven a similar petrol car, like the Hyundai Tucson, for the same distance, he would have spent about ₹48.56 lakh on fuel. That means he saved a massive ₹18.20 lakh just on fuel!
But the savings don’t stop there. Electric cars generally need less maintenance than petrol cars. Over 6.6 lakh kilometers, a petrol Tucson would have needed many oil changes, brake fluid changes, spark plug replacements, and transmission oil changes. The Ioniq 5 only needed basic check-ups, saving Mr. Lee an estimated ₹7 lakh in service and maintenance costs.
The only real problem Mr. Lee faced was with the car’s onboard charger failing at 6.5 lakh kilometers, which affected slow charging. However, he could still use the fast charging option.
This real-life story clearly shows the long-term benefits of electric vehicles like the Hyundai Ioniq 5. It proves that they can be very reliable and can save you a lot of money compared to petrol cars. As more and more people in India and around the world consider electric cars, stories like this will help them feel confident about making the switch and enjoying the advantages of electric mobility.