I've Leased My Ioniq 5 For The Past 4 Months, But My Thoughts Are in 2026 When My Lease Expires And I Have To Decide If This Is The Right EV For My Brutally-Cold State

Other electric vehicles s will be the same it’s the battery tech not car.

Are you unable to charge at home due to parking or community laws/rules? Home chargers are not that expensive and are very convenient. My daily work commute is 120 miles. Even when it’s frigid, I have no problem since my car charges to 80 or 90% overnight.

If you plan to go EV again, just spend the money now and install a home charger. When you change at home, how do i charge stops bothering you. Because you are sleeping every night when it is charging.

Based on my experience and knowledge of rash winters in Finland there is couple of things wrong in your blog post. It is constantly here more than -15C and couple of weeks with more than -30C
Let me correct some claims that are just incorrect or need explanation:
"A typical 20-mile commute to work can result in an 18% battery drain in freezing temperatures."

While this is true it is only because you start with cold cabin twice a day and initial heating to target temperature uses 7kW of energy for major part of your journey. If you start pre-heated that drops to 1kW ish for the whole duration of the trip.

"A full day of parking outdoors at work can consume an additional 20% of the charge."
This is not true. In truth the drain is typically 0-1%. If you lose 20% during workday there is something wrong in your cat.

Thanks for the insight. Batteries are the biggest obstacle to owning an electric car. Leasing was a smart idea. I've thought about leasing myself to trial an EV. The answer will be solid-state batteries if they ever get here.

You’ll find gas very inconvenient when you get an L2 charger at home. It’ll pay for itself in many ways.

The question on turning in the car at lease expiration or paying to keep the car depends on a number of things. The primary one is does the car meet your needs? In our case which involves a Nissan Plus lease, it does well with the 60-80 miles of daily use. We don't live in nearly the cold climate of Minnesota, but forum comments from Canadian users seem to indicate some additional loss during sub zero temperatures, but not close to that much. Our lease conditions were very generous and we are looking at $19k to keep the car. It will be worth it even when newer EVs hit the market with improved distances and charging, but that's for our case. Also, how much are you saving on not buying gas? In our location, the difference between the cost of fuel is $0.16/mile (gas) minus $0.03/mile (electric) or $0.13/mile. At 12,000 miles per year, that's $1560 a year. Lots to think about.

I too leased a '24 Ioniq 5 last summer. I live in Denver. It's been below zero here in the last week, and is often in the low teens at night. But I knew the limitiations of EV's in cold weather prior to leasing. I have a garage, a charger, and would never have gotten an EV without those. I can pre-heat and precondition the battery prior to driving. It makes a world of difference. With the car all warm when I start, I only use the seat heater. No problems. Yes, range has taken a hit in the cold, but not that much. Probably around 15% for me. And in the warmer months, my range has actually been much greater than the 260 miles it's supposed to get, usually around 300. Took it skiing last week, and up and back it averaged 4.0 miles per kilowatt hour. That's mountain driving, so I used a lot of energy to get there, but almost none to get home. So I am completely satisfied with winter performance for me. It's been a great car so far!

I’ve owned a Chevy Bolt for two winters now and even though you lose range in cold weather having a 220 electric hook up at home makes it a non issue. I know everyone can’t have that option but I don’t have to rely on work or public charging

This user's experience definitely doesn't line up with mine - and I live in Calgary Canada. I drove my 2025 Ioniq 5 251km (155mi) in -16C (3F) and used a bit less than 70% of my battery capacity for an estimated maximum range of 360km or 220 miles. That was highway driving at night - pretty much worst case conditions for an EV.

I left it parked for 36 hours in that weather and SOC dropped 2%.

I regularly see temperatures like those reported and don't have a home level 2 charger. I just plug into a block heating station at home and get a toasty warm car before I leave for work without drawing on the battery.

My power efficiency is then better than that highway road trip regardless of temperature because I'm getting regenerative braking and my car is topped up by the time I leave work.

No standing in the cold tanking up, no getting into a cold car. It's MORE convenient IMO.

After personally owning ionic 5 ultimate edition for three Winters, I can say that you must have a model without a heat pump for you to experience. The battery degradation you write about. My personal experience has not been such a dramatic variance from summer driving. As you have detailed sure there are some degradation due to the cold but nothing like you've experienced. The heat pump is the game changer as resistive heating is inefficient

I own an ioniq 5 in a Canadian city that gets below -30C multiple times per year. My experience is nothing like that claims made in this article. “About 18% of an ioniq 5 battery in about 20 miles” is an insane 43 kWh/100km. The worst I have ever gotten even below -30C is around 22-24 kWh/100km in mixed driving. This driver likely is ripping around in deep snow like a race car, has a defective car, or is maybe driving it in “snow mode” all winter even when roads are clear.

I live in the Rocky mountains at around 9k ft in elevation where the temperature gets below zero overnight very frequently. I wouldn't have been able to get an EV without having a home charger. I don't have a level 2 charger yet and am able to get by with using a level 1 just fine. The range is certainly reduced. It helps to preheat the car and battery while still on the charger.