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Comment by gtaylor | Hacker News Reader

Different car, but I've been super pleased with my Ioniq 5. The build quality and comfort are much better than the Teslas we were considering.

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Test drove the car during winter and they really did not design it for winter.

- Appalling charging speed (I believe they fixed this). - Rear window gets covered with asphalt/dirt from studded tyre drivers. - The car handles poorly in slippery road conditions, I got very poor traction cornering and accelerating in conditions that very not that bad. - It is too wide, couldn't fit it in my friends parking space when visiting and also found it too wide for some narrow streets for driving it comfortably

What about the software? I was considering it but people were complaining about the very slow infotainment system. The UI also looked a bit dated.

I test drove an ioniq 5. Nice to drive. The console display is a bit naff in that important parts (speed) is hidden by the steering wheel and I had to adjust the wheel. The salesperson thought you could move the speed but couldn't figure it out.

However, my daughter said the middle back seat where she usually sits was uncomfortable. I tested a Kia ev6 too and she thought that was comfy and it drives slightly nicer as I guess it's lower to the ground.

We got the hybrid sonata, because charging can still be a problem in NYC, and have been super happy with it too: https://www.hyundaiusa.com/us/en/vehicles/sonata-hybrid/gall...

They also tend to get significantly better range than stated, right? I've read that from their previous EV models anyway.

Not an EV, but my 2021 Hyundai Elantra gets around 52mpg on the highway, though it's rated at "Up to 33 city / 43 highway" I've had an overall average of 46mpg with mixed city/highway driving.

Hyundai clearly is doing well with efficiency.

I've liked Hyundai's I've owned in the past for this exact reason. But in case people get a little high on the Hyundai hype in this thread... every Hyundai model before 2019, iirc, is extremely easy to steal. If you live in an auto theft-prone metro area like I used to, I would avoid those cars. Kia as well.

IIRC it's so easy that a method of stealing a Hyundai using only a male USB port surfaced on TikTok a few weeks back. But it's been a huge problem in a few major US cities for the past 2+ years.

I believe this applies to 2020 and 2021 models as well. According to NPR[1] Hyundai/Kia only decided to finally install engine immobilizers part way through the 2021 model year.

[1](https://www.npr.org/2022/09/19/1123647178/kia-hyundai-car-st...)

Perhaps there is an up-side to Hyundai's general lack of attention to basic security practices: Apparently it's just as easy to hack the onboard infotainment system. Someone recently published a procedure that allows owners to install a customized Linux ROM using the normal firmware update procedure. Hyundai literally used a default and well known signing key to authenticate their software updates so it's almost trivially easy to circumvent. The details were discussed previously on hacker news, I don't have the link handy but I believe it is possible to (easily) take control of the infotainment screen as well as CANBUS-accessible systems, including the door locks and very likely access all of the telemetry data destined for the dashboard instrument displays. There are probably even more possibilities that I haven't mentioned. I really wish I had more free time to hack on it because I think it would be really fun and interesting.

really want one but sadly just got another Chevy Bolt which is a great car but not as fancy

The Bolt is one of the cars available through the carshare system in my city, and I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked it. The combination of absurd torque and econobox look and feel was just fun.

I probably would have bought one if I didn’t have to street park somewhere where subzero temperatures (°F) aren’t uncommon. Ended up getting a low(er) mileage Ford Fusion Hybrid instead.

I've been driving a Bolt as our only car in a family of 4 (2 children) for a couple years and it's fine. Small, but gets the job done. We don't road trip at all since our vacations mean going back to the home country, so I understand it's not for everybody, but also it's totally a fine car. A joy to drive too.

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