Hyundai IONIQ 5 Charging Costs: Solar Versus Utility

With awards for safety, design, and performance, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 is perhaps the hottest electric vehicle (EV) on the market and will likely attract a new wave of EV drivers in 2023. But one thing to consider before buying any EV is how and where you’re going to charge it. In this article, we’ll explore the cost of charging a Hyundai IONIQ 5 on grid versus solar electricity.

Let’s get started with a quick estimate of how many kWh of electricity it takes to charge an IONIQ 5.

How many kWh to charge a Hyundai IONIQ 5?

The 2022 IONIQ 5 has a battery capacity of 77.4 kWh and a range of 300 miles, according to Hyundai’s product guide.

For the health of the battery, it’s recommended to keep a minimum charge of 10% at all times. So, it takes around 70 kWh of electricity to “fully charge” an IONIQ 5.

According to Hyundai, you can expect a 10% to 100% charge to take around 6 hours and 45 minutes with a standard 240V Level II charger – the kind most EV owners install at their home.

How many kWh per day to charge an IONIQ5?

Theoretically, you could commute 270 miles a day and have plenty of time to fully charge at home each night. But the average American drives just 37 miles a day, so let’s see how much electricity it takes to charge an IONIQ 5 with an average commute.

According to the US Department of Energy, the long range 2022 IONIQ 5 has a fuel economy rating of 30 kWh/100 miles – the equivalent of 114 miles per gallon. This rating is on par with the Tesla Model 3.

Charging an IONIQ 5 requires 11.1 kWh of electricity to travel 37 miles per day, and around 333 kWh per month.

Now that we know about how much electricity you need, the next question is where should you charge your IONIQ 5?

The cost of charging a Hyundai IONIQ 5

To figure out the cost of charging an IONIQ5, first we need to figure out where you are charging it. There are three main options for charging an EV.

1. At home on grid electricity
2. At home on solar electricity
3. At a public charging station

Obviously, if you’re cruising cross-country, you’re going to rely on public charging stations. But for day-to-day driving, there are benefits to charging at home – most notably lower charging costs.

Public charging typically costs between 20 and 60 cents per kWh and can vary widely depending on the time, location, and type of charger. The rate for home charging is usually much lower but can also vary depending on your utility rate and the cost per kWh of your solar system.

Here’s a breakdown of cost of charging a Hyundai IONIQ 5 on grid, solar, and public chargers:

Charging method	Cost per kWh	Cost per full charge (70 kWh)	Cost per month (333 kWh) *	Cost per year (4,051 kWh) *
Solar panels	7 cents**	$4.90	$23.31	$283.57
Grid electricity (US average)	16.7 cents	$11.69	$55.61	$676.52
Chicago	18.8 cents	$13.16	$62.60	$761.59
Los Angeles	24.4 cents	$17.08	$81.25	$988.44
New York City	24.5 cents	$17.15	$81.59	$992.50
Public charging	40 cents	$28	$133.20	$1,620.4

*Figures based on the average American driver traveling 37 miles per day. **Average cost per kWh of solar panels purchased through solar.com. Grid electricity prices for September 2022 electricity prices per BLS.

Home charging an IONIQ 5 on solar electricity is the cheapest option by a long shot at nearly $400 cheaper per year than charging at the national average price for grid electricity. In major metro areas like Los Angeles and New York City, that savings increases to over $700 per year.

That’s a good chunk of change for one year and it really adds up over time.

IONIQ 5 home charging: Grid vs solar

Charging an IONIQ 5 at home is clearly cheaper and more convenient than using public chargers. But it gets even cheaper (not to mention cleaner) when you have a home solar system.

As we found above, IONIQ 5 owners can save $400 to $700 in the first year of charging on solar instead of grid. And those savings increase each year as the price of grid electricity climbs – typically by around 3.5% per year.

Here’s how that looks over the 25-year warranted life of a solar system.

The average American could save over $18,000 by charging on home solar over 25 years. In Los Angeles, where EV adoption is much higher, homeowners stand to save over $30,000 by charging on home solar instead of grid electricity.

Now, you may not own your IONIQ 5 for 25 years but designing a solar system to offset EV charging in general is an investment with a clear payoff.

How many solar panels to charge a Hyundai IONIQ 5?

For the average driver traveling 37 miles per day, it takes 6-10 solar panels to charge a Hyundai IONIQ 5 entirely on solar electricity – or at least to offset the grid electricity you use to charge it.

The exact number of panels you need depends on how much you drive, how much sun you get, and the type of panel you install. Let’s run through an example scenario based on an average American driver.

Depending on where you live, the number of peak sun hours can average between 4 and 6 hours a day. We’ll split the difference and say 5 hours.

11.1 kWh per day / 5 hours of sun per day = 2.22 kW of production per hour

Let’s divide that by 78 percent to account for the slight loss while converting from DC to AC electricity.

2.22 kW / .78 = 2.846 kW

So, you’d need 2.846 kilowatts or 2,846 Watts of solar capacity to charge your IONIQ 5. Today, the most popular solar panels are rated for 400W.

2,846 W / 400W = 7.11 solar panels

We’ll round down to say it takes seven 400W solar panels for the average American driver to charge an IONIQ 5.

Of course, the exact amount will vary depending on how much sun your house gets and the power rating of your solar panels. The table below shows how many panels you need to charge a Hyundai IONIQ 5 for some common sun and panel combinations.

Peak sun hours	Solar panel power rating	Number of panels to charge a Hyundai IONIQ 5*
4	350W	10
4	400W	9
5	350W	8
5	400W	7
6	350W	7
6	400W	6

*2022 Hyundai IONIQ 5 with 77.4 kWh battery with a 300-mile range driving 37 miles per day. Number of panels rounded to nearest whole number.

Now that we know how many solar panels it takes to charge an IONIQ 5, let’s see how much each panel costs.

How much does it cost to add panels to charge an EV?

There’s two ways to measure the cost of solar panels: Price Per Watt (PPW) and cost per kilowatt hour.

Today, a home solar system typically costs between $3-5 per Watt and around 6-8 cents per kilowatt hour.

At just over $4 per Watt, it would cost $11,500 to add seven 400W solar panels before applying the 30% federal solar tax credit. After claiming the tax credit, the net cost comes down to $8,050 and gives us a rate around 7 cents per kilowatt hour over the system’s 25-year life.

Pay yourself back by charging your IONIQ 5 on solar

Home solar is the cheapest, cleanest, and most convenient way to charge a Hyundai IONIQ 5, or even EV, for that matter.

By going solar, you freeze your electricity rate at a super low price – usually in the ballpark of 7 cents per kilowatt hour – and shield yourself from ever-rising grid electricity costs.

Over time, charging with solar adds up to huge energy savings and ensures that your EV is running on clean, renewable energy.

Connect with an Energy Advisor to see how much you could save by charging with solar.