Hyundai IONIQ 5 Road Trip: 2,500 km Across Southern Turkey

The IONIQ 5's First Big Test: A Long Swing Through Southern Turkey

Just one month after taking delivery of his Hyundai IONIQ 5, the author packed the family up for a proper shakedown: a five-day loop from Istanbul down through Sapanca, Burdur, Fethiye, Kaş, Denizli, and Kütahya, between May 9 and May 13, 2024. His wife had been against the purchase, but he pushed for it anyway. By the end of the trip, she was the one singing the car's praises, and he felt fully vindicated.

The outbound leg to Fethiye was the real test. He planned his own route with charging stops in mind, and it paid off: four charging sessions totaling 1 hour 20 minutes got him there in 11 hours. His old diesel would have made the same run in about 9.5 hours. On the return, he handed the navigation over to the ABRP app, which suggested five shorter stops. That strategy added up to just one hour of charging total, though the scenic detours stretched the drive to 11.5 hours.

What won his wife over wasn't the charging math, though. It was the silence. The cabin stays hushed at highway speeds, and the suspension soaks up rough Turkish asphalt in a way that makes long days behind the wheel feel almost effortless. He called both qualities the highlights of the whole journey, and the trip cost him 2,500 TL in charging fees. That same route in his previous diesel would have burned through three tanks of fuel at roughly 6,000 TL. For anyone weighing a Hyundai IONIQ 5 long road trip, the savings are part of the story, but so is the calm that comes with it.

The Charging Reality: Costs, Speeds, and the Network's Growing Pains

The wallet math alone made the switch feel justified. Across the entire Istanbul-to-Fethiye route, the author paid 2,500 TL in total charging costs, all at DC fast chargers. His previous diesel car would have burned through three full tanks of fuel on the same journey, setting him back around 6,000 TL. That gap of roughly 3,500 TL is the kind of concrete difference that makes an electric road trip feel less like a compromise and more like a quiet win.

Charging speeds told a more complicated story. At Trugo stations, the author regularly pulled close to 180 kW, which is excellent for a Hyundai IONIQ 5 long road trip. But he also tested ZES units rated at 400 kW and Gioev chargers rated at 300 kW, and neither ever delivered above 170 kW. He could not explain why the higher-rated machines underperformed, but the pattern held across multiple stops. At a Trugo 180 kW unit, the car reportedly went from 20% to 80% in about 10 minutes, and a ZES 400 kW charger then handled the 50% to 80% top-up in 7 minutes. Those figures seem optimistic given the IONIQ 5's charging curve, but that is how the numbers landed on his dashboard.

Speed on the road was another point worth noting. The author says he held a steady 130 km/h on the Northern Marmara Highway between Beykoz and Izmit, and 115 km/h on other divided roads. Those figures run ahead of the posted limits, which sit at 120 km/h on that highway and lower on many divided routes, so treat them as his personal cruising choices rather than legal guidance. The adaptive cruise control handled most of the driving and generally worked well, though it occasionally braked or accelerated with more force than a human driver would, a small annoyance he figured he would get used to over time.

What stood out most was how uneven the network still feels. On the return leg between Uşak and Kütahya, he spotted no DC charging stations at all. The gap forced him to plan around dead zones rather than drive freely. Turkey's charging infrastructure is expanding quickly, and the author credits the companies investing in it, noting that even his factory parking lot now has a Trugo station. But moments like that empty stretch between two mid-sized cities are a reminder that the map still has holes, and a successful Hyundai IONIQ 5 long road trip depends on knowing exactly where they are before you set out.

The Strategy That Saves Time, and the Gaps That Still Frustrate

The most effective way to handle a Hyundai IONIQ 5 long road trip is to charge from 10-20% up to 60% and keep moving, rather than waiting for a full battery. This approach means shorter, more frequent stops that actually save time overall. The logic is simple: the car accepts power much faster when the battery is low, so you get more range per minute plugged in.

Elon Musk has described this with a parking lot analogy. Finding a spot in an empty lot is easy and quick, but as the lot fills up, it takes longer to locate an open space. The same principle applies to battery charging. The lower your charge, the quicker the electricity flows in, so topping up to 60% and hitting the road again beats sitting around waiting for 100%.

In practice, the difference is striking. The author found that charging from 20% to 80% took nearly the same time as charging from 50% to 80%, which makes the low-battery strategy even more appealing. At a Trugo 180 kW station, the car went from 20% to 80% in about 10 minutes. Later, at a ZES unit rated at 400 kW, the 50% to 80% window took 7 minutes. The 400 kW station could not deliver above 170 kW, which remains a mystery, but the real takeaway holds: start low, stop short, keep rolling.

Turkey, however, is not quite ready for everyone to adopt this playbook. The strategy depends on having plenty of DC fast chargers along your route, and that is still a work in progress. On the return leg between Uşak and Kütahya, the author spotted zero DC stations. That stretch of road simply lacks the infrastructure to support frequent, quick top-ups.

The network is growing fast, though. A friend who toured the Balkan countries and Greece came back complaining that those regions lag far behind Turkey in charging infrastructure, though that comparison is subjective and depends on specific routes and travel years. Still, it suggests Turkey is making serious headway.

Despite the gaps, the author expressed genuine gratitude toward all the charging providers. Every company tried delivered solid results, with only minor hiccups along the way. The highlight came when spotting a Trugo charger even in a factory parking lot. That small detail felt like proof that the ecosystem is spreading into unexpected places, one station at a time.

Why One Owner Calls a 1.6 Million TL IONIQ 5 a 'Miracle'

The same Ekşi Sözlük user who road-tripped through southern Turkey bought his Hyundai IONIQ 5 after a test drive so short it barely qualified as one, and he paid 1.6 million TL for it. He calls that price tag a "miracle" because, as he puts it, the same money buys you an Opel Mokka with a 1.2-liter petrol engine. The silence and comfort during those few minutes behind the wheel were enough to seal the deal.

He charges at home through a dedicated meter line he had installed, and he prefers daytime charging sessions lasting 5 to 6 hours for safety reasons. Since he doesn't drive daily, the slower overnight pace doesn't bother him. The real numbers, though, are what make his case: a combined range of 384 kilometers, around 400 kilometers in city driving, and roughly 300 kilometers on highways at a constant 110 km/h. For someone who only leaves town once a year, that trade-off works fine.

What impresses him most is the space. He insists four adults can fit comfortably in the back seat, and he points out the IONIQ 5 is physically larger than a Peugeot 3008, a VW Tiguan, or a Hyundai Tucson. The suspension comfort, insulation, and performance all get high marks from him. He also claims that buying an electric vehicle right now is a "big opportunity" because of a 10% special consumption tax, though that rate reportedly applies only to a narrow segment of EVs, so the full picture is more complicated than he suggests.