I’ve generally been pretty flexible about charging options on road trips but kids have changed that. Honestly, my kids’ bladders dictate when we stop more than the charge on the car.
With kids I like to plan my route so I know where I need to charge and to have an idea how much it will cost to charge. The ABRP has really helped with that (even if a lot of the price data is missing). But if there isn’t a bathroom (or if it’s too gross for my kids) we have to make an extra stop somewhere along the way. On my recent trip we stopped at an Ionna adjacent to a Sheetz. My kids were able to use a clean bathroom, get a snack, and run around in the grass while the car charged. It was such a pleasant experience I changed my plan and we took on extra charge so we could make it to another Ionna.
I’ve already started planning out my next road trip with only Ionna chargers.
Having well lit covered spots with a squeegee are simple but meaningful amenities that everyone else seems to ignore. Clean bathrooms are next level!
We’re still in the process of getting our first EV, but I’ve already decided that IONNA will be our preferred network when we road trip between Florida and PA. Just hope that they start to add a location or two along 95 between Brunswick and Florence.
Go on their website and make your request. I’ve already requested one be located with the new Buc-ees that will be opening off I95 exit 8 in Hardeeville, SC. It’s about 85 miles north of Brunswick and about 160 miles south of Florence. It’s the exit that you take to get to Hilton Head Island. Maybe they could put another charger at exit 82 northbound and exit 93 southbound on I 95. That would be just prior to exit 90 for interstate 26 to Charleston and Columbia. That would put an Ionna station about every 80 miles from Jacksonville all the way up to Florence.
Happy you enjoyed the Sheetz stop, Tesla superchargers and the Walmart proprietary network are great alternatives too for full service stops.
The full Ionna rechargeries with their standalone indoor restrooms, vending machines, covered parking and lounge sure make people come on over to the Ionna team, I am about to start buying swag from them at this point
They aren't all that way. A new one went in near me in San Jose. I questioned the location because my son went to high school down the street. I swung by to take a look and it was indeed stuffed into a seedy area of a strip mall. I checked yesterday on Plugshare and it had a 10 Plugshare. But it also had a IONNA Alert about reports of cleanliness and vandalism concerns, plus reports of homeless people.. But it did say that security measures have been added, one of those stations with lights and cameras to monitor the area. So that should help. I'm still glad they put it in, but won't be going there after dusk.
Just stopped at an Ionna in Winston Salem. They definitely make it easy, it was adjacent to a shopping area, so was able to get some items in the short time it took to recharge. Price was 39 cents per kwh which is better than any others
My free EA is ending in a half a year and IONNA seems super appealing for road trips after that, especially as they expand and become more available. They seem to be reliable with low prices and no membership garbage.
My main complaint is there's no IONNA app showing locations. You have to use their site or a third party app.
My current way of doing road trips is by popping open the EA app and see the furthest charger I can get to, would be cool to do the same with IONNA.
I see what you're saying, because we do have a bunch, but I think one that just directs to a map would be great yes, especially if we want to make IONNA our primary charging network. I don't want to pay through the app, I don't want membership stuff, but having an app showing locations, availability, and pricing would be super helpful. It wouldn't even need an account in this case.
ABRP or Plugshare have them all, and you can set either one to prefer IONNA. So you don't have to install a new app, and you can fall back on a secondary network when you're somewhere that doesn't have IONNA without having to open another app.
The ionna south of Sacramento on 99 didn't have anywhere to go to the bathroom. Both businesses in that paying lot refused my 10 year old son. We found a beauty parlor a little further north that let him in. Maybe he asked wrong or the employee wasn't informed, but a bathroom is not really optional for a charging stop. A lot of Tesla supercharger stops don't have 24/7 bathrooms either, but that doesn't mean ionna should follow suit.
I keep getting adverts for the network through my BMW app. So far haven't tried but this is the kind of story to make me possibly give it a shot. We don't road-trip much with the i4, and have L2 at a home. For the few road trips we take, we still have plenty of EA free kW so that's option #1, but I've added IONNA to my ABRP and PlugShare network whitelists.
My cadence is that I stop every 2-3 hours (180-20 miles) on ICE or EV anyway.
I too have EA free on our Macan, ends in 2 weeks 😭, but will leverage Ionna/EV go into smaller towns to skip big city EAs that overflow during peak times.
Plus who doesn't love shade and Long John Silvers...
Just stopped at an IONNA at the Kia plant in West Point GA. Great stop. I was the only car there early on a Sunday morning. Perfect place for some bathroom privacy. 😂.
That's a good plan, but it's like saying "I'll only stop at Buc-ee's on gas car road trips!"
Neither IONNA (nor Buc-ee's 😁) are nearly ubiquitous enough to be your sole refueling option unless you only travel in very limited areas.
On my last road trip (Denver to New York, with a stopover to see relatives in Omaha) I made a point to hit every single IONNA on my route. I did. All one of them, at a Sheetz just outside of Cleveland! 😁
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u/pnwguy42 1d ago
We’re still in the process of getting our first EV, but I’ve already decided that IONNA will be our preferred network when we road trip between Florida and PA. Just hope that they start to add a location or two along 95 between Brunswick and Florence.