Casteyanqui.com | Electric Vehicles

Wedding Roadtrip
in our Ioniq 5

Mark D Larsen

June 10-12, 2024

Royal Treatment

Time certainly marches on! As hard as it was to realize it, the first wedding of one of my grandchildren, was scheduled to take place on June 11. My grandson, Ryan, and his bride, Janina, had been dating each other for years, and now decided to get married. We therefore drove up to Linden, Utah, to join in the celebration at Wadley Farms with numerous members of my extended family. We had reserved a room in a motel for a couple of nights, and even arranged for a doggy-sitter to take care of Moxie in that area while we attended the marriage ceremony and dinner reception. Below is the usual narrative of our trip.

NOTE: You can click on the following photos to enlarge them, and the movies to play them.

I anticipated that we would need to charge twice to reach the Provo Valley, and decided to make the first stop at the Electrify America DCFC in Richfield, where I had charged for the Earth Day EV'ent a few weeks ago. Unsure of the range needed to reach there, I charged Ohm My to a full 100% for the first time ever. As shown here, the ‘guess-o-meter’ estimated 351 miles with climate control, more than enough for the 173-mile drive.

To also be on the safe side, I then set the cruise control at 70 mph instead of the posted speed of 80 mph in Utah. Sure enough, we arrived in Richfield with 34% left in the battery, which suggests that we could have made it on an 80% charge at that lower speed. Still, the driving distance of 173 miles + 96 miles remaining = 269 miles, i.e., much less than the guess-o-meter's estimate that morning.

Here is my usual introductory video while we were on the freeway to Richfield.

We charged to the usual 80% in Richfield, and the guess-o-meter made another totally exaggerated calculation that we now had 227 miles of range. My reason for driving here was so we could take Highway 89 north, rather than stay of the I-15 freeway, and thus pass through smaller, rural communities like Ephraim, where my great-great-grandparents had settled over 170 years ago.

Our next charging stop would be at an Electrify America site in Spanish Fork, just beyond this picturesque mountain range. I knew that the chargers would likely be occupied, since that area is more populous and congested, and… I was right. We had to wait about 10 minutes before a charger opened up for us to plug in.

We'd driven 120 more miles, and now had 35% charge in the battery, with a guess'timate of 87 miles remaining. This time I decided to charge to 90%, just in case we needed more range over the next couple days when driving to-and-from the doggy-sitters’ home, the wedding venue, and our motel.

That charge guessed 214 miles, much less than I would have expected given the EPA range of 260 miles for an Ioniq 5 AWD. Evidently the climate control was taking a toll with the hot weather.

When we arrived at our motel, we gave Moxie a treat as a reward for her good behavior on such a long drive all day. True to her nature, she quickly decided to bury and save it to enjoy later. She is such a funny little vixen!

Wadley Farms is an impressive wedding venue, with Mount Timpanogos as a backdrop.

It even has a castle for large events, but this wedding took place in a shaded garden area next to a dining hall.

Here is the welcome sign at the entrance to the garden area.

Right past the entrance was the guest book and photos of Ryan and Jennie.

We grabbed some seats in the shade, and thus I had to zoom into the ceremony from a distance when Ryan and Jennie exchanged rings.

Tamara and I were glad to get a good seat in the shade, as the temperatures were getting hot.

And here Tamara is with Emmerson, the second child of my daughter Marisa.

I was absolutely delighted to see most of my GrandGenes there. Here I am surrounded by five of them.

This is my eldest daughter Amanda's family, who drove here from San Antonio, TX. Only one of her children who couldn't attend. Nonetheless, the grandson’s daughter —my first great-grandaughter!— was with them.

This is my second daughter Marisa's entire family who flew here from Charlotte, NC. The groom is their eldest son.

And here is my third daughter Jennifer's family who flew in from Enterprise, AL —except for their eldest son who was doing an internship.

Here is Jennifer, and her husband, Jake, made in the shade.

My darling granddaughter Emelyse always has a captivating, contagious smile.

Here are all my kids, grandkids, and great-grandkid who attended the wedding.

Here is a nice photo of the bride and groom with the bride's mother.

These are Jennifer's two delightful daughters, both of whom are now in college in AL.

Here I am with those darling granddaughters.

Tamara was chatting with Gordon, the husband of my grandkids' grandmother.

After taking all the usual wedding photos, we moved inside to have a lovely dinner.

And here is Amanda with that first great-grandaughter, Lyla.

The next day Moxie and I drove back to the Spanish Fork DCFC site to charge the car for the return trip.

One of the units wasn't working, but another owner finished charging and I moved into that spot to plug in.

I decided to charge to 90%, knowing that we'd have a long drive at freeway speeds to reach the Electrify America chargers in Beaver.

En route to Beaver, we passed Mount Nebo, the highest mountain on the Wasatch Front in Utah.

It was good that I'd charged to 90%, for we had to drive through very strong headwinds to reach Beaver, arriving with only 10% in the battery and 18 miles on the guess-o-meter.

This time I charged to only 80%, which I knew from experience would be sufficient to get us home from there.

Sure enough, we pulled into the garage with 33% in the battery and 76 miles on the guess-o-meter.

It was wonderful, and nostalgic, and even a bit disconcerting to attend the first wedding of a grandchild. How time flies! It was astounding for me to contemplate how 1/2, 1/4, and even 1/8 of my DNA has proliferated in such incredible, admirable, beautiful, sundry people in this world.
As for the roadtrip, Ohm My performed without a hitch. We sometimes had to wait to charge because of faulty units, but when we did plug in, the charging was blisteringly fast —faster than I’d ever seen in the Tesla— even when using a 150 kW unit instead of even faster 350 kW stations. I have to note that I am glad our Ioniq 5 came with two years of free half-hour charging: we thus had to pay zero, zip, zilch for “fuel” on the trip.
Speaking of costs, I also have to say that charging stations have raised their prices higher and higher over the years, no matter which provider one uses —including Tesla. For example, if I didn’t have the perk of free charging, I tallied that I would have had to pay $118.26 for the kWh. If we still had our old Subaru, and had to pay the current price at the pump instead, I calculate that we would have spent $108.67 for gas —a bit less! Ah, well… it’s not as if I drive an EV to “save money”: I am simply trying to do my small part to help mitigate the climate crisis.

I anticipated that we would need to charge twice to reach the Provo Valley, and decided to make the first stop at the Electrify America DCFC in Richfield, where I had charged for the Earth Day EV'ent a few weeks ago. Unsure of the range needed to reach there, I charged Ohm My to a full 100% for the first time ever. As shown here, the ‘guess-o-meter’ estimated 351 miles with climate control, more than enough for the 173-mile drive.	To also be on the safe side, I then set the cruise control at 70 mph instead of the posted speed of 80 mph in Utah. Sure enough, we arrived in Richfield with 34% left in the battery, which suggests that we could have made it on an 80% charge at that lower speed. Still, the driving distance of 173 miles + 96 miles remaining = 269 miles, i.e., much less than the guess-o-meter's estimate that morning.
Here is my usual introductory video while we were on the freeway to Richfield.
We charged to the usual 80% in Richfield, and the guess-o-meter made another totally exaggerated calculation that we now had 227 miles of range. My reason for driving here was so we could take Highway 89 north, rather than stay of the I-15 freeway, and thus pass through smaller, rural communities like Ephraim, where my great-great-grandparents had settled over 170 years ago.	Our next charging stop would be at an Electrify America site in Spanish Fork, just beyond this picturesque mountain range. I knew that the chargers would likely be occupied, since that area is more populous and congested, and… I was right. We had to wait about 10 minutes before a charger opened up for us to plug in.
We'd driven 120 more miles, and now had 35% charge in the battery, with a guess'timate of 87 miles remaining. This time I decided to charge to 90%, just in case we needed more range over the next couple days when driving to-and-from the doggy-sitters’ home, the wedding venue, and our motel.	That charge guessed 214 miles, much less than I would have expected given the EPA range of 260 miles for an Ioniq 5 AWD. Evidently the climate control was taking a toll with the hot weather.
When we arrived at our motel, we gave Moxie a treat as a reward for her good behavior on such a long drive all day. True to her nature, she quickly decided to bury and save it to enjoy later. She is such a funny little vixen!
Wadley Farms is an impressive wedding venue, with Mount Timpanogos as a backdrop.	It even has a castle for large events, but this wedding took place in a shaded garden area next to a dining hall.
Here is the welcome sign at the entrance to the garden area.	Right past the entrance was the guest book and photos of Ryan and Jennie.
We grabbed some seats in the shade, and thus I had to zoom into the ceremony from a distance when Ryan and Jennie exchanged rings.
Tamara and I were glad to get a good seat in the shade, as the temperatures were getting hot.	And here Tamara is with Emmerson, the second child of my daughter Marisa.
I was absolutely delighted to see most of my GrandGenes there. Here I am surrounded by five of them.	This is my eldest daughter Amanda's family, who drove here from San Antonio, TX. Only one of her children who couldn't attend. Nonetheless, the grandson’s daughter —my first great-grandaughter!— was with them.
This is my second daughter Marisa's entire family who flew here from Charlotte, NC. The groom is their eldest son.	And here is my third daughter Jennifer's family who flew in from Enterprise, AL —except for their eldest son who was doing an internship.
Here is Jennifer, and her husband, Jake, made in the shade.	My darling granddaughter Emelyse always has a captivating, contagious smile.
Here are all my kids, grandkids, and great-grandkid who attended the wedding.	Here is a nice photo of the bride and groom with the bride's mother.
These are Jennifer's two delightful daughters, both of whom are now in college in AL.	Here I am with those darling granddaughters.
Tamara was chatting with Gordon, the husband of my grandkids' grandmother.	After taking all the usual wedding photos, we moved inside to have a lovely dinner.
And here is Amanda with that first great-grandaughter, Lyla.	The next day Moxie and I drove back to the Spanish Fork DCFC site to charge the car for the return trip.
One of the units wasn't working, but another owner finished charging and I moved into that spot to plug in.	I decided to charge to 90%, knowing that we'd have a long drive at freeway speeds to reach the Electrify America chargers in Beaver.
En route to Beaver, we passed Mount Nebo, the highest mountain on the Wasatch Front in Utah.	It was good that I'd charged to 90%, for we had to drive through very strong headwinds to reach Beaver, arriving with only 10% in the battery and 18 miles on the guess-o-meter.
This time I charged to only 80%, which I knew from experience would be sufficient to get us home from there.	Sure enough, we pulled into the garage with 33% in the battery and 76 miles on the guess-o-meter.