We finally got enough snow to try it out! About four inches fell earlier this week on top of a sheet of ice. After breakfast, I got in the Ioniq, pushed the button for Snow Mode and off we went! She went right over the snow bank left by the plow at the bottom of our driveway–always the first test. Then I played around on the packed snow with black ice underneath and noticed that she stayed steady and straight even in a skid. The anti-lock braking worked well and pretty quickly brought me to a stop (I was on a flat street). Then I decided to cut up a bit in the 6-8 inches of snow bank left by the plow along our street after they plowed one lane for driving. I was impressed with the Ioniq’s ability to drive right through this level of snow without wavering. The heavy battery sits evenly across the chassis and the AWD powers all four wheels evenly, giving me a solid, unstoppable driving experience. I was impressed. As I drove the changing conditions throughout the day, I felt completely comfortable and confident.

I compared notes with Scott, who had recently been to Seattle to visit his sister and bake Christmas cookies. He landed in the middle of a snowstorm. His sister saw my Ioniq when I bought it in July and decided to get one of her own. It had arrived just before Scott’s visit. Sheila lives on a steep hill that was covered in ice and snow. Usually a treacherous drive that lands many a car against the curb at the bottom of the cul de sac, they found the Ioniq had no trouble navigating it. Sheila texted me, “I LOVE my car!” I totally agree! No more worries about winter driving. This is another great benefit of EV’s with some clearance and AWD–they are awesome in the snow!

Update January 10th

Last week we had a big storm that dumped rain on top of snow and created ice boulders and banks in and alongside the road. Some of them were pretty big. At one point I had to drive over a couple of ice boulders to merge onto another road and I heard them scrape the bottom of the car. I even dragged one for a few yards before it broke free. I winced before I remembered the bottom of the Ioniq is a smooth metal plate–no pipes, mufflers, oil pan to worry about! This is another great benefit of an EV. After that I confidently plowed over everything in my path and the Ioniq never wavered. I was able to get my mom all the things she needed and check on her, thank goodness!