Well if its a Chrysler, the’ve been cost cutting everywhere they could for 50 years now so if they decided to change things up on year 51, we’d probably know about it with their new vehicles. Their platforms are pretty transparent.
Did you precondition the car/battery while plugged in before heading out? If not, the initial energy used at the start of your tripnto get the battery up to its most efficient temp probably sucked a ton of your range out. Always good to precondition in cold weather while plugged in if you have the option to.
I don’t think the Ionic 5 has a button for that.
Could you turn it on, leave it sitting there, plugged in, w the headlights on hi-beam, the radio and all the heating running for a while? Run a bit of juice through the system for a while?
Just spitballing here.
Oh yeah, you can turn on all that without being in the car, but when I looked into it, the only pre-conditioning it does is if you pick a recharging station in your nav and it will try and pre-condition the battery on the way there… Something weird like that.
Hmm I thought the Ionic had preconditioning available, but maybe it’s only when navigating to a charger. Hop on to Ionic reddit or a facebook group and ask, I’m sure other owners can offer some advice.
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Looks like the I 5 doesn’t have the ability to precondition outside of putting in a charge station in the nav app.
My Mach E can do it but they don’t have just a button to do it. You have to set a departure time and it’ll do it then. So if I leave the house every day at 8a it’ll do it then, but if I’m leaving the house randomly in 30 minutes there’s no easy way to precondition…
Seems pretty dumb in both cases that there isn’t just a button to do it on the apps.
There’s this pre conditioning option. But I take that to mean conditioning before charging, not conditioning it before driving.
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Yea its a really dumb oversight to not have that ability from the app. I just click two buttons on my phone 10-15 mins before I plan to leave my house, or can set a scheduled departure ahead of time, and the car is warmed and ready to drive efficiently when I leave. My winter range barely takes a hit from my regular range.
Pick a charging station in your nav, but leave it running in the driveway? Trick the bastard!
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That’s actually the preferred solution.
2013 Golf 2,0 tdi
It’s wild that Mini is 3rd on that CR reliability chart. They’ve come a long way. I bought ours CPO and definitely paid a lil more for it than a non-warrantied one. Haven’t had a single issue so far and I beat on it.
Think my wife and I have finished our test drives for a mid to large SUV. Only one I might have interest that was left out was Ford.
Listed in order of drives:
Honda Pilot
Honda Passport
Mazda CX90
Used Mazda CX9
Kia Sorento
2023 Acura MDX
Toyota Highlander
Volvo XC90
Buick Enclave
GMC Acadia
Hyundai Palisade
The ones we eliminated:
Hondas felt a little clunky, yet my wife liked the MDX while I knew it was just a better version of the Pilot so I didn’t like it. Toyota felt like a truck almost, I think the higher dash and hood gave that vibe. Sorento was a good drive, but a little small and my wife thought it was the ugliest SUV.
Buick was nice, but I think we liked the GMC the same or even slightly more so for $6k cheaper
Contenders for our new vehicle:
Used Volvo XC 90 2021 through 2023 (2025 new models only come in highest trim starting at 88k so more than we want to spend) Can get a good used model for ~60-65k all in (Canadian $)
Pros: Probably the best/2nd best to drive of the bunch and Volvo is known for safety. Not as wide as the others as well so easier to park, with still a good amount of storage.
Cons: Have to get used and Volvo’s reliability isn’t great, also their new cars are a 4 yr 80k km when everywhere else is 5 yr 100k. Needs premium gasoline.
Mazda CX90 or used C9.
Pros: Despite having one of the largest dimensions it drives almost like a car. Also comes with tons of features standard. New has a non turbo inline 6 with a hybrid engine so good fuel efficiency and the engine will probably last a long time just because it’s bigger. Think
Getting a used version is a 4 cyl turbo that is only slightly less fuel efficient, but premium gasoline is preferred. A ~2022 used car saves about 17k which is way more than the other cars since they revamped it in 2024.
Cons: Despite the large dimensions the cargo capacity is actually quite poor.
Price 60-65k for the trim we would want.
GMC Acadia:
Pros: They have a base model 2024 still in stock with the exact trim and features we would want, also have a partnership with my work so I save about $5k right there. Might be the best interior next to the Volvo. It’s the largest of all the vehicles and storage is the best so we wouldn’t have to worry if we got a 2nd child in the future. We could store probably 2 strollers, 2 rear facing car seats, a large dog, and luggage if we went away for a weekend. Pretty fuel efficient for its size. Also had a 3 year bumper to bumper warranty in addition to the standard 5/100 warranty.
Cons: While it doesn’t feel as large as it is, it is still a mammoth so fitting into parking spots will be a challenge. Engine is a little small for its size so I worry about long term engine reliability.
Price is $62k all in.
Hyundai Palisade:
Pros: Large vehicle with good storage. Large engine so reliability is probably good long term. Nothing stood out in terms of it being a bad driving experience.
Cons: Nothing stood out compared to the other vehicles we drove. Kind of a middle choice, need the middle trim option to get decent features.
Price 67k new all in for mid trim, or 62k for 2 year old used highest trim model with 40k km, or 66k for 2024 highest trim test drive model with 11k km.
Key decisions now will be reliability and looking at the Mazda again to see how much cargo space it actually has.
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Test-driving 11 different vehicles?
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He’s not a savage, how else do you get the right vehicle for your needs?
It’s just something that moves you from on place to the next.
So I have a large dog and my wife is 6 months pregnant. We need a SUV and don’t like driving big vehicles. Anyone have any opinions between the 4? ( Acadia, Palisade, XC90, CX90/C90)
These seem to be opposite statements.
I’m anti-SUV so ignore me 
But out of those manufacturers you’d be crazy to not get the Volvo if the prices are comparable. Oh I see your original post now, it would be used. That’s harder. I’d get the Highlander given your budget but you eliminated it. I’d also get an electric vehicle nowadays, but I know that’s not mainstream yet.
Have you looked at smaller SUVs like the Forester?
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