EV Journey

It’s been exactly one month since I drove my Hyundai Elexio Elite out of the dealership, and what a month it has been. As someone who has been slowly gravitating toward electric vehicles for a few years now, making the leap felt significant — and the Elexio has done its best to make me feel like I made the right call. But no car is perfect, and after thirty-odd days of daily driving, I’ve formed some strong opinions. Here’s the honest rundown.

What I’ve Come to Love

Let me start with the good stuff, because there is genuinely a lot of it. After a month of daily use, these are the five features I find myself appreciating most.

Heated Steering Wheel

On cooler mornings, this has become non-negotiable. It warms up quickly and the difference between gripping a cold wheel versus a warm one is immediate. Simple, effective, and I’ll never go back.

The Widescreen Display

The 27-inch 4K touchscreen stretching nearly the full width of the dash is genuinely impressive. It’s crisp, responsive and feels like something out of a premium lounge rather than a car.

App-Controlled Climate

Being able to pre-condition the cabin from my phone via Bluelink before even getting in the car is genuinely brilliant. Warm car waiting for me on a cold morning? Yes please.

One-Pedal Driving

It took little time to get used to, and now I can’t imagine driving any other way. The regenerative braking is strong and intuitive — in most situations, I barely touch the brake pedal. Getting into my BMW I have to quickly remind myself there’s a brake pedal!

Wireless Apple CarPlay

Wireless CarPlay means no cables cluttering the cabin. My phone connects automatically when I get in, Maps fires up, and my podcasts resume. It sounds like a small thing but it genuinely makes every trip feel seamless and polished. After years having to rely upon Waze on a tiny iPhone screen it is a joy to finally have it truly visible.

The Challenges — Let’s Be Honest

No car is without its frustrations, and the Elexio has a handful that I think are worth discussing openly. These aren’t deal-breakers, but they are genuine friction points in the ownership experience.

Accessing Settings While Driving

That stunning 27-inch screen is a joy when parked, but reaching across to access settings as the driver requires more of a stretch than feels natural or safe. It’s a real ergonomic trade-off for the wow factor. Reviewer comments about positioning of the screen overly favouring the passenger I think is spot on, there needed to be greater consideration of the driver in the design and bringing the screen’s position closer to the driver so we can access key settings more easily. Thankfully voice control is pretty good, but occasionally it does fail to understand here.

Settings Locked Unless Car is On

Some settings simply refuse to be changed unless the car is fully powered on — even when the screen is active. It’s a puzzling limitation that makes small adjustments more inconvenient than they should be.

Screen Goes Dark While Charging

When plugged in and charging, the main screen doesn’t stay on. You can’t monitor charge progress or play one of the car’s games whilst you wait. It makes the car feel oddly inert during what should be a useful window of downtime.

Voice Recognition Hiccups

Voice commands work well most of the time, but there’s an inconsistency that gets frustrating. Occasional or repeated misunderstandings mean I often resort to tapping the screen instead.

Non-Polarised Sunglasses a Necessity

This one caught me off guard. Like many modern EVs, the Elexio’s display interacts poorly with polarised lenses — the screen can become dark or washed out at certain angles. That means my existing polarised sunnies are essentially unusable in the car, and replacing them with good-quality non-polarised glasses meant after discounts and medical fund coverage I was out of pocket almost $500 for new sunnies.

Overall feeling

Despite a few frustrations, my overall feeling has been my transition to EV has been a great one. The Elexio has been a great car to drive, perhaps a little more stiff drive compared to my BMW X1, but generally enjoyable. It is hard not to compare the cost of refuelling, or rather charging. It is substantially cheaper even using public charging infrastructure, which is the expensive EV charging option. Savings are even found when servicing, not required as often as ICE vehicles, which in the past have cost me an arm and a leg at times.

I think the only other frustration I would say I have is with charging, or rather when finishing charging and trying to disconnect from Tesla chargers. I have struggled to disconnect the charger both times, I wish the process were a little easier than it is.