Last Updated on May 30, 2023 by Rose Morah
Camping in an EV is now more possible than ever!
Curious to find out how possible it is to camp in different EVs, we tried and tested the camping abilities of various popular EVs, currently on the market, to give you the best ones for camping or sleeping in.
NOTE: The list is in no particular order!
The best EVs for camping/sleeping in
1. Hyundai Ioniq 5
Based on our experience, we found the Hyundai Ioniq 5 great for camping because of the following features:
- It has great camping features.
- It is comfortable to sleep in.
- It has good charging speeds.
- It is more comfortable for long road trips.
- The all-wheel-drive SEL is good when you are driving on gravel roads and handles small stream crossing pretty well.
What Hyundai Ioniq 5 feature makes it good for camping or sleeping in?
The utility mode feature makes camping in the Ioniq 5 much better than most other EVs.
When enabled, the utility mode allows the climate control and other accessories to run throughout the night as the drivetrain remains disabled.
If you are familiar with the Tesla camp mode, the Ioniq 5’s utility mode is almost similar to it.
When camping in the Ioniq 5, we used the utility mode throughout the night, which was about 8 hours, with the climate mode set to 64°F. This gave us a great experience!
How much charge did we lose when camping in the Ioniq 5?
We lost just about 10% of the charge overnight when the car was in utility mode and my phone was charging.
The day we lost the highest charge was about 13% and we had the climate control set to 70° for an 8-hour period.
Is Ioniq 5 comfortable to sleep in?
Sleeping in the Ioniq 5 can be comfortable even for people who are 6’3ft.
Two people can also comfortably sleep in the Ioniq 5.
This is because it is spacious, especially when the seats have been folded down.
For maximum comfort, I’d recommend using gap fillers when you extend the rear seats if you are 6ft.
However, if you are over 6’4 ft, I would advise you to try sleeping diagonally in order to fit comfortably.
Additionally, the seats in Ioniq 5 don’t fold flat. They tend to have a slight tilt when folded flat but that was not a problem for me.
I’d also recommend you get a good air mattress for a more comfortable sleep in the EV.
What we did not like about the Ioniq 5 when camping
It has a very low ground clearance that wasn’t good when driving at campsites with bumpy roads.
See also: Hyundai Kona Electric Pros and Cons (According to Owners).
2. Volkswagen ID.4
The Volkswagen ID.4 does not have great camping-mode features like the utility mode in Ioniq 5. However, there are some of its features that I found useful if you are looking to go camping with ID.4.
They include:
- The ID.4 has good cargo space that allowed us to pack a weekend’s long camping gear.
I love its usable storage area including the roof rails that are on all trims.
- Its ground clearance is better than that of Ioniq 5.
- Its charging speed was not so fast but it was reasonable, especially in warm temperatures.
We would get about 120 miles in not more than 20 minutes. We were going on a 1,300-mile road trip and experienced no issues with charging.
- We enjoyed a quiet comfortable ride on the ID4.
See also:
Volkswagen ID.4 Tips and Tricks (VW ID.4 Hidden Features).
Pros and Cons of Volkswagen ID.4 Pro.
3. Tesla
We camped in Tesla models 3, Y, and S. They are all great EVs to camp in.
The camping experience was overall better in all the Tesla models compared to all the other EVs.
See also: Tesla Camping Sites: Where to Find Tesla Camping Locations.
Why was Tesla’s camping experience so much better?
- Great and fast charging speeds. We did not spend so much time at the charge stops and also when charging at campsites. This helped maximize our camping experience.
- The Tesla supercharger network made our camping trip much easier.
- Tesla has good road-tripping capabilities. For instance, it has an inbuild route planner, a reasonable range, it is comfortable when driving for long hours, has many driving features, and so on.
- The Tesla “Camping mode” was awesome. We had the AC running throughout the night but it consumed a small amount of charge.
When sleeping in the Tesla with”camp mode” enabled, it consumed only about 10 to 15% overnight.
- It was easy to control everything from my phone through the tesla app while lying in the back.
- It is possible to sleep in the Tesla even if you are 6ft tall.
The following are some of the main things I loved about each Tesla model:
| Tesla Model | Best camping features | |
| 1. | Model Y | Had more storage space. |
| 2. | Model S | We enjoyed the ride. We felt more comfortable driving it for long hours. |
| 3. | Model 3 | After removing the back seats, it made sleeping in the car much more comfortable. |
We will be updating this list with more EVs in the future, so be sure to subscribe to our blog for more future updates!
