Hyundai Ioniq 5

The Ioniq 5 sits on the 800-volt E-GMP platform and that is its technical advantage — it charges exceptionally fast when there is something to charge from. Which is exactly why the port matters more here than on any other electric car on this site: the car can accept power that an adapter will not pass.

American cars use CCS1. The Bulgarian and European network is CCS2. The gap can be bridged with an adapter for slow charging at home, but at a public DC station it frequently terminates the session in software. That is a cost and an inconvenience to be worked out before the purchase, not after.

The second difference is the heat pump. In Europe it comes with the higher trims; in America it is an option that cars from the warmer states do not have. Without it the heating works like an immersion element through our winter and the range falls sharply. Check it, because it cannot be added afterwards.

The third is connectivity. The modem runs on American frequencies, so in Bulgaria the car is left with no built-in internet — navigation without traffic, no over-the-air updates and no phone app. Not an extra that can be retrofitted.

The drivetrain is offered with one motor or two and we hold both. The V2L socket, which lets the car power appliances from outside, is standard and is one of the genuine reasons to want it. It works the same on American cars — only the plug itself is 230 volts on the European ones.