GRA
Well-known member
I'd been house & pet-sitting for several weeks while friends took a combined business/30th Anniversary trip to Europe and elsewhere, and between the extra two hours a day of commuting by bike and mass transit, including the 720 ft. climb in the last mile on the return, and 45 minute dog walks morning and evening (he's a sweet dog, but in no hurry to take care of business), I haven't had the time or energy to read this site or others, let alone post. My friends got back a couple of weeks ago, and in celebration of my renewed freedom and the relative lack of fire smoke compared to the past two years, I took a couple of badly needed trips up to the Yosemite high country to do some hiking and peak-bagging.
Even better, I found a couple who are essentially running a Turo rental agency out of their apartment. They've got nine BEVs: two Mach-Es; two ID.4s (Pro and Pro S, both RWD); Ioniq 5 (SEL AWD), EV6 (Wind RWD); Bolt EUV (2LT I think), an i4, and one more I'm not sure of, probably a Model 3 or Y. I'd been trying to find an Ioniq 5, EV6 or Niro BEV for a while, but these were the first that were relatively affordable and accessible by public transit and walking, so jumped on them. I rented the Ioniq for 3 days for the first trip, and the EV6 same for the second as I would be doing essentially the same drive on both trips, through Yosemite and over Tioga Pass down to Lee Vining, plus shorter local drives to trail heads, so could directly compare them. I also found a 2022 Niro elsewhere that I hope to take on a similar trip in mid-September, and will be posting that review/report when I do.
So, here's my Ioniq review, and I'll be posting the EV6 review in that topic soon [See https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=625032#p625032]. I recommend reading them both, as I didn't repeat every little point in both posts.
Per my request they'd just finished charging the car at an FC nearby shortly before I arrived, so it was at 97% SoC when I picked it up. I spent 1/2 hour or so sitting in the car with the owner making sure I got all the driving, charging, climate etc. options set the way I wanted them. I'd read the owner's manual online, but the damned thing is longer than some James Michener novels I've read - 663 pages
and not all that clearly written. Although I took notes of what I wanted, trying to remember where every selection was on what screen using what control etc. was a bit much, so I asked him to sit with me and correct any mistakes I made.
That done I drove home, loaded my gear and set off at 94% SoC, 279 mi. showing on the GoM, Eco mode, Driver-only HVAC, 80 deg. ambient, fan-only, Saturday 1:27 p.m.
I normally do this drive on a Friday evening/night, after the commuters and tourists are off the roads, so traffic was heavier and driving was slower than normal for me. As I was also trying to see what kind of max. range I could get, I kept the A/C off even though the ambient temp was mostly in the mid to upper '90s and briefly hit 100 on Hwy 120 east of Oakdale, before starting the climb and the temp dropping.
The car's very roomy inside and from reviews definitely has more headroom than the EV6 - my 6'3" friend sat in it, and with the seat all the way down had about 1" of clearance, and both the front and 60/40 rear seats slide and recline so you can maximize seats up cargo or passenger space. With the rear seat slid back he was also able to sit behind himself, albeit with knees kind of high.
Despite being longer than my Forester by 7.4", it's EPA seats-up cargo area is almost 5 cu. ft. less. The cargo area is shallower than my car, but is longer and wider (I believe. Meant to measure it after the trip but got busy and forgot), and the latter is more important for me to carry packs, scuba tanks etc. or sleep in.
Sleeping.
Seats folded down it felt like I might be able to fit two 20" sleeping pads side by side - it would certainly be possible for two side sleepers to fit. It also has a two position slide out cargo floor. With it installed flat the floor is level with the base of the folded seat backs, with about a 4" high space underneath it for storage (EVSE and flat repair kit were in there, with lots more room). Or you can slide it out and down and gain some more depth, but no longer have a flush floor with only a small rear lip for loading/sliding cargo in.
The height of the cargo area is deeper than the EV6, and it was just possible for me to sit up straight without brushing my head when lying down on the back. For sleeping, if you're about my height (6'0") or taller, as with my Forester you'll want to remove and reinstall the center headrest to provide support for your upper back and head.
The inside lighting controls suck, being touch sensitive and hard to find in the dark, and while there may be some mode (utility or maybe accessory) that will allow you to use them without having to put the car in ready mode, I never figured out how to do that. Same goes for the windows, and it's nice to be able to use lights and windows while sleeping in the back without having to reach forward and push the start-stop switch. It does come with a smart key so you may be able to do it that way.
Personally I'd opt for the SE rather than mid-trim SEL or top-trim Limited, as only the former comes with cloth rather than leatherette seat covers, and has a manual rather than power driver's seat. The other 'upgrades' that come with the higher trims are either unnecessary for me (e.g. phone controls, which I'd never use while the car's in motion even if I could still hear it, , and flush, power-extending door handles), irrelevant (upgraded audio for a very deaf person), or not desired by me (DAS, and power handles/ as above), except for the heated steering wheel on the Limited which falls into the nice to have but not required category for me. All trims come with power liftgate, which to me is unnecessary, expensive to buy and repair, slow, and along with the door handles prone to failure in extreme weather.
Far too many controls are on the touch screen or use touch-sensitive buttons, in particular climate settings and seat heaters, and they are simply dangerous to use while driving. Even the fan speed controls are touch sensitive rather than physical. Per reviews the EV6 seems to do slightly better here, and I found it so as well - see that topic.
OTOH, the Ioniq has better visibility than the EV6, and while it falls short of my Forester (as does virtually every car, which was part of the reason I bought it), it was acceptable. The only area I would say was poor to fair was rear view, as the high rear seat back, downward-curving roof and fixed outboard head rests gave a limited aperture, albeit better than the EV6 owing to the more steeply sloped rear window on the Ioniq. Removing the center headrest improved things directly to the rear; the bottom rear corner views were still blocked by the outboard headrests which are molded parts of the seat, but I could live with that. The Limited has removable outboard headrests, but comes with lots of other crap I don't want/need. Rear-side view was acceptable but could certainly be improved, although the blind-spot warning with indication on the mirrors makes that less of an issue. Oh, and the front fenders curve down and are invisible, but the car's fairly short out there so not a big deal.
Reviews generally say the EV6 has sportier handling and ride and better steering feel, with the Ioniq giving a more comfortable ride for long trips, and I agree with that possibly excepting the Ioniq's steering feel, which was fine. It's a big, fairly heavy car so not something you throw around, but I found it acceptable in all those areas, in fact feeling much like my Forester. Thanks to its very long wheelbase the Ionic has a larger turning circle than either the EV6 or ID.4, in fact it's 39.3', which can make turning around on one+ lane forest roads or maneuvering in tight parking lots a chore.
Acceleration. It's a rocket! I thought the Bolt (0-60 in 6.5 sec.) I drove on a similar trip in 2020 was fast passing at altitude, but it's governed to a max of 93 or so and the accel falls off a bit at highway speeds. The Ioniq's 4.5" 0-60, and seems to have little fall off at highway speeds - I was too busy making sure not to hit the car(s) I was passing and staying in the lane to be watching the speedo before I backed off, but saw speeds in the very high 90s several times shortly after at start speeds from the 20s to the 70s. Basically, if you want to pass you can, but use Normal or Sport mode if in a hurry - Eco limits the power and maps the pedal to require much longer travel.
I left it in Eco most of the time except when passing (driving mode push button on the steering wheel, easy to use), and also used the Adaptive CC much of the time while stuck behind slow movers. ACC is very convenient but I remain concerned about becoming complacent with it, assuming the car will always bail you out and thus letting your attention wander. Even though I'm very aware of this, I found myself on several occasions devoting the majority of my attention to the damned touchscreen for far too long, while trusting the ACC to prevent rear-ending someone. I'd prefer normal CC (combined with better switchology) until such time as ACC/AEB can deal with fairly common cases such as the lead car changing lanes to deal with a stopped car in the lane. Teslas have hit too many stopped cars in just this case, and no one else's system can deal with this either yet.
Charging speed.
I've been interested in the Korean twins primarily because of their higher voltage (697V) packs which allow them to benefit from 350kW chargers, and I wasn't disappointed. It would probably have been better to have rented the Niro first, so I won't be so disappointed/impatient with its very slow charging by comparison, but couldn't do so.
Here's charging times using a Chargepoint 62.5kW charger at Groveland, a 350kW EA charger at Yosemite Westgate Lodge in Buck Meadows, and a 150kW EA charger in Castro Valley.
Groveland, arrived at Groveland @ 3:40, 115 miles and about 2,700 feet higher than home, mostly freeway/highway driving at 5-10 mph over the speed limits, i.e. driving flow of traffic speed. Did some passing too. SoC 50% so used 44% from home, GoM reading 145 miles, temp 92 deg. I didn't need to charge here, but given my past experiences with EA wanted to make sure I could charge here in case I was unable to at the EA 11 miles east. I've had almost no problems activating CP chargers using my CP card. Charging from 50-60% took 10 minutes, and the GoM now read 176 miles.
Drove 11 miles east to the EA site 126 mi./2,900' higher from home, and arrived at 56% SoC, GoM 160 miles, temp 93 deg.
No luck tapping my phone on the spot to start a charge (I'm now something like 0-8 doing this; I suspect my phone , a Motorola e6, lacks whatever capability is required to use this, but AFAIA EA doesn't specify what capability your phone needs anywhere). Got on the phone with EA, and after 5 minutes of listening to Muzak got CS. They tried to talk me through using the app to start a charge (a feature I believe they added since I drove a Bolt in October 2020, no doubt due to the numerous failures and customer complaints trying to tap the phone to activate a charge using phone taps), but for some reason while sites further away were showing on the app, this one (and Bridgeport) weren't, so eventually they activated it remotely. Luckily I was carrying a portable Wi-Fi hotspot, as the captioning app I have on my phone requires Wi-Fi. I believe the car can also be a hotspot, but don't know how to activate that.
SoC%/Time/Charging kW
56% / 4:38 / -------
------ / 4:41 / 127kW
75% / 4 :44 / 130kW
80% / 4:46 / -------- A/C on, set to 78 deg.
85% / 4:48 / 91kW
90% / 4:51 / 62kW A/C set to 72 deg.
95% / 4:56 / 44kW
99% / 5:05 / shut off 1% short.
The GoM now read 302 miles, and I took 36 kWh. total time from 56 to 80% was 8 minutes, 80-90% only took 5 minutes more, and 90-99% another 14 minutes, so 27 minutes total. Starting at such a high SoC I didn't get the benefit of the higher voltage pack.
I drove from there using fan-only the 80 miles over Tioga Pass to Lee Vining, arriving with 69% SoC/ GoM 198 miles/ avg. mi./kWh 3.3 from the charge), and used the free L2 chargers in L2 Vining just to make sure they were working. Got 3.7 kW (these are shared Clipper Creek HCS-40s i.e 32A max., and I got 7.4kW when I was the only car charging).
Drove to various trailheads/did various hikes/climbs, and charged to 100%/ 293 mi. GoM using the L2 chargers above before heading home (with a small detour on the way to a trailhead from which I climbed a peak). Starting from the trailhead a couple of miles east of Tioga Pass @ 4:10 p.m./74 deg., did lots of coasting/regening all the way down from Tioga Pass to the 108/120 intersection aka Yosemite Junction, for which the regen paddles are great, then mostly highways/freeways the rest of the way home with the CC set at 70, 75, 78 or 80 most of the way. As someone who prefers to drive and has always owned sticks, and who does a lot of mountain driving with steep descents, having something to do to keep me engaged is important, so I want to be able to adjust regen easily and quickly while driving. These cars and the Bolt/EuV have such capability, thanks to their paddles. The Niro and I believe the Kona do as well.
After getting home @ 8:43 pm (210 miles from Lee Vining, 35% SoC/GoM 91 miles, avg. mi./kWh 4.3; I saw 8.3 at Yosemite Junction), the next morning I drove a couple of miles to the 150kW EA charging site at the BoA in Castro Valley, 212.5 mi. from Lee Vining/32% SoC/GoM 83 mi.. temp 61 deg., I charged to 80%.
SoC%/Time/ Charging kW
32% / 6:58 / --------
------ / 7:04 / 127kW
45% / 7:12 / 63kW
50% / 7:15 / 63kW
55% / 7:19 / 64kW
60% / 7:22 / 65kW
65% / 7:26 / 66kW
70% / 7:30 / 66kW
75% / 7:33 / 67kW
80% / 7:36 / 68kW Charge stopped. GoM 222 miles.
So, 32-80% took 38 minutes. The charging time/rates at this EA site should be compared to the EV6's, which were considerably better despite these cars sharing the same battery and charging capability etc. I suspect the charger I used this time was rate-limited for some reason.
If anyone's got any other questions, I'll do my best to answer them. I'm trying to get back into reading and posting regularly, but my friends need me to house- & pet-sit for them several times over the next couple of months, thankfully for just a few days at a time rather than weeks, so I may be intermittent.
Even better, I found a couple who are essentially running a Turo rental agency out of their apartment. They've got nine BEVs: two Mach-Es; two ID.4s (Pro and Pro S, both RWD); Ioniq 5 (SEL AWD), EV6 (Wind RWD); Bolt EUV (2LT I think), an i4, and one more I'm not sure of, probably a Model 3 or Y. I'd been trying to find an Ioniq 5, EV6 or Niro BEV for a while, but these were the first that were relatively affordable and accessible by public transit and walking, so jumped on them. I rented the Ioniq for 3 days for the first trip, and the EV6 same for the second as I would be doing essentially the same drive on both trips, through Yosemite and over Tioga Pass down to Lee Vining, plus shorter local drives to trail heads, so could directly compare them. I also found a 2022 Niro elsewhere that I hope to take on a similar trip in mid-September, and will be posting that review/report when I do.
So, here's my Ioniq review, and I'll be posting the EV6 review in that topic soon [See https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=625032#p625032]. I recommend reading them both, as I didn't repeat every little point in both posts.
Per my request they'd just finished charging the car at an FC nearby shortly before I arrived, so it was at 97% SoC when I picked it up. I spent 1/2 hour or so sitting in the car with the owner making sure I got all the driving, charging, climate etc. options set the way I wanted them. I'd read the owner's manual online, but the damned thing is longer than some James Michener novels I've read - 663 pages
and not all that clearly written. Although I took notes of what I wanted, trying to remember where every selection was on what screen using what control etc. was a bit much, so I asked him to sit with me and correct any mistakes I made.That done I drove home, loaded my gear and set off at 94% SoC, 279 mi. showing on the GoM, Eco mode, Driver-only HVAC, 80 deg. ambient, fan-only, Saturday 1:27 p.m.
I normally do this drive on a Friday evening/night, after the commuters and tourists are off the roads, so traffic was heavier and driving was slower than normal for me. As I was also trying to see what kind of max. range I could get, I kept the A/C off even though the ambient temp was mostly in the mid to upper '90s and briefly hit 100 on Hwy 120 east of Oakdale, before starting the climb and the temp dropping.
The car's very roomy inside and from reviews definitely has more headroom than the EV6 - my 6'3" friend sat in it, and with the seat all the way down had about 1" of clearance, and both the front and 60/40 rear seats slide and recline so you can maximize seats up cargo or passenger space. With the rear seat slid back he was also able to sit behind himself, albeit with knees kind of high.
Despite being longer than my Forester by 7.4", it's EPA seats-up cargo area is almost 5 cu. ft. less. The cargo area is shallower than my car, but is longer and wider (I believe. Meant to measure it after the trip but got busy and forgot), and the latter is more important for me to carry packs, scuba tanks etc. or sleep in.
Sleeping.
Seats folded down it felt like I might be able to fit two 20" sleeping pads side by side - it would certainly be possible for two side sleepers to fit. It also has a two position slide out cargo floor. With it installed flat the floor is level with the base of the folded seat backs, with about a 4" high space underneath it for storage (EVSE and flat repair kit were in there, with lots more room). Or you can slide it out and down and gain some more depth, but no longer have a flush floor with only a small rear lip for loading/sliding cargo in.
The height of the cargo area is deeper than the EV6, and it was just possible for me to sit up straight without brushing my head when lying down on the back. For sleeping, if you're about my height (6'0") or taller, as with my Forester you'll want to remove and reinstall the center headrest to provide support for your upper back and head.
The inside lighting controls suck, being touch sensitive and hard to find in the dark, and while there may be some mode (utility or maybe accessory) that will allow you to use them without having to put the car in ready mode, I never figured out how to do that. Same goes for the windows, and it's nice to be able to use lights and windows while sleeping in the back without having to reach forward and push the start-stop switch. It does come with a smart key so you may be able to do it that way.
Personally I'd opt for the SE rather than mid-trim SEL or top-trim Limited, as only the former comes with cloth rather than leatherette seat covers, and has a manual rather than power driver's seat. The other 'upgrades' that come with the higher trims are either unnecessary for me (e.g. phone controls, which I'd never use while the car's in motion even if I could still hear it, , and flush, power-extending door handles), irrelevant (upgraded audio for a very deaf person), or not desired by me (DAS, and power handles/ as above), except for the heated steering wheel on the Limited which falls into the nice to have but not required category for me. All trims come with power liftgate, which to me is unnecessary, expensive to buy and repair, slow, and along with the door handles prone to failure in extreme weather.
Far too many controls are on the touch screen or use touch-sensitive buttons, in particular climate settings and seat heaters, and they are simply dangerous to use while driving. Even the fan speed controls are touch sensitive rather than physical. Per reviews the EV6 seems to do slightly better here, and I found it so as well - see that topic.
OTOH, the Ioniq has better visibility than the EV6, and while it falls short of my Forester (as does virtually every car, which was part of the reason I bought it), it was acceptable. The only area I would say was poor to fair was rear view, as the high rear seat back, downward-curving roof and fixed outboard head rests gave a limited aperture, albeit better than the EV6 owing to the more steeply sloped rear window on the Ioniq. Removing the center headrest improved things directly to the rear; the bottom rear corner views were still blocked by the outboard headrests which are molded parts of the seat, but I could live with that. The Limited has removable outboard headrests, but comes with lots of other crap I don't want/need. Rear-side view was acceptable but could certainly be improved, although the blind-spot warning with indication on the mirrors makes that less of an issue. Oh, and the front fenders curve down and are invisible, but the car's fairly short out there so not a big deal.
Reviews generally say the EV6 has sportier handling and ride and better steering feel, with the Ioniq giving a more comfortable ride for long trips, and I agree with that possibly excepting the Ioniq's steering feel, which was fine. It's a big, fairly heavy car so not something you throw around, but I found it acceptable in all those areas, in fact feeling much like my Forester. Thanks to its very long wheelbase the Ionic has a larger turning circle than either the EV6 or ID.4, in fact it's 39.3', which can make turning around on one+ lane forest roads or maneuvering in tight parking lots a chore.
Acceleration. It's a rocket! I thought the Bolt (0-60 in 6.5 sec.) I drove on a similar trip in 2020 was fast passing at altitude, but it's governed to a max of 93 or so and the accel falls off a bit at highway speeds. The Ioniq's 4.5" 0-60, and seems to have little fall off at highway speeds - I was too busy making sure not to hit the car(s) I was passing and staying in the lane to be watching the speedo before I backed off, but saw speeds in the very high 90s several times shortly after at start speeds from the 20s to the 70s. Basically, if you want to pass you can, but use Normal or Sport mode if in a hurry - Eco limits the power and maps the pedal to require much longer travel.
I left it in Eco most of the time except when passing (driving mode push button on the steering wheel, easy to use), and also used the Adaptive CC much of the time while stuck behind slow movers. ACC is very convenient but I remain concerned about becoming complacent with it, assuming the car will always bail you out and thus letting your attention wander. Even though I'm very aware of this, I found myself on several occasions devoting the majority of my attention to the damned touchscreen for far too long, while trusting the ACC to prevent rear-ending someone. I'd prefer normal CC (combined with better switchology) until such time as ACC/AEB can deal with fairly common cases such as the lead car changing lanes to deal with a stopped car in the lane. Teslas have hit too many stopped cars in just this case, and no one else's system can deal with this either yet.
Charging speed.
I've been interested in the Korean twins primarily because of their higher voltage (697V) packs which allow them to benefit from 350kW chargers, and I wasn't disappointed. It would probably have been better to have rented the Niro first, so I won't be so disappointed/impatient with its very slow charging by comparison, but couldn't do so.
Here's charging times using a Chargepoint 62.5kW charger at Groveland, a 350kW EA charger at Yosemite Westgate Lodge in Buck Meadows, and a 150kW EA charger in Castro Valley.
Groveland, arrived at Groveland @ 3:40, 115 miles and about 2,700 feet higher than home, mostly freeway/highway driving at 5-10 mph over the speed limits, i.e. driving flow of traffic speed. Did some passing too. SoC 50% so used 44% from home, GoM reading 145 miles, temp 92 deg. I didn't need to charge here, but given my past experiences with EA wanted to make sure I could charge here in case I was unable to at the EA 11 miles east. I've had almost no problems activating CP chargers using my CP card. Charging from 50-60% took 10 minutes, and the GoM now read 176 miles.
Drove 11 miles east to the EA site 126 mi./2,900' higher from home, and arrived at 56% SoC, GoM 160 miles, temp 93 deg.
No luck tapping my phone on the spot to start a charge (I'm now something like 0-8 doing this; I suspect my phone , a Motorola e6, lacks whatever capability is required to use this, but AFAIA EA doesn't specify what capability your phone needs anywhere). Got on the phone with EA, and after 5 minutes of listening to Muzak got CS. They tried to talk me through using the app to start a charge (a feature I believe they added since I drove a Bolt in October 2020, no doubt due to the numerous failures and customer complaints trying to tap the phone to activate a charge using phone taps), but for some reason while sites further away were showing on the app, this one (and Bridgeport) weren't, so eventually they activated it remotely. Luckily I was carrying a portable Wi-Fi hotspot, as the captioning app I have on my phone requires Wi-Fi. I believe the car can also be a hotspot, but don't know how to activate that.
SoC%/Time/Charging kW
56% / 4:38 / -------
------ / 4:41 / 127kW
75% / 4 :44 / 130kW
80% / 4:46 / -------- A/C on, set to 78 deg.
85% / 4:48 / 91kW
90% / 4:51 / 62kW A/C set to 72 deg.
95% / 4:56 / 44kW
99% / 5:05 / shut off 1% short.
The GoM now read 302 miles, and I took 36 kWh. total time from 56 to 80% was 8 minutes, 80-90% only took 5 minutes more, and 90-99% another 14 minutes, so 27 minutes total. Starting at such a high SoC I didn't get the benefit of the higher voltage pack.
I drove from there using fan-only the 80 miles over Tioga Pass to Lee Vining, arriving with 69% SoC/ GoM 198 miles/ avg. mi./kWh 3.3 from the charge), and used the free L2 chargers in L2 Vining just to make sure they were working. Got 3.7 kW (these are shared Clipper Creek HCS-40s i.e 32A max., and I got 7.4kW when I was the only car charging).
Drove to various trailheads/did various hikes/climbs, and charged to 100%/ 293 mi. GoM using the L2 chargers above before heading home (with a small detour on the way to a trailhead from which I climbed a peak). Starting from the trailhead a couple of miles east of Tioga Pass @ 4:10 p.m./74 deg., did lots of coasting/regening all the way down from Tioga Pass to the 108/120 intersection aka Yosemite Junction, for which the regen paddles are great, then mostly highways/freeways the rest of the way home with the CC set at 70, 75, 78 or 80 most of the way. As someone who prefers to drive and has always owned sticks, and who does a lot of mountain driving with steep descents, having something to do to keep me engaged is important, so I want to be able to adjust regen easily and quickly while driving. These cars and the Bolt/EuV have such capability, thanks to their paddles. The Niro and I believe the Kona do as well.
After getting home @ 8:43 pm (210 miles from Lee Vining, 35% SoC/GoM 91 miles, avg. mi./kWh 4.3; I saw 8.3 at Yosemite Junction), the next morning I drove a couple of miles to the 150kW EA charging site at the BoA in Castro Valley, 212.5 mi. from Lee Vining/32% SoC/GoM 83 mi.. temp 61 deg., I charged to 80%.
SoC%/Time/ Charging kW
32% / 6:58 / --------
------ / 7:04 / 127kW
45% / 7:12 / 63kW
50% / 7:15 / 63kW
55% / 7:19 / 64kW
60% / 7:22 / 65kW
65% / 7:26 / 66kW
70% / 7:30 / 66kW
75% / 7:33 / 67kW
80% / 7:36 / 68kW Charge stopped. GoM 222 miles.
So, 32-80% took 38 minutes. The charging time/rates at this EA site should be compared to the EV6's, which were considerably better despite these cars sharing the same battery and charging capability etc. I suspect the charger I used this time was rate-limited for some reason.
If anyone's got any other questions, I'll do my best to answer them. I'm trying to get back into reading and posting regularly, but my friends need me to house- & pet-sit for them several times over the next couple of months, thankfully for just a few days at a time rather than weeks, so I may be intermittent.
