Newb questions

mrcheez

So I need to get myself a car as cycling around everywhere has its limits especially when I need to go shopping for tiles!

I want to go the electric route and was planning to hold out for one of Elon Musk's babies but think I might get one of those later and just go for a Nissan Leaf or VW e-Golf in the meantime.

A few preliminary questions if that's ok...

- What are the top 3 electric vehicles around the 20-30K mark at the moment?

- Any particular special deals to note? (I see Nissan are giving free insurance for 2 years if you get one before end of Jan 2016)

- Lastly, say I get a Nissan Leaf SVE for €26,390, what are the total grants/discounts I can get off it?

According to http://www.seai.ie/Grants/Electric_Vehicle_Grant_Scheme/ I can get €10K off is that right?!?!

Water John

That's the net price. It's what you pay. No sure what trade in they'll allow on the bicycle.
You could get a Johammer, EV motorbike.

Check this Thread
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057675689

KCross

I suppose Zoe, Leaf and i3 would be the most popular.

The price you quoted is the price you pay. The grants are already deducted.
You are entitled to a free home charger if you buy a new car.

If you intend on getting a Tesla in a few years why not buy 2nd hand now. The depreciation could be steep in the short term on a new one, particularly with longer range cars on the horizon?

mrcheez

Ah right, is it cheaper to buy a car in the UK instead or you get hit with import fees?

Are 2nd hand EV vehicles generally in pretty good nick considering less mechanical things can go wrong?

Water John

OP, your around Boards a while, so I don't want to appear smart arsed. Look up various Threads in Electric Vehicles and see this has been discussed recently.
I didn't import, but others have and given their opinions and experience.

KCross

Yes, cheaper in UK. No VRT on a Leaf as its below the €5k threshold.
Generally in good nick, as you said not as much to go wrong but you need to make sure the battery is in good shape.

I imported as others on this forum have
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=99372631

mrcheez

Water John wrote: »

OP, your around Boards a while, so I don't want to appear smart arsed. Look up various Threads in Electric Vehicles and see this has been discussed recently.

Sure and as an experienced boards member I'm well aware of how long-winded and time-consuming navigating threads can be before they descend into waffle so I wanted a nice simple one-pager answering the 3 basic questions, which I pretty much have now.

KCross wrote: »

Yes, cheaper in UK. No VRT on a Leaf as its below the €5k threshold.
Generally in good nick, as you said not as much to go wrong but you need to make sure the battery is in good shape.

I imported as others on this forum have
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=99372631

Cool thanks. Bit out of the loop re car buying (last car was a backpacker deal in Auckland in 2003!) so a bit of studying to do I guess

BoatMad

mrcheez wrote: »

Sure and as an experienced boards member I'm well aware of how long-winded and time-consuming navigating threads can be before they descend into waffle so I wanted a nice simple one-pager answering the 3 basic questions, which I pretty much have now.



Cool thanks. Bit out of the loop re car buying (last car was a backpacker deal in Auckland in 2003!) so a bit of studying to do I guess

Given , in numbers terms , the leaf is way more popular , your likely to get a reasonable choice of 2nd hands here and in the uk.

mrcheez

One last question for those in the know (i.e. this forum), what is the standby time on these batteries like? I will probably only use it on weekends and perhaps a day in the week for short commutes.

Say the Nissan Leaf 30 Kw as an example.

Water John

No problem, holds its charge. Charge to 90/95% after your weekend.

mrcheez

And if I go off for 3 weeks and have the car left in Dublin Airport (probably would get taxi but just curious as an example) will charge still be fairly similar?

KCross

mrcheez wrote: »

One last question for those in the know (i.e. this forum), what is the standby time on these batteries like? I will probably only use it on weekends and perhaps a day in the week for short commutes.

Say the Nissan Leaf 30 Kw as an example.

Its not like a phone!
The charge stays fairly constant when not in use. I think mine went down by a percent or two over 2 weeks when we were on holiday.

Your issue is going to be leaving the car at the right charge % during the week. Leaving it at 100% all week will be bad for it over time.

Utilising the charge timer built into the car will solve that for you by charging it to 100% on Friday/Sat night and only to 80% the other days or simply not plugging it in during the weekdays.

mrcheez

KCross wrote: »

Its not like a phone!
The charge stays fairly constant when not in use. I think mine went down by a percent or two over 2 weeks when we were on holiday.

Your issue is going to be leaving the car at the right charge % during the week. Leaving it at 100% all week will be bad for it over time.

Utilising the charge timer built into the car will solve that for you by charging it to 100% on Friday/Sat night and only to 80% the other days or simply not plugging it in during the weekdays.

Nice, thanks for that