Random EV thoughts.....

You're focusing on a tiny majority case though. It takes me 30 seconds to plug in my car and that gives me 450km range overnight without doing anything else.

If I'm driving Donegal to Cork, (how often is that really needed) then I'll probably stop at least twice to take a pee and grab something from the shop.

A top up at a fast charger anywhere between Monaghan and Thurles and I'm sorted. The average stop for a pee and a burger is probably 20-30 minutes during which time I'll add between 80 and 100km.

With charging for charging now in place there would be no difficulty at all in getting a charge at some point in that stretch.

And the other 99% of the year when I'm not driving Donegal to Cork, I'm paying at least €2k less for fuel than I would in a petrol or diesel. Probably a lot better saving than that now. When I first switched I calculated a €2k saving and that was 6 years ago when diesel was massively cheaper.

I'm not saying that you're wrong, refuelling on the road is of course quicker in a diesel. But I would have been spending that 30 minutes at a motorway station anyway even if I only spent a few minutes filling the tank.

It wouldn't have been hard at all, and according to bord gais if I get a smart meter in the future I can stay on that tarriff but I've my doubts. I don't know yet what the EV will demand in terms of electricity.

A potential 5 minutes. Most people are hung in the refueling time difference not in the actual stop.

After approx 2-3h driving, aching and with some bladder pressure one ICE driver stop at the pump refuels (in 5 mins) pays, if not already then parks the car, goes to the washroom then gets a coffee/snack goes and does some stretching, serves the beverage and then goes back to the car to get on with the trip. The EV driver with a decent charging network, parks the car plugs in the charger and does all the same activities. I have to be fair and say that this scenario in Ireland is limited to a small number of service station and mostly to Tesla owners but this is where we should aim. How much longer is the stop of the EV driver? How many minutes lost? Check Bjorn's 1000km spreadsheet you're in for a surprise.

Refuelling on the road is only sometimes quicker in a diesel. If you are stopping for diesel and to grab a bite to eat, you have to fill the car with diesel, pay, move the car (about 10 minutes) and then go back in to get your food. If you are charging, and there's no queue for the charger, then you park, plug in and start charging (about 30 seconds) and then go in to get your food. If the amount of charge you're looking for is less than or equal to the charge you get when eating, then you've saved 9.5 minutes by using an EV.

If you don't need food, then a diesel is quicker.

Pretty hard to argue with that (impossible actually but you'll always get someone who will!). Since covid induced lockdowns and curtailed all the motorway miles I used to do, my diesel has suffered from the short hops to shops and kid's football training etc (about 5kms in each case and so too far to walk). Battery died and had to be replaced, DPF filter became clogged etc. An ev would have been perfect for these runs to shops, schools and football practice, with no belching diesel exhaust fumes and far more efficient. As for the whole "range thing", we live on a fairly small island. Like how much range do we really need? Its not as if we'll ever get stuck in the middle of a desert miles from anywhere. As someone else said, most of our daily runs are short (and I'd consider my commute of 80kms round trip to be short) and even the smallest ev range will cope with that. Having 400-500kms of range is just bragging, or at best it means you don't have to spend a few seconds plugging the car in every night.

Just playing around with the calculator, full load, summer time, 25c AC, highway and ECO, the range is 366 km, I am 320 km to and from Dublin airport so 46 km to spare. I think its a big ask for people to spend 45 k on a car that with every year that passes will knock a % or so from that total.

I filled my phev up the 12th of November 60 euro, it showed a range of 730km, still have 100 km range left and I have done 880 km, plugged in 4 times out and about and at home most days. Only 1 long trip of 360 km and 2 x 100km trips, rest are school runs 10km (kids were coughing 2 weeks) and grocery shopping 40/50 km

Even take a normal hybrid or diesel, that sort of driving is not that expensive, last thing I would want to be doing is driving at 100 kph or making up excuses to stop for a pee or burger.

Just go to the zoo or airport pee eat there or some nice restaurant and come back, hard see why people would bother with the hassle of range/charging or even worry about it when a normal car is around the same price.

https://rangecalculator.skoda-auto.com/941/en-ie

Honestly how much time do you waste in filthy service stations every week and then end up buying junk food laid out in the shop. 30 min a week = 28 hours a year stuck in service stations minimum...

I went for a lower range model on the based the six times I go West every year that 6k could buy a lot of burgers.

I dont understand your point. EVs have to charge at the same service stations usually. Also tend to be somewhere out the back and not covered from the elements. At least when I go to a motorway services in my fossil cars I can park under a canopy, fill up in 3-5 mins and go in to pay without being rained on.

You can get a Smart meter removed and replaced with a Day Night meter, I did this in January of this year. It costs nothing to get a day night meter installed but there is a fee to get it removed. Also, I think you can refuse to get a Smart Meter fitted, they are not a mandatory requirement. I'll be keeping my day night meter.

I ran the numbers there last night and if it wasn't for the including the increase in standing charge on the basis of Bord Gais day night rate (21.62/10.7) versus 24 hour (20.1) and recharging the EV (72 Kw) every 2 weeks. The Day night is a moderate saving without the EV but with it, it's significant. The more I use the EV the more worth it, it becomes.

You folks with your fancy ICE cars, what happens when you need to shelter it in a stables overnight during a storm, sure it will never fit. Think people , think...

It's kinda interesting how people grow attached to the things that limit us today, and actually start to see them as features. Filling up at a petrol station is not a convenience, it's a burden. Because EV reviews will always feature some form of range test we can be conditioned to thing we'll be used fast chargers here and there, but frankly I could see myself never going into a station again or as another poster mentioned, stopping off to have a slash or get a coffee and leaving the car on charge. I think the net amount of time I'll spend in filling stations will be drastically reduced.

Its at least 2 times a year some times 4, for the sake of 30 euro a trip I am not going to invest 45 k ( would not spend that much anyway) in a car that might or might not need a stop, I could stop for petrol, normally I would get it before the trip, but if I do stop I know I will have it done in 5 minutes not guessing praying or waiting on some 2014 leaf.

I find phevs great, most of the local trips cheap, the longer trips as with any normal car, just thinking about tayto park or Newgrange, 175 km and 200 km from me, I want to enjoy the day with the family not b0ll0ck$ around at some charger.

I helped my mum buy a 225xe and dad a c350e both are extremely happy with reduced spending on petrol and none of the whining about ecars .