Painful things EV owners say...

Equally the guy who can afford the €55k EV is pocketing €5k free money and can sell the car after 2 to y years with very little depreciation .. does he need a €5k subsidy on top of this? Probably not. Would he say no to an easy €5k .. absolutely not.

It's not even true either, because the claimed range of those damn things is just 528 km, and we all know that the WLTP is hopelessly optimistic. So it had to have been charged at some point en route.

But sure we know that some EV fans are at the very best, economical with the truth, and a lot of them are utterly incapable or unwilling to accept that others may not think they are such a good idea, or that not everyone is as well off and as smug and sanctimonious as they are. Normal people don't virtue signal about saving the planet while buying 2 tonne plus SUVs, either.

They are all just cars ... regardless of what powers them. If you have a look inside any of the EV Facebook groups or forums you'll see a constant theme of botching and moaning about other EV drivers and faux-virtual signalling about who should and should be allowed to charge .. who had the best charging speeds and hence should have more right to change ... don't mention the giving out about Chademo and PHEVs

it wasn't all that long ago there was a massive tax cut for diesel drivers.

ICE drivers are just as bad at winging and moaning about other's choices

i drive what suits me and couldn't give a crap what anyone else thinks

Absolutely it is but that's a long drive without a stop.

Anything where I'm driving 2 hours or more I'm definitely stopping either to stretch my legs, get a coffee or use the toilet.

If there's super fast chargers at these stops (petrol stations), then if you have an EV then it's ideal to let it gain around 200kms while you stop.

Diesel still is the real option if you are doing crazy miles every day and you don't have time to stop.

I see nothing wrong with that EV6 owners post - whats wrong with an EV owner posting about a successful trip if its accurate.

EVs aren't perfect. Also

No car is.....

But the technology both on the car and road gcharger side is constantly progressing even if charging in Ireland still needs improvement in terms of needing more chargers.

The technology is actually available as we speak to allow EVs travel 1000 kms in 10 hrs including charge stops.

And there's also Nios battery swop technology which allows a battery low on charge to be swapped for a fully charged one in 6 mins. Already operational in China for Nios customers (Nio is a Chinese EV manufacturer start up).

So no matter what drama threads like this throw up.

I think the EV future should work well

I don't mind EV's, we'll probably end up with one sooner or later. But this trend below really shouts a$$hole to me... a green EU flag on your reg plates, just in case people weren't certain you were eco friendly..

Yep. agreed. - but I'm sure they're covered in the painful things ICE owners say and do thread!

I'm going to put this post here aswell,it's in response to a poster saying they can't imagine any family that couldn't get by solely on an EV ffs....

"I'll give an example of a very large cohort who are excluded from buying an EV.

Those who can't afford to put themselves in serious debt over a car

Those who are excluded from owning a EV because they can't install a home charger.

I reckon combining the two you are looking at more than 50% of the population.

Its a serious lack of awareness bordering on complete arrogance not being able to see things (or at least acknowledge things) from other people's points of view and personal situations.

On another note,I live in the West,this year alone I've been to kerry,Tyrone,Dublin twice just for football matches,the usual huge convoy of cars from Mayo in tow.How would that work if even 20% of them were EV?"

Too true. Every time I speak to an EV owner they deny they have ever had to wait more than a few minutes in a queue at a charger. Yet out of literally hundreds of long trips ive been on where we had to stop at a charger it has been empty just twice. Sometimes there have been up to 3 cars in front of us to charge. Yet no EV driver when you speak to them will ever admit to waiting to charge.

And you have the poster above talking about just plugging in at your destination as if thats always an option.

And our 30kwh leaf gets 120km easily all the time. 150 at a push in the summer if you are careful. But you have some owners saying they are getting 200km. Sorry, just dont believe it. So any trip more than 60km anywhere and we have to charge somewhere. Sometimes we have to go 30km off our route to a charger only to find it broken or a huge queue at the only charger for miles. Then you are stuck waiting or finding a slow charger somewhere because youve used too much range to get to the charger.

Its easier now just to take the diesel on any round over 60km out. But anything below our max range and the EV is great. As I said before I would reccommend them, but not as the only family car. If you have 2 cars then 1 one EV is great. But if you only have one car, dont make it an EV.

Then you have all this, sure on a long trip you would have to stop anyway.

Well before I drove an EV I never saw the inside of an expensive motorway service station. Still dont when im in the diesel. In the diesel i stop when and where i feel like it. Might even stop where there is a nice view. And certainly no less than 2 to 2.5 hours driving.

In the EV i always seem to be sitting in an expensive service station in some kip of a place with no view.

Yeah I get what you are saying, but we are sticking people into groups here. EV owners versus ICE owners when both sets do the same stupid things. Sure the EV owners want to puff up their eco credentials, and the ICE owners want to puff up their performance credentials....but both people are basically doing the same thing. Puffing themselves up.

Everyone looks at thing from the own point of view and fail to see that other people have their POV. Look at the "I live in the west" posts....well the EV owner might live in Dublin and a diesel is not really suitable for them.

There is a snobbery in the EV community, and a reverse snobbery in the ICE...its just a bit easier punch up than down, but everyone is still throwing swings.

Rich? I bought an EV less than a year ago for €2k. In perfect condition, extremely low miles, taxed and tested. It costs less in total cost of ownership than if someone had given me a free petrol or diesel banger. Now it is a compromised car as it has only a small range of about 60-90km and can't fast charge, but it is perfect as a second family local runabout.

@electricus - back 100 years ago people had to go into a pharmacy to buy petrol. There were no filling stations. So that was a bit awkward alright 😁

Agree with your sentiment though, most people don't like change and want to cling on to what they know best. Same now as it was 100 years ago. It's very hard to accept where we are all going even though the reasons why are pretty clear now to most.

Some people will always be resistant to change and this applies to EVs also. However in the case of EVs there is also a significant proportion of drivers who would gladly change over to EVs if there were affordable options with a reasonable range. It's all very well to talk about older leafs with 80 to 100km range satisfying most peoples daily needs, but the reality is any day they want to head off on a 50km journey they are faced with the dilemma of having to charge the damn thing to make it home.

It wont always be the way but currently incentives to move to EVs are focussed on new cars and unfortunately manufacturers are focussing on high end profitable models which are outside the preserve of many. This no doubt is driving some of the tribalism between EV and ICE folk. My neighbour picked up his new €59,900 Q4 etron last week and of course he's telling me about how cheap it is to run and its a no brainer as the Govt has given him €5k in cash for the car and €600 to install a charger. "Sure you'd be mad to miss out on the opportunity". Fully agree with him if I and others had the capacity to shell out €55k or afford the monthly payments for this no brainer. By the way he got the etron 35 as opting for the 40 would have put him over €60k. I was asking him if he OK with the reduced range of the 35 and his said yea as he also has a 212 high spec Ranger if he want to do longer journeys. Global warming wouldn't be too high on his radar, as is the case for many EV and ICE drivers alike.

Personally I would have opted for the 40 with less toys, as for me paying €55k for 300km odd range is mad when you could have a 500km option for the same money excluding a couple of superfluous toys. I'm hoping others will have a similar preference and opt for range versus toys so there will be more longer range used options in 3 to 4 years when I will be looking for one!!

The only reason I don't have an EV is cost, to be perfectly honest.

To most people cars are just white goods. All people care about ultimately is MPG. We all saw the change in 2008, once the tax changed and few people raved about the great MPG of diesel, half the country switched to diesel.

The same will happen with electric.

Ya it's something I've never understood, if one is buying to save the planet, surely the more basic the better.

Can't understand why evs have so much gadgets and gizmos surely the idea for manufactures and consumers is to make the car as efficient as possible. Or are they just full of ××××.

this is where you are wrong ... . just about every new car apart from the budget models have loads of new tech as standard .. it is what most people want.

I'm an EV driver and to be honest efficiency is somewhat further down my list of requirements in a car - I just don't do the milage to save that much money. I'm more concerned with the function of the car.

Right now in another thread about EVs you have an EV driver saying that anyone whoever had to wait at a charger doesnt know how to drive and even cant tell the difference between chargers and the one for their car.

Ive spent plenty of time waiting at chargers and I do know what the charger looks like. As im sure do most EV owners.

No problem, you did not buy an EV to save the planet. So you love the tech that it gives and that's fine.

Others are let's save the planet but I love the heated seats.

Let's just put aside what energy source both ICE and EV's use, and judge them as vehicles to move people. In this respect EV's are totally compelling for most.

Quieter, more refined, faster, devoid of so much mechanical stuff that causes trouble, and of course cheaper to run (if not to buy, yet). Time will tell if they are more reliable but with so much less to give trouble you would expect that to be the case. That they make better modes of transport for most individuals is certain.

The weaknesses, range, ease of charging, cost and so on will all be addressed in the coming years.

A chap on YouTube just rebuilt a BMW V12, and the sheer complexity of that engine would blow your mind, and wallet after a few years. Fascinating from an engineering POV but it has so many weaknesses from fuel delivery, cooling, lubrication, countless gaskets, the list is endless. Engines have been around forever and they are still fraught with engineering weaknesses.

I say this an ICE driver, but the game is well and truly up.

if I'm honest - I would have had as many concerns as most before I bought an EV ... helped that I had a PHEV on the driveway at the same time .. but 12 months on I am confident enough to go full EV and leave ICE behind .... that is until I get my hands on a 1988 MB 190E Cosworth 2.5 that I have my eye on ..... which will be the weekend car

Last time I looked I was a working man too, 6 days a week for the last 20 years. I put it in quotes to point out the stupidity in calling people middle class elite or working men. Its just more of this tribalism rubbish. Sure we have a guy on saying he cannot afford an EV but if he got rid of his horse he could....mother of god, is the irony lost.