EV purchase motivation and concerns?

It's pretty common actually, some main dealers are overstocked with 12-36 month old EVs and won't take more in. We were told the same from a Kia and a Nissan dealer.

I got my first EV 6-7 years ago to reduce running costs and maintenance. I got my second for the same reasons but got a bigger car to benefit from the company car tax benefits. Now, I will never go back to ICE. Simpler to run, simpler to maintain, my wife loves it.

I am certain there are plenty of people for whom EV is not viable depending on their travel needs. For example a person travelling point to point on the road a lot will be at the mercy of remote charging.

But for my needs it’s perfect.

This lady here is doing her bit for big-oil in the UK to keep the EV sales suppressed.

https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/regret-buying-family-electric-car-3298325

I'm happy to live with the significant financial savings that an EV has brought us while the 'rest' are fed and believe this type of bull from 'journalists'.

>1: Market uncertainty

If you go PCP route you have fixed known costs and you can hand car back subject to mileage limits and scratches. However at that point you need to get a new car

,>2: Charging hassles

This is real and main downside. Most EVs can go 300+km, so 150km from home without needing to public charge. Public charging has gotten better and should get easier the next year except for peak times such as Friday evening or bank holidays. If you book hotels with their own charger it helps.

>3: Depreciation and a hard car to sell on on 3-5 years

PCP is an option. Buying a 1 or 2 year old car reduces depreciation too. Or buy a high mileage used car if you go low mileage and buy it very cheap..

>4: Battery technology shift cover the coming years

Definitely standard battery sizes in EVs is increasing. Charging speeds are increasing. As always manufacturers are tying to make newer cars better in terms of putting small batteries in first models, increasing battery size, slow charging in first models, faster charging in later models, low power in first models, dual motor high power in later models. Also many EVs are a bodged petrol or diesel car, newer EVs are from the ground up EV so have more room inside etc. Manufacturers bring out new models and refresh old models all the time. It is a time of big change as people realise petrol and diesel is dead and sales of EVs should grow. However many new buyers don't worry about cost of petrol, and car prices are still relatively high.

Ive found that if you plan to stay in the same model car and update every few years, and the dealer does used cars (many like Tesla, byd etc don't), then you can do a bit better in holding value. I bought my MG for 36k and a year later (Oct 23) I got 35k for trading it in for a 1 year newer version. While Tesla & byd offered me 22k as they simply sell on to trade. But in general there is an issue with EVs from other companies, not because they are bad cars, but because most people that want to spend 50+k on a car want a new one with the latest tech & 400+ km range so are simply buying brand new.

Charging is getting much better. I noticed a big difference this summer compared to last. I was in holiday towns in Kerry and Cork and found multiple new 50-150kw fast chargers had been installed and had no issues charging at all. Last year I was in an air BnB and simply plugged into the indoor plug in the house as I was there for a week. So that's an option.

I've never arrived home with less than 50km on the battery. Embarrassingly I've ran out of petrol 3-4 times over the years 🥴. It can still be tricky to get an open petrol station during the night on many roads. Where as chargers never close.

I'm two years in EVs and love it. 6c a KW between 2-5am means my 2-300km weekly driving routine is about €3. Tax is €120 and insurance is €320.

PCP and HP both remove the negatives.
With PCP you have a defined break point after 3 years.

However, under both methods, you have the half rule. Meaning once you pay 50%+0.01 of the hire purchase price (note this is the cash price plus the finance interest) you can hand back the car for nothing. Plenty of exit options to avoid/mitigate excessive depreciation.

I'm looking at replacing 2 of our 3 EVs in the next 12 months and it is very likely that both replacements (be it in one or 2 cars) I'll be getting electric and not ICE. I'm not anti ICE, I have a v6, v8, a turbo 5 cyl, and 2 4 cyl ice cars outside. ICE for daily driving just simply doesnt make sense.

Ah it's complete waffle. Plus it seems like it was a historical occurrence from 2020 which she just dragged up for attention.

Anyway, sorry for derailing the convo - I know it was a complete side-track.

I was having a look at some Tesla's on DoneDeal yesterday, a few of them starting around €20k for 192/201 which is a great entry price into what is still an excellent EV. I drive a 201 Model 3 SR+, and have no intention of upgrading it for at least another 6+ years… as despite the newer ones having so much more tech/upgrades, they are still ridiculously good cars!!

This one even sub €20k

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/tesla-model-3-sr/38015531

Theres even a LR for sale for €22k!! Buy it, then buy the acceleration boost, and for €23,800 you have a 300-350km range car that'll do 0-100 in 3.9s and smoke most things on Irish roads, except the few faster EV's….. just for the craic!!

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/tesla-model-3-2020-long-range75kw-1-owner/37446104

Both high enough mileage, but most of the initial 'fast' degradation has already happened with these cars, so at worst from now on they lose 1% a year..

If I needed a 2nd car quick, or a replacement, I'd be all over one of these…

We bought a VW ID3 in 2021 and are now on our second.

Main motivation for first purchase was…

1. Environmental - city air quality

2. Environmental - the big picture

3. Running costs.

I traded for new ID 3 back in May. Also replaced our older VW Golf petrol with an e-Up at the same time, so have doubled down on electric.

We're fully committed now to EV and am unlikely to ever buy I.C.E again. Reasons….

1. Brilliant to drive. Even the little e-Up is a cracker around the city.
2. Running costs …. we have free Saturday electricity plan with Electric Ireland. Other days are a bit more expensive but don't outweigh the massive benefit of being able to charge both cars on Saturday for zero cost. That then covers us for the week (we do about 18 k a year between both). Best plan depends on your won driving profile and preferences.
3. Maintenance and servicing costs zero so far (had a plan to cover tyres - these can be expensive).
4. The environmental aspects of course.

Any downsides or concerns….?

You do have to think about your driving profile.

Home charging makes city driving no issue at all. Our car has about 400 km range in summer, dropping to about 320 in winter. If you do motorway driving above 100 km you can take another 20% off that.

Our main long journey is to West Kerry (5 or 6 time a year). Since the the 8 point hub opened in Obama Plaza, we have no problem with this … one stop there of about 30 to 40 minutes to fuel ourselves and the car gets us comfortably to Dingle, which now has three high speed chargers. I initially kept our VW Golf ICE as a back up and second car. Never felt the need to use it in preference to the EV.

On caution would be that if you have some long trips, you need to check what's the EV charging structure like on your route. I got caught out once in West Cork, when a charger was out of order. You also nee to plan your charging for long journeys.

Re depreciation, i traded in our 212 model for a similar (new 'pre-reg') in May for €11 K. Cost to change probably may be now worse than any other scenario, as long as your changing EV to EV, as new prices drop.

Hope that helps!

One of the key attractions in an EV for me was your number 4 - running costs, where a new BEV will likely come out on top if you have home charging available to you, irrespective of brand.

Make the best financial decision you can at the relevant point in time for your circumstances, be it ICE, Hybrid or BEV and plan to live with it for 3 years. If you change your mind inside that time window, depreciation will always be the winner.

2 years in and my only remaining concern is resale value. But then again I bought new which I have never done with ICE and feeling it a bit now not being able to change if I wanted to.

Luckily, I'm pretty happy with my EV cars so it's not a massive problem

The only concern I'd really pass on to any prospective buyer is to make sure you have access to your own charger. And that you don't regularly go over the range of what your car will do. It's not a big deal charging publicly but if you're doing it all the time it's going to be expensive. I publicly charge about twice a month but it's going from 10% to 40% or thereabouts just to get me home.

The drive in EVs is fantastic, so responsive they really are way ahead of ICE in that respect.

Decent advice and to an extent I agree with you but buying a car that will suit more owners after you are finished with it will, although there are exceptions, in general cost you more and you'll end up losing out anyway. Very similar to loading any car full of extras will make it desirable but you won't see the money back in most cases.

My main car is the higher range etron 55 and it has fallen more in euro value than the lower range 50 because it was a decent bit more expensive new by about 15 grand I think.....gap between the 2 like for like now is between 5 and 10k. I didn't buy new but a family member did and didn't like it and was going to be absolutely crucified to get rid of it so I bought it..

The other one is a Cupra born 58kw bought brand new and I've nothing to compare to really as the 77kw didn't sell at all here I think I've only ever seen 1 advertised

From my own experience, public charging has improved dramatically and is continuing to improve along most main routes

For example I recently went from Dublin to Kilkenny for a weekend. Had to charge on the way back and noticed there were chargers at the Circle K near Carlow

Plugged in, paid with card, left after 15 mins with plenty to get home. No planning ahead or pile of charging cards needed

The biggest hassle I'd say is finding decent chargers. Apps like Plugshare help but the signage for charging hubs isn't great, I only knew about the Circle K hub because I spotted it on the way

If you're using it occasionally then I wouldn't say it's any real hassle