Charging an electric vehicle: Irish car buyers appear to lack confidence in the future of electric vehicle motoring. Photograph: iStockhave been in the news recently and not for all the right reasons. This is a subject of interest tobecause, like thousands of other people, we are in the market for a car upgrade before our current model dies under us.
And the fact remains that considerable inhibitors remain in place to make these buyers think twice before making the jump to electric, even though most understand the future will be driven by electricity or some form of non-fossil fuel. This is not a uniquely Irish problem: many other countries are facing similar issues but it threatens to fatally undermine Government plans to tackle carbon emissions. The aim was to have a million EVs on Irish roads by the end of the decade. That now seems a delusional aspiration, with fewer than 80,000 pure plug in electric charged vehicles estimated to be on Irish roads.
There are some more affordable models coming to the market, especially from Chinese manufacturers but these are also threatened by potential action from the European Union concerned at alleged dumping by China on the European market.Range anxiety continues to be a major issue for many motorists. While most of On The Money’s motoring may be in and around Dublin, we would average one trip to one end of the country or other every month .
My existing car’s heater no longer works so I am fully aware of the joys of travelling long distance in winter in a car with no way of warming up. It’s not an attractive option. Then there is the residual concern at what such charging will cost. For those able to charge their cars at home, that is clearly the best and cheapest option, especially with the growth of smart meters and a range of billing options.
The thing for buyers is that, to some degree, we are taking EV manufacturers on trust that these measures will extend battery life and reduce replacement cost – the same manufacturers who seemed strangely silent on such issues until consumers found themselves with significant additional costs they had not budgeted for.