The Nissan Leaf has done the EV movement a bit of a disservice with the battery degradation the earlier (2010/2011) models suffered, especially when used in hot climates. They've slowly improved things, to the point that my 5 year old Leaf still has 90% of its battery capacity - the Irish climate is perfect for them. But this is just the Leaf, you don't see this level of degradation with the other models out there - ultimately the ones with decent batteries (Samsung/LG/Tesla) that are actively cooled. Plenty of data out there to back this up, for example this survey showing an average of 90% capacity in Teslas after 200,000km https://www.engadget.com/2018/04/16/tesla-battery-packs-live-longer/. In-short, for your average driver this degradation is insignificant and unnoticeable.The battery will wear out. Warranties are around 100,000Km or 8 to 10 years and the replacement cost is €5000+.
Can you elaborate on this a bit, not quite sure what you're driving at? In-terms of safety, you want to be in the heavier car in a crash if you have to be in one. In-terms of repairs, this is what insurance is for; FWIW my insurance went down moving to an EV.Due to the battery packs, EVs are heavy, a base Leaf is more than 20% heavier than the base model Qashqai or 25% heavier than a Ford Focus. This means more energy in crash situations, and battery pack damage is quite expensive to repair.
I'll try dig out proof but I read that EV sales in Ireland for the first 3 months of 2019 have already exceeded the 12 months total for 2018. If that's true and continues, a lot of investment will be required in order to keep the charging network ahead of demand.
Can you elaborate on this a bit, not quite sure what you're driving at? In-terms of safety, you want to be in the heavier car in a crash if you have to be in one. In-terms of repairs, this is what insurance is for; FWIW my insurance went down moving to an EV.
Can you elaborate on this a bit, not quite sure what you're driving at? In-terms of safety, you want to be in the heavier car in a crash if you have to be in one. In-terms of repairs, this is what insurance is for; FWIW my insurance went down moving to an EV.
They've slowly improved things, to the point that my 5 year old Leaf still has 90% of its battery capacity - the Irish climate is perfect for them.
If you have the space for a charger at home why not get one installed and use the grant? It won't be around for ever, and as everybody moves to EVs, having it on your house will be a value-add. The grant is €600, depending on what is required wiring wise, you'd be looking at something like €1k to get a charger and have it installed by a qualified electrician. If you can do some of the work yourself (making routes for the cables, physically mounting the charger etc.) you can probably get the whole thing in under the grant.2. I'm hoping to charge in work 75% of the time and use the public charge points 25%. I may be naive but going to see if I can get away with not installing a charger at home. It'll be a company vehicle so will be difficult to claim back the electricity costs from by domestic bill.
If you have the space for a charger at home why not get one installed and use the grant? It won't be around for ever, and as everybody moves to EVs, having it on your house will be a value-add. The grant is €600, depending on what is required wiring wise, you'd be looking at something like €1k to get a charger and have it installed by a qualified electrician. If you can do some of the work yourself (making routes for the cables, physically mounting the charger etc.) you can probably get the whole thing in under the grant.
If you have the space for a charger at home why not get one installed and use the grant? It won't be around for ever, and as everybody moves to EVs, having it on your house will be a value-add. The grant is €600, depending on what is required wiring wise, you'd be looking at something like €1k to get a charger and have it installed by a qualified electrician. If you can do some of the work yourself (making routes for the cables, physically mounting the charger etc.) you can probably get the whole thing in under the grant.
Seems like a no brainer to have a charge facility at home,however if you need to drive from Cork to Dublin, you will likely need to recharge somewhere?
Ah similar myself, but still worth it if you know somebody in the industry who can do certs. I bought the charger for €450, cabled and fitted it myself, electrician came and made the final connection, tested and did a cert for something like €150. Got the €600 grant - totally free home charger.I was a sparks in a former life so I should be able to manage the install myself rather than go through the grant route.
Makes sense. Though depending on the mileage you're doing, keep in-mind you could we swapping a €200/month petrol bill for say €40-50 on your electricity bill. Do 90% of your charging at work and that odd charge at home will not even be noticeable on you bill, but very handy at the weekend if you need to drive a good bit and want to charge on Saturday evening.I'm hoping to remove the temptation to charge at home, as it would cost me money in electricity bills. Hoping to limit the charging to work, where employer pays electricity bill!
Yep they do and they tend to draw around 10A, so no major deal for a modern standard house socket. A full home charger for reference will tend to do 32A.I understand EVs come with a 'granny cable' which plugs into a regular domestic socket. You'd need to make sure nothing else is powered from this circuit, as the EV charging will use a lot of current. I'd need to see the output figures before I'd be happy that it's safe to do this.
The new kia Niro looks interesting with the big warranty sees to be early 30's for a standard battery then looks like an extra 5 k for a bigger battery.
A bit more elbow rook than the leaf.
only problem is neither have a toe bar which is a must for me
but would an EV be strong enough and have enough battery to pull a trailer?
I'd be all for buying an EV but I need a tow bar for pulling a double axle trailer and a horse box... hence the 3.2 ltr jeep.
I've just purchased a new 1.5 diesel and only because I want to have enough power to pull a trailer with. Anything heavy, I'll use the jeep.
Maybe, by the time I retire, ther might be something out there in the EV line that will pull a trailer and hav ample charging points all over the place.
The product is evolving, but not fast enough, unfortunately.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?