We love our EVs here at Nevo, so of course our first reaction would be to say ‘YES’! But the reality of answering a question like this is much more complex. The straight answer is that it depends on a number of factors. So we have picked out a number of considerations that potential EV drivers should weigh up before making a decision.

Let’s start off with the two main factors that might stop you from going electric: price and charging. We consider these the most important, because they may well be a deal breaker for you, and there’s no point discussing the comforts of driving electric if you simply can’t afford it or charge it up.

Price

The current reality of the sticker price on EVs in general is that they are more expensive. We’re just talking about upfront cost, nothing to do with running costs. The Peugeot e208 is a fantastic hatchback, but you’re clearing €30,000 to get one. Many would love a Tesla, but the cheapest in Ireland is €50,000. But things are changing. The MG ZS EV is an SUV with 400km range available for just over €30,000.

Some people have little to no access to finance. They can’t get a loan. Perhaps their only option is to buy an old car for €1,000 and hope it runs for another couple of years. In this scenario, you’re ruled out of buying any new car, no matter what the drivetrain is.

However, let’s stop for a moment and consider how many people you know that have tens of thousand of Euros just sitting in their bank accounts waiting to be spent on a new car. Not many! So the reality in Ireland is that most people take out a loan to buy a car, or go PCP or some other form of financing. As a result, the sticker price of the car is then not as important. What is important is the overall cost of ownership: the repayments, tax, insurance, fuel, maintenance all rolled up. And when you consider that, the affordability of an EV with a higher sticker price starts to become a lot more attractive.

Charging

The other crucial thing to consider is how you are going to charge your EV. If you don’t put petrol in your car, it won’t move. The same goes for your EV. You want to be sure that you have enough energy in the battery to get you to your destination.

We have to separate out two types of potential EV owners here. Those that have off-street parking for charging at home, and those that do not. Let’s start with those that have a driveway. In this case, you can begin every day off with a full battery if you want.

Even the lowest range modern EV available in Ireland will do at least 150km on a charge, and some can clear 500km even on a bad day. But let’s take something like the VW iD.4, one of Ireland’s best-selling EVs. Even the most pessimistic range for this car is over 300km, but in real-world driving conditions, you’ll get 400km most of the year. So if you live in Athlone and work in Dublin, you’ll easily have enough range to do the return trip every day in winter. You’ll even have some spare for other errands on your way home. And even if you want to do a weekend trip, there isn’t really anywhere on the island of Ireland that you can’t reach on a single charge.

The other type of potential EV owner is the person that doesn’t have a driveway. It gets a little trickier here. For some people, it may be no issue at all. Many EV drivers have owned low-range EVs without a home charger for years. Take the example of the Renault Zoe, which will do just under 300km on a charge. For a lot of motorists, that’s enough to get them through two or three weeks of driving.

For those that don’t have a home charger, it becomes more about what you might call ‘grazing’. For example, you plug in for an hour while you’re doing your shopping. You top up on the motorway for 10 minutes while you grab a coffee, and you plug in at a multi-story carpark when you’re at the cinema. Maybe you’re visiting friends and you plug into a 3-pin socket at their house for a few hours. Some people without home chargers have access to chargers in work that they can use for free.

If you’re thinking of buying an EV, but are not sure about the typical range of EVs, you can check out our other piece looking at how far modern EVs go.

Distance covered

So let’s look at the distance covered for a moment because the majority of people overestimate the mileage they actually do. Have a look at the odometer on your car and see just how many kilometres you have done since getting the car. Or track your distance covered over a few weeks. Let’s say it’s an above-average amount of 25,000km per year. Even factoring in holidays when you’re not driving, that’s about 520km per week. That’s only 2 charges per week for a 40kWh LEAF. A Model 3 Long Range might even do that with a single charge per week.

Other Factors

So let’s now consider some other factors that might impact whether or not an EV is for you.

We want to go back to charging for a moment. The ease of charging an EV is one of the best things, presuming you have easy access to a charger. It takes a matter of seconds to plug your EV in when you arrive home. For seasoned EV drivers, the idea of having to go to a fuel station and stand in the cold for a minute pumping, queue up, and hand over €50+ for petrol is unsettling. It is wonderful to wake up to a full charge every morning.

Speaking of waking up to an EV in the morning. Remote climate control is fantastic. A lot of modern EVs allow you to use the app to precondition the car on a frosty morning. So from the comfort of your own bed, you set the car to be defrosted and nicely warm for when you go to leave. If it’s plugged in, you draw power from the house so that you still leave with a 100% charge!

Ease of driving is a great part of EV ownership. Much higher reliability gives peace of mind. But they are also much smoother to drive. Typically they are faster than their combustion counterparts. That effortless acceleration leads to a much more calming experience. Professional drivers such as couriers and taxis attest to feeling less tired and stressed after a day’s work in an EV. Regen braking, one pedal driving, no engine noise, and no vibrations all contribute to a much more pleasant drive. The vast majority of EVs have only one gear, so you never have to change gear or worry about clutches.

Running costs are so much lower in an EV. Apart from tyres, maintenance is negligible. There are no timing belts, fan belts, spark plugs, and many other parts that just don’t exist in an EV. Even brakes can last over 100,000km thanks to regenerative braking! Also, the cost of fuel is so much cheaper. A Hyundai Kona can easily do 400km on a single charge that costs as little as €6 on a night rate meter. If you have solar on your roof, driving could potentially be free! And as for battery replacements, this is a completely outdated notion. Modern batteries will more than likely outlast the vehicle itself.

Summary

As you can see, there are a lot of factors to consider when deciding if an EV is right for you. A number of surveys have shown that about 9 out of 10 EV drivers would be unwilling to go back to a combustion car. There must be a good reason for that. So spend some time doing research, talk to EV drivers, and take some EVs out for a test drive.

Of course, maybe you’re just not yet ready to go full EV, and think that a plug-in hybrid may work for you. If that’s the case, have a read of our other piece where we go through what a hybrid is, and what the differences are.

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