EV recommendations

Ieatmyfeelings

Hey 👋ðŸ½,

I’m living overseas at the moment but looking into the viability of an EV for my mam and was looking for some insight. It’s quite hard to find the info I want online for some reason!

It’s easy to find lists of purpose built EVs but not so much for models now available in full EV / PHEV.

Looking for something medium to small and affordable (Renault zoe is too small), the Nissan Leaf is currently standing out with Nissan’s €3k scrappage deal plus grants.

She drives 68km round trip to work 3 times a week (motorway) plus some town driving 10km round trips.

- I was wondering if there’s anything else better value for money than the leaf, and is there a leaf refresh coming soon?
- Are there any other EV’s worth waiting for in the next 12 months?
- I’m assuming second hand is pointless because of the grants available on new?
- Are the grants likely to go down soon?
- Are the grants as good for PHEV as full EV?

Thanks for your help in advance!

Lumen

MG ZS EV

Mickeroo

Ieatmyfeelings wrote: »

Hey ��ðŸ½,

I’m living overseas at the moment but looking into the viability of an EV for my mam and was looking for some insight. It’s quite hard to find the info I want online for some reason!

It’s easy to find lists of purpose built EVs but not so much for models now available in full EV / PHEV.

Looking for something medium to small and affordable (Renault zoe is too small), the Nissan Leaf is currently standing out with Nissan’s €3k scrappage deal plus grants.

She drives 68km round trip to work 3 times a week (motorway) plus some town driving 10km round trips.

- I was wondering if there’s anything else better value for money than the leaf, and is there a leaf refresh coming soon?
- Are there any other EV’s worth waiting for in the next 12 months?
- I’m assuming second hand is pointless because of the grants available on new?
- Are the grants likely to go down soon?
- Are the grants as good for PHEV as full EV?

Thanks for your help in advance!

2nd hand isn't pointless at all, the grants don't reflect good value for money and just inflate the prices. Your mother's low mileage means pretty much every EV on the second hand market will cover her needs in terms of range and you could get a suitable car for under 10 thousand as opposed to about 30 thousand for a brand new leaf.

KCross

Lumen wrote: »

MG ZS EV

I dont think thats available in Ireland?

KCross

Ieatmyfeelings wrote: »

She drives 68km round trip to work 3 times a week (motorway) plus some town driving 10km round trips.

Anything from 2016 on with a 28kWh+ battery will be fine.
The older Leaf (24kWh) might be OK too but since its motorway driving I think you'd need to be looking at the 30kWh Leaf or better.

Ieatmyfeelings wrote: »

- I was wondering if there’s anything else better value for money than the leaf, and is there a leaf refresh coming soon?

It was refreshed in 2018, I think, so no refresh due.

Ieatmyfeelings wrote: »

- Are there any other EV’s worth waiting for in the next 12 months?

Several.

e208, Corsa-e, ID.3, etc
And there will be a bunch of PHEV's too.

Ieatmyfeelings wrote: »

- I’m assuming second hand is pointless because of the grants available on new?

All the s/h cars got grants when new so their prices reflect that, so secondhand is just as important.

You will also get the €600 home charge point grant regardless of whether you buy new or secondhand so dont discount secondhand as an option.

Ieatmyfeelings wrote: »

- Are the grants likely to go down soon?

Yes. No one can define "soon" though. Could be next budget, could be 5 budgets away. No one knows.

Ieatmyfeelings wrote: »

- Are the grants as good for PHEV as full EV?

No, PHEV's get less, sometimes nothing depending on the range of the PHEV. Everything you need to know about Irish grants is here
https://www.seai.ie/grants/electric-vehicle-grants/grant-amounts/

NOTE: If buying new the grant is taken care of by the dealer so usually the sticker price already has the grant deducted. You dont claim the grant yourself.
The exception to that is the home charge point grant. You install and pay for that yourself and then claim back €600.


Whats the budget for the car? That will rule in/out alot of options.

Lumen

KCross wrote: »

I dont think thats available in Ireland?

Bring one in from the north before Brexit?

irishgrover

Lumen wrote:

Bring one in from the north before Brexit?

I looked at doing that. Problem was that without scheduled service warranties are voided. Not willing to go from galway to Belfast every few months to get a car serviced. Not willing to go without warranty on a Chinese car (more because of unknown reliability of car as opposed to battery etc)

Lantus

Q1 is budget first and foremost. What is this

Based on mileage I'd say she is in the 1200 a year for fuel which isn't bad at all currently

Can a home charger be installed?

Is she aware of EV and has test drove one?

Ieatmyfeelings

Lumen wrote: »

MG ZS EV

There’s no way my dad would buy an MG! (He’s got the negative memory of when it was UK owned)

Ieatmyfeelings

Mickeroo wrote: »

2nd hand isn't pointless at all, the grants don't reflect good value for money and just inflate the prices. Your mother's low mileage means pretty much every EV on the second hand market will cover her needs in terms of range and you could get a suitable car for under 10 thousand as opposed to about 30 thousand for a brand new leaf.

Well with the grant and €3k scrappage it’s looking at about €23k for the 40kw.

The main problem is most of the old EVs look too like an EV haha that’s why the new leaf is striking a nice balance haha

Ieatmyfeelings

Thank you for your extensive response!

Looking at some of the second hand but new (2018) leafs they seem to be holding the pre-grant value petty well!

In terms of budget I’m trying to see what’s out there and then kind of see if it’s affordable/work back from that. It might be the wrong way to go about it but trying to see if the cost of hire-purchase/loan would be somewhat offset by the savings in fuel and tax.

She’s currently got an 05 Audi A4 2.0 diesel which is reasonably efficient to run for a car of its size and age but expensive to tax cos of the new regulations. Probably has a tax and Diesel combined cost of €2200 a year.

So the short answer is probably what’s good value for money, definitely under €25k (incl grant and trade in) but preferably less. That’s why I was curious about second hand EV / PHEV.

It’s probably worth mentioning my dad has plans to set up a micro hydro generator on a river behind our house w/ capacity up to 5kwh - but that could be years off yet.

Ieatmyfeelings

Thank you for your extensive response!

Looking at some of the second hand but new (2018) leafs they seem to be holding the pre-grant value petty well!

In terms of budget I’m trying to see what’s out there and then kind of see if it’s affordable/work back from that. It might be the wrong way to go about it but trying to see if the cost of hire-purchase/loan would be somewhat offset by the savings in fuel and tax.

She’s currently got an 05 Audi A4 2.0 diesel which is reasonably efficient to run for a car of its size and age but expensive to tax cos of the new regulations. Probably has a tax and Diesel combined cost of €2200 a year.

So the short answer is probably what’s good value for money, definitely under €25k (incl grant and trade in) but preferably less. That’s why I was curious about second hand EV / PHEV.

It’s probably worth mentioning my dad has plans to set up a micro hydro generator on a river behind our house w/ capacity up to 5kwh - but that could be years off yet.

OO7FITZY

Did you look into getting that new Leaf40kw?

With scrappage of 3000 euro, it brings the cost of the entry spec down to 26.8k according to the website https://www.scrappageguarantee.ie/

Lots of new EVs out in the next 12 months, is it worth jumping in now or waiting?

unkel

EUR27k on the road for a new Leaf? Did anybody actually manage that scrapping a worthless car?