Does anybody has a hybrid or electric in the countryside?

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121081303#Comment_121081303

Community deal, hidden but it is on their website alright. Follow this thread here for all the details. I've signed up for it myself 3 days ago, just a couple of minutes after my new smart meter was fitted

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058235650/switching-electric-gas-providers-see-first-post-for-links

For me with large solar PV and battery, it means I expect a zero electric bill for the next 2 years. Including driving 2 EVs

fits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121081530#Comment_121081530

My bad! 😀 9 valuable hours

UnhappyCustomer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121081339#Comment_121081339

It is not possible to charge at work. distance around 140 - 160 km roundtrip

UnhappyCustomer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121081515#Comment_121081515

What about an e-golf or any of the hyundais?

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121081682#Comment_121081682

The E Golf should handle the range and could be gotten for a lot less

The original Ioniq could probably handle it too

They've lower purchase prices, but the flip side is lower range as well, you'll have to decide for yourself whether it's worth the trade off

unkel

I wouldn't buy an eGolf if I had to drive 160km in winter. Ioniq will just about do the trick, would have to take it handy on the worst / coldest days. 40kWh Leafs have come down a lot in price too since the start of the year.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121081738#Comment_121081738

Would the E Golf not manage it? I guess it'd be pretty close in winter

I guess I should apply my standard logic and always have enough juice left to make an emergency trip to the nearest hospital

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121081761#Comment_121081761

eGolf and Ioniq have very similar EPA / WLTP range, but the eGolf is far less aerodynamic than the Ioniq, so it has much lower range at national road / motorway speeds

That's why a 28kWh Ioniq and a 40kWh Leaf have a similar 120km/h range, despite the Leaf having a much longer EPA / WLTP range

eGolf is a very nice EV though, if you don't need more space. Far nicer place to be in than Ioniq or Leaf

sh81722

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121081761#Comment_121081761

I would call an ambulance for anything urgent, most likely will save you a trip to the hospital as many/most sudden ailments can be patched on your drive without need to head to the A&E for example. For everything else there is the neighbours if you really happen to be that low on juice

UnhappyCustomer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121081738#Comment_121081738

What do winter have to do with all of this? and what battery would you recommend to do that trip? 65kwh kona?

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121081824#Comment_121081824

Yeah true, I'm thinking about the few times the kids have had a fever and we've had to take them to the hospital because it was in the evening and out of hours doctor was busy

There's unfortunately a bunch of non urgent cases where you can end up getting sent to A&E (often unnecessarily, but that's the doctors playing it safe)

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121081853#Comment_121081853

EVs have less range in winter than in summer. Batteries are optimal at about 21C.

And yes if you can stretch the budget to €18-19k, then a Kona 64kWh is a good option, loads and loads of range in that one.

fits

I don’t think either the egolf or original ioniq would do 160 km each way though. They’d need the big battery ID.3 or similar? Maybe I’m reading op wrong. Edit yes, yes I am. Lots of cars would do that easily.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121081861#Comment_121081861

If the EV is the only car in the house it may not suit all rural dwellers.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121081940#Comment_121081940

True, I'm only trying to answer the question for the OP as best I can, they didn't say whether there'd be another car available

On the flip side, if there's another car available then you can scratch my argument about hospital trips

fits

The hospital trips thing wouldn’t even bother me and we are super rural. There is rarely less than 100 km range in the car. Nearest hospital is 30km away and lots of charging nearby.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121081967#Comment_121081967

EV is a great second car option for rural dwellers.

Plenty of space for installing charger and maybe even solar.

fits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121082294#Comment_121082294

Yeah you’ll buy it as second car and it will end up being the first.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121082315#Comment_121082315

Very likely.

You will be able to use the EV to it's full potential while having the back up for emergencies.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121082294#Comment_121082294

I think there's a fair number of folks on this forum who live in rural areas and the EV is generally their main driver

But I absolutely agree there's a lot of potential there for powering the car (and house 😁) from solar

UnhappyCustomer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121067218#Comment_121067218

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121070798#Comment_121070798

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121071794#Comment_121071794

I quoted those living in the countryside. What about the mechanics? How do you do the maintenance?

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121108249#Comment_121108249

What maintenance? 😁

Okay, EVs aren't zero maintenance, but they do require considerably less maintenance than any equivalent ICE cars

They don't need any oil changes, adboue, dpf filter changes or any of that

Your consumables are tyres, screenwash and pollen filters. Pretty much any mechanic can change those

The electric part of the drivetrain is effectively maintenance free, it works or it doesn't. Now if there is an issue, the cost can run into thousands if something needs to be replaced

However this is pretty rare, it's equivalent to having to replace the entire engine in a petrol car. They tend to break for a reason, like hitting a massive rock with the undercarriage (advice, avoid rocks)

The rest of the running gear is the same as a petrol car, and so can be serviced by the same mechanic

There is a group of independent EV mechanics who are starting to expand in Ireland, they can be helpful for any issues with the electrics when you don't want to deal with the main dealerships

I think this might be the name of the group

https://hevra.org.uk/

NIMAN

If you go full EV, you'll save a fortune on maintenance. As said above, there isn't any really, bar the usual wear and tear items.

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121108675#Comment_121108675

I agree, we changed for an eniro from a Sportage in march of 2020, if we had changed to a new Sportage (automatic) it would have been about 2k cheaper at the time.

Have 95k km up on it now.

2020 night rate was 7.4c

21 was 5.8c

22 was 7.9

And this year from aug it's 14.75.

I dare say 98%+ has been on night rate the rest public charging when we went outside our range.

Huge difference in "fuel" cost Vs the Sportage that done 5.5l/100km on a good day.

We got the double whammy of moving to a more efficient car and reduced cost.

The 64 kWh battery is enough to get us from the very North of Ireland, to south Dublin (via Belfast) without stopping and still have 10% left.

If we went via Monaghan we'd be getting there with a high 20 maybe even 30% left(slower + shorter road, )

Ev (especially anything over 50kwh) for rural is perfect, especially as having a driveway is far more likely

UnhappyCustomer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121108435#Comment_121108435

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121108675#Comment_121108675

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121109002#Comment_121109002

Ok guys... you have convinced me. Now, I'm gonna get panels this month. Should I ask the provider to install a home charger as well or should I choose an electrician and get a charger on my own?

What home charger would be the best? Is there any for 2 cars? (future-proof)

I found this thread but it is from 2018

allinthehead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121109732#Comment_121109732

May as well ask for price and get all the work done at the same time. A Zappi or equivalent is about €1400 for a standard install. €600 grant.

Your max charging rate is about 7.2 kw, if you install two chargers then you can only charge at half that rate. Better off just taking turns charging. Unless of course your house has 3 phase.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121109732#Comment_121109732

Get several quotes for panels and ask about a home charger as well. The installer will get you one that integrates well with the solar PV so it'll charge the car when you have excess available

This might sound obvious but you can only charge the car from solar when it's at home. So if you aren't around most days then it's probably worth getting quoted for a home battery, they're expensive but they can really maximise the savings of your solar panels

The economics of home batteries are pretty case dependant though, so make sure you do your homework

As for charging two cars at once, it's absolutely possible to install two chargers but as @allinthehead said you're limited to the input to the chargers from the fuse box.

Typically it's specced for 32A which corresponds to 7.2kW. When one car is plugged in it'll max out to 7.2kW, when two cars are plugged in (and your chargers are capable of load sharing) then each car will get half

This is actually pretty similar to what I have in my house

The grey charger is the original charger for my wife's Leaf which will charge at 3.3kW. The white Zappi is for my ID.4 and will either charge from solar during the day, or will charge overnight from the grid. If both are going at the same time the Zappi limits itself to around 3kW to avoid blowing the fuse

Now, it's worth discussing your future plans with the installer, because it's possible they can overspec the wire and fuse going to the charger so there's more available for the two chargers. They'll still individually limit to 7.2kW, but they could divide the load to a higher level (e.g. 5kW each)

EDIT: You're also going to want to check what meter type you have and start looking up electricity plans and figuring out how much this will cost you. The more homework you do, the easier the transition to electric is

UnhappyCustomer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121110459#Comment_121110459

I know the setup and panels I’m going to install as well as the provider this has been long discussed and studied now.

however, I never thought of getting an EV at a short term so I never thought of putting a home charger but now it would make sense.

it would be interesting to know what’s better either get a charger myself and get an electrician (I have a friend how would do me a nice price) or getting the solar installer to do it.

Not sure what is a good price and what models do the installer work

also I have a smart meter.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121111244#Comment_121111244

You can buy a Zappi directly from MyEnergi, but I'm not sure if it actually works out to a saving after installation. The charger itself costs around €900

Probably the best way would be to check with the installer and see what's involved. If there's a complex cable run then it could be expensive, but if it's a simple job then the installation cost should only be a few hundred

With that in knowledge, you can check the prices of a or other chargers and ask your friend how much installation would cost

If you do get a Zappi then it's worth getting an extra CT sensor to monitor the output of the inverter. It isn't essential, but it allows you to monitor the output of your solar into the house, and personally I find the MyEnergi app updates a lot faster than the Sofar app

Timfy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121066824#Comment_121066824

Rural electricity tariffs are much more expensive