The biggest stumbling block for EV uptake

Orebro wrote: »

All the info is online and it's pretty straight forward - no need to go phoning all these places to find out.

For example, the ESB website (and some others) say a free home charger for the first 2000 vehicles, who better to ask than the ESB how many of these have been taken up...?
https://www.esb.ie/our-businesses/ecars/how-to-charge-your-ecar
It turns out the information on the web is wrong, they're going to provide a free home charger for every new vehicle registered before the end of the year, great!

What about an ex demo car, nothing about them on the website, who ya gonna call...? I asked all three and got three different replies...
The garage: Yes it qualifies
SEAI: No it doesn't
ESB: Don't know, that will be up to the SEAI and the garage

What about an imported car from NI that's newly registered in the south before the end of the year...? I've paid a VRT based on an OMSP that's higher than the forecourt price here in the republic, surely I should be entitled to a free home charger..?
ESB: Don't know
SEAI: Er... good question, perhaps you should ask Revenue
Revenue: Nothing to do with us

Ring organisations and check websites, seriously?

If you had asked here first we could have answered all of your questions.

billy few mates wrote: »

For example, the ESB website (and some others) say a free home charger for the first 2000 vehicles, who better to ask than the ESB how many of these have been taken up...?
https://www.esb.ie/our-businesses/ecars/how-to-charge-your-ecar
It turns out the information on the web is wrong, they're going to provide a free home charger for every new vehicle registered before the end of the year, great!

What about an ex demo car, nothing about them on the website, who ya gonna call...? I asked all three and got three different replies...
The garage: Yes it qualifies
SEAI: No it doesn't
ESB: Don't know, that will be up to the SEAI and the garage

What about an imported car from NI that's newly registered in the south before the end of the year...? I've paid a VRT based on an OMSP that's higher than the forecourt price here in the republic, surely I should be entitled to a free home charger..?
ESB: Don't know
SEAI: Er... good question, perhaps you should ask Revenue
Revenue: Nothing to do with us

Ex demos do qualify for chargers, as long as the charger wasn't installed already. It is the dealer that submits the paperwork.

Private imports: no free charger. No SEAI great either.

grogi wrote: »

Ex demos do qualify for chargers, as long as the charger wasn't installed already. It is the dealer that submits the paperwork.

Private imports: no free charger. No SEAI great either.

cros13 wrote: »

Yup, and with UK imports they've usually had the UK grant applied anyway which is a similar amount (pre-2016 £5000 / post-2016 varies but for BEV it's £4500)

Thanks, where on the website(s) should I have found this information for myself..?
I'd like to be able to pass it on to the the helpful though ill-informed SEAI employee who told me that ex demos DO NOT qualify for the free home charger...?

How difficult would it be to put all the information on one central website where all the questions could be answered, and maybe even an FAQ section where people could ask questions which aren't covered already without having to trawl through three or four different websites looking for an answer. Having spoken to all the various agencies it's a bit of a let down that each party can only answer queries about their own involvement, for a multi agency scheme like this you should really be able to engage with one central agency who can answer questions about the whole scheme.

Orebro wrote: »

All the info is online and it's pretty straight forward - no need to go phoning all these places to find out.

cros13 wrote: »

It's not on the websites I'm afraid. They tend not to update the various sites when policy changes or incentives end either

Thanks @Cros, that's exactly what I was finding when I tried to do some research for myself.

So basically despite the fact that "all the info is online and it's pretty straightforward" you really do need to go phoning all these places for yourself to find the information you need.... :rolleyes:

kceire wrote: »

It's not on the website as technically the demo car is second hand and you don't qualify for the charger. How you are getting the charger on a demo car is because the garage registered the car but didn't avail of the charger. So when they sell it on second hand they then start the process of claiming the original charger for the demo car but give your name instead of theirs.

It's a work around. The SEAI employee was correct in saying you don't get a charger for a second hand demo car

Surely the correct answer should then be "yes this car will qualify for a free charger UNLESS the car dealer hasn't already claimed for it"

Presumably it's to protect SIMI dealers. They want you to buy and support local dealers.

KCross wrote: »

Presumably it's to protect SIMI dealers.

This. The SEAI scheme requires both the model and dealer to be registered for the grant scheme. That was expressly designed to protect the SIMI dealers.

In theory a foreign dealer could register but for a single sale it's not going to be worth their time.

ELM327 wrote: »

Like Tesla until recently for instance.

Yup, though in Tesla's case it was a deliberate decision. They wanted to discourage sales to Ireland before a local service location was in place.

kceire wrote: »

Nope as officially you are not getting the charger on a new purchase. It's a second hand car. Just factor it into your sims and buy or don't buy. Simples.

Incorrect, as already stated you can have the free charger installation even if you buy an ex demo PROVIDED the dealer hasn't already availed of the grant for that car. Simples.

KCross wrote: »

Presumably it's to protect SIMI dealers. They want you to buy and support local dealers.

grogi wrote: »

Dealers typically hardly make any money on sales. They make money on servicing and parts.

cros13 wrote: »

This. The SEAI scheme requires both the model and dealer to be registered for the grant scheme. That was expressly designed to protect the SIMI dealers.

In theory a foreign dealer could register but for a single sale it's not going to be worth their time.

The VRT is to protect the SIMI dealers, once you've paid the VRT you should not be disadvantaged in benefitting from a completely separate government led scheme to promote EVs, this is the point I made to the Revenue official and he agreed it was anomalous. He then suggested it might be possible to factor in the cost of a charger installation into a VRT appeal because the OMSP does not take this into account.
There's no point in being part of the EU with its free movement of goods when the government can introduce a scheme like VRT on imports to penalise you for availing of it.
Having said that, when I was thinking of buying an EV I found two suitable ex demo cars in the U.K. And NI which after all the costs would still have been €3K cheaper than the two I looked at here, the €3K would easily have paid for a charger installation, both of those cars were higher spec than the two I found on offer here.

billy few mates wrote: »

Don't know if you're being deliberately obtuse or completely missing the point but it still doesn't take away from the fact that the lady in the SEAI incorrectly answered my question when I asked if I would qualify for a free charger if I bought an ex demo. She told me out straight that I would not when there's clearly the possibility to avail of a free charger with the purchase of a second hand car PROVIDED the previous owner (the dealer) has not already availed of it. I don't know how to explain it any simpler for you....

Don't know if you're being deliberately obtuse or completely missing the point but it still doesn't take away from the fact that each new car comes with a grant, and if it is not availed of it stays with the car. I don't know how to explain it any simpler for you....

billy few mates wrote: »

Why is it "incorrect" when I say it but correct when you repeat it almost word for word...?

It is incorrect when you say it but correct when I repeat it almost word for word...?Because... get those cogs ticking now.... there's a grant per car!