Now ye're talking - to an electric car driver

Boards.ie: Niamh · 07-04-2020 5:53pm #1

Our next guest has been an EV driver for the last 6 years and says he would never go back.

We are a 2 EV household with one long range and one short range car. We are hoping to upgrade the shorter range car this year. There is a different driving experience with an EV, not better or worse than an ICE car just different, coupled with massive savings. We've been all over Ireland in the long range car without any issues.

If you have any questions about driving or owning an electric car, ask them here

earlyapex · 07-04-2020 7:15pm

What charger did you get installed at your house and why are they such a rip off?

irishejit · 07-04-2020 7:24pm

Do you find the battery life/range deteriorating with age?

[Deleted User] · 07-04-2020 7:25pm

What's the long range you mention?

johnayo · 07-04-2020 7:28pm

Are you mainly charging at home, And have you had many bad experiences at public chargers with people hogging the space.

DrPhilG · 07-04-2020 7:50pm

Cool, I'm waiting now to see who it is, lol.

I've been an EV driver nearly 5 years too and also could never go back.

Watching...

Shefwedfan · 07-04-2020 9:55pm

DrPhilG wrote: »

Cool, I'm waiting now to see who it is, lol.

I've been an EV driver nearly 5 years too and also could never go back.

Watching...

No revealing of identity allowed....but I am sure we can guess :P

DrPhilG · 07-04-2020 10:46pm

Shefwedfan wrote: »

No revealing of identity allowed....but I am sure we can guess :P

Not me, I don't really keep up to date with the owners.

Pablod · 08-04-2020 8:22am

Mines a multi-part question - hope that's ok

Are you allowed to tell us which make/models you have and if you have preference?

Also in relation to long range, do you drive long distance on a continuous/frequent basis,
If so what type of distance and how frequently would you have to charge do you get?

Do you have the cars long enough that you seen or noticed any performance/battery degradation etc ?

Thanks in advance

manonboard · 08-04-2020 8:25am

Every year, the evs come out with better and better spec. Do you feel they are now at a spec where they suit pretty much everyone?

How bad is the Irish EV infrastructure? Its the biggest blocker to me about getting an EV.

Do you think the price out weighs the benefits still? They seem super expensive. Do you think they are affordable to Joe average?

What is something about Evs you've had that you dislike in general?

Gru · 08-04-2020 8:31am

Are there any weather or driving conditions where you feel let down by the EV?

Have you had to adjust/cancel potential journeys due to range?

If an EV could have one new major upgrade what would you choose (besides battery life)?

I'm an EV driver, AMA · 08-04-2020 10:32am

Thanks Niamh. :-) Will start answering this morning.

sydthebeat · 08-04-2020 10:40am

Have you done a "pay back" analysis as to when you will break even in comparison to a similar ICE car... And if so, can you share those calcs here?

What is the one huge plus you find, and what is the one major negative?

I'm an EV driver, AMA · 08-04-2020 10:43am

earlyapex wrote: »

What charger did you get installed at your house and why are they such a rip off?

The charger we have outside is a 7kW EV box. Very small, secure and slender unit. The beauty of it is that its card operated. We live in a duplex and we had to have permission to install it.... long process so it had to be small.

As for them being a rip off. On an overall price basis hard to disagree. There has been much talk about this on a lot of the forums. Best thing you can do is shop around, do not take the first price you get. I found the one that shouts the loudest is also the most expensive and in the end quantity does not equal quality. The units themselves are not massively expensive, depending on the amount of quality / control you want.

Go onto every form you can and ask as many questions as you can about them. Some suggestions would be....

1. Is it secure / easy to break into? would it require modification, for instance, one example I can think of, having to change the screws to be secure?
2. What are peoples experience with them. Do they burn out easily? Are they reliable?
3. What level of control do they have?
4. Whats the warranty on them?
5. Is it being installed by the contractor or a subcontractor? (This is relevant to question 4)
6. Lastly whats peoples experience on price.

sKeith · 08-04-2020 10:45am

Does your range suffer when you have the air con on?

False Prophet · 08-04-2020 10:47am

How much was the long range car (approx is fine)

If electric didn't exist would you have spend the same amount of money on a ICE car?

I'm an EV driver, AMA · 08-04-2020 10:48am

irishejit wrote: »

Do you find the battery life/range deteriorating with age?

Bottom line on this is yes but the way I look at that is the same happens in a car, wear and tear, lower fuel efficiency etc.

We had an older leaf (13) which only gave 80km (About) at the end of its time. But now we have 2 Ioniqs which offer anywhere between 2 -300Km range depending on a lot of factors. Last battery measurement on both gave very little degradation on the battery.

I'm an EV driver, AMA · 08-04-2020 10:50am

Augeo wrote: »

What's the long range you mention?

2 - 280 Km (X2) Ioniqs Depending on time of year, weather etc... Funny enough found it to be wide and varied.

I'm an EV driver, AMA · 08-04-2020 10:55am

johnayo wrote: »

Are you mainly charging at home, And have you had many bad experiences at public chargers with people hogging the space.

We are both in the fortunate position to have a mix of where we can charge. Home, work and on public chargers. There is a long history of issues with hogging and yes I have had a bad experience with very inconsiderate people.

There is an app you can use to help alleviate this, I would recommend it to all drivers called "need to charge". Its a great idea, so that when cars are done and people don't realise they can can be called back. Its a simple app. No numbers or anything are exchanged, just registration. If your an EV driver look it up.

I'm an EV driver, AMA · 08-04-2020 10:56am

DrPhilG wrote: »

Cool, I'm waiting now to see who it is, lol.

I've been an EV driver nearly 5 years too and also could never go back.

Watching...

;-) Good luck Phil

I'm an EV driver, AMA · 08-04-2020 10:57am

Shefwedfan wrote: »

No revealing of identity allowed....but I am sure we can guess :P

I am Batman

:):eek::eek::eek:

I'm an EV driver, AMA · 08-04-2020 11:07am

Pablod wrote: »

Mines a multi-part question - hope that's ok

Are you allowed to tell us which make/models you have and if you have preference?

Also in relation to long range, do you drive long distance on a continuous/frequent basis,
If so what type of distance and how frequently would you have to charge do you get?

Do you have the cars long enough that you seen or noticed any performance/battery degradation etc ?

Thanks in advance

Hi thanks for the question.
At the moment I think my preference is for the KIA Nero but that only because it fits my needs and its on my shopping list this year. In saying that I have only chosen that based on 3 criteria. Cost, range and capacity.

The older Ioniq we have is a 171 and has 70K Km on the clock. So, do I do a lot of milage, I would consider it to be so but to some people that would be nothing. On that one I haven't noticed that much of a reduction on the battery, its still working well and giving 200+ in winter driving.

The old leaf (Gone now only just) had a big reduction but at the same time it had plateaued.

Gumbo · 08-04-2020 11:10am

earlyapex wrote: »

What charger did you get installed at your house and why are they such a rip off?

Like everything out there, it’s only a rip off of you go shopping blind.
There’s a €600 grant which if used correctly, can be more than you need.

I bought my 32a charger for €200. Paid €70 on wiring and 40a RCBO.
Ran the cable from fuse board to charger location.

Got a sparks to connect to fuse board and connect to chat point in side entrance. He asked for €70. I gave him €200. Total outlay €370. Then €600 grant back

I'm an EV driver, AMA · 08-04-2020 11:14am

manonboard wrote: »

Every year, the evs come out with better and better spec. Do you feel they are now at a spec where they suit pretty much everyone?

Almost, its not quite there yet but getting there.

How bad is the Irish EV infrastructure? Its the biggest blocker to me about getting an EV.

Still bad but getting better. There are private companies starting to come and schemes by, for example EV box, where community schemes are coming on stream. As the numbers grow this will have to change.

Do you think the price out weighs the benefits still? They seem super expensive. Do you think they are affordable to Joe average?

It's in my bio line, I would never go back. Cost of maintenace, running (Fuel) and Tax/ insurance blows an ICE vehicle away. With the longer range cars coming in this will only get better.

What is something about Evs you've had that you dislike in general?

Inabilty to tow. There is only one out there at the moment that can and that's wwwaaaayyyy outside of my price range. (Tesla Model X)

I'm an EV driver, AMA · 08-04-2020 11:18am

Gru wrote: »

Are there any weather or driving conditions where you feel let down by the EV?

Have you had to adjust/cancel potential journeys due to range?

If an EV could have one new major upgrade what would you choose (besides battery life)?

Weather does effect range on an EV but the funny thing is so does it on an ICE. Where the difference lies is the range, an ICE can go further currently so you notice it more in an EV.

Never had to cancel a journey due to weather, why would I or any EV driver? Only reason ever was to do with the infrastructure.... That has let me down

Pkiernan · 08-04-2020 11:19am

Our next purchase will be a Kia Niro.

I note that you've bought at least 2 EVs in 6 years and are now considering a new one again.

Does this not run against sustainability principles?

I'm an EV driver, AMA · 08-04-2020 11:21am

sydthebeat wrote: »

Have you done a "pay back" analysis as to when you will break even in comparison to a similar ICE car... And if so, can you share those calcs here?

What is the one huge plus you find, and what is the one major negative?

Cost analysis yes we did, particularly when buying new. Ill look it up and post it.

Huge plus is cost, minus..... the infrastructure.

I'm an EV driver, AMA · 08-04-2020 11:22am

Pkiernan wrote: »

Our next purchase will be a Kia Niro.

I note that you've bought at least 2 EVs in 6 years and are now considering a new one again.

Does this not run against sustainability principles?

One second hand, other new. The plan is to keep the new one for 7 years and the next new one for the same approximate period (Depending on market)

I'm an EV driver, AMA · 08-04-2020 11:25am

Bottom line, yes. some of the cars don't have this issue if there is a heat pump installed and the loss in range will depend on the state of the heat pump. Is it at full capacity (Small loss) low capacity (Large loss) but again this is no different to an ICE car.

I'm an EV driver, AMA · 08-04-2020 11:28am

False Prophet wrote: »

How much was the long range car (approx is fine)

If electric didn't exist would you have spend the same amount of money on a ICE car?

Actual spend new was 27K, 19k for second hand version. To your second question new yes I would, second hand hard to say. That's like comparing apples and oranges.

False Prophet · 08-04-2020 11:50am

I'm an EV driver, AMA wrote: »

Actual spend new was 27K, 19k for second hand version. To your second question new yes I would, second hand hard to say. That's like comparing apples and oranges.

Reason I was asking is that if you are spending approx same money , then electric saves you money.
If you were spending say 10 grand extra on electric then majority of people wouldn't be making savings

Now ye're talking - to an electric car driver

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