Things you wish you'd known when researching / buying your electric car

Regulator will do feck all...

It's hardly difficult to send in a meter reading.

not quite true. They enable price gouging only if you switch to a smart plan. If you have solar panels, allow you to be paid ( poorly - but thats another story ! ). But you do not have to switch plan, but note if you do, its a one way trip.

Charging overnight on wet nights - water ingress with the Charging flap open.

Smart meter knowledge- night rates - leading to higher day rates - leading to installing batteries etc etc - works well for me now but wasn't aware of all the implications at the start

That fast charging would improve a lot - in the early days had to use granny charging when visiting friends in Dublin

That EV batteries are a lot more robust and will last a long time once treated reasonably

That dealers know little about intricacies of EVs especially when something is amiss minor/major with your EV - although I think this is improving as knowledge and experience in dealing with EVs is expanding

That EVs are still on a steep development curve and hence that significantly better EVs (batteries/powertrain/hardware and software etc etc) will continue to launch over the next 5 years or so - it will be interesting to see when major EV developments might plateau

4 years ago, September 2021, public fast charging was 33c per kWh at ESB, €8 for a fill at Ionity and free at many charge points

The ESB rate of 33c/kWh, using the rough 3:1 ratio, is 99c/L equivalent. Today the 66c/kWh rate is the equivalent of €1.98/L and is largely affecting resale values of EVs as it discourages those without a driveway from considering electric as diesel sits at about €1.60/L

Was that ESB fast charging actually fast? I don't mean the up to 50kwh stations.

8 euro for a complete fill at Ionity was something I never saw - might have predated my EV ownership? The free chargepoints I did enjoy, until slowly but surely they were removed on the sly.

Also I don't think you can draw a parallel between 66c/kwh and 1.98/L of diesel - wouldn't it vary significantly among older/newer diesels for starters? I had a diesel for many years that wouldn't see north of 35mpg, yet it was 'normal' to me. So even moving to electricity at 1 euro per kwh it's cheaper for me than going the equivalent distance in my previous diesel, for the most part.

I don't know, why?

More of a solar thing but… combination of facts that the car I have (Model 3) cannot do v2l or v2g; Feed-in-tariff will drop and eventually disappear, and even if Octopus or some other provider starts offering dynamic pricing, I can't really take advantage of the 50 or so kWh battery sitting idle on the driveway.

In fairness, I might have still bought the Model 3 over other cars (considerably cheaper for the features and the range you get) but I could have considered other options a bit more.

Well…the elec cost might exceed the fuel cost of a modern and efficient petrol/diesel, but a majority of EV buyers are moving from older vehicles, perhaps a lot less efficient, and for whom even high kwh charges meet or beat previous fuel spend.

I mentioned above that the kw/h charge would need to go above 1 euro before it became more expensive to run than my old diesel SUV - and we're not anywhere near that yet.

Have considered new and might ultimately do that but it will pain me- right now I don’t “need” an EV- but just like solar for my house , the time will come when I’ll have to - I guess I just don’t want to spend just yet- every year the cars get better so why buy good this year when I can get “better” next year

I'm not sure that analogy applies when you talk about solar for your house. Every day that passes is a missed opportunity to reduce your energy bill. The panels wont be much, if any, better next year…. yet energy prices are increasing so if you have the dosh you should get solar asap (at the right price of course!)

cherry picking prices there a lot arent ya.

When you've a mountain to climb, you don't attack the summit first.

You're missing my point (maybe it was a bit too subtle). People in apartments represent a small percentage of the total. The peak of the mountain as it were. We need to address the bottom seven eighths first. We can plan for the summit as we go.

We need them to change to EVs. 150k or thereabouts is pathetic. If those without any real barriers to entry aren't buying, what chance for those with home charging issues?