To EV or not to EV?

ptyloch · 22-02-2022 4:58pm #1

Looking for a bit of advice from people in the know, with experience owning hybrids and EV's

Our current car: Mazda 5 2.0 petrol, seven seater, 10l/100 km, 200 euro tax per quarter

We are driving about 600km per week (school runs, work, after school activities) which at this moment is very expensive.

I am looking to change the car to something else, more fuel and tax efficient, we no longer need 7 seats so have more choice.

Would it make any sense to look towards hybrids (I think I don't have the budget for an EV)?

We live in a rented house so can't/don't want to install charger (permission from landlord, would we have to leave the charger behind when moving out?).

We have a very limited budget as we don't want to take on much debt, we would sell the Mazda (hope for 2k for it) and maybe put about 3k on top of it, so 5k all in.

All that I see at those prices are old Priuses and not much more.

With all this information should I just give up on the hybrid and aim for a diesel?

Thanks for your help!

fits · 22-02-2022 5:13pm

Are you saving for a house ?

if not well then at that kind of mileage an ev could nearly pay for the car payments with reduced fuel costs. Do some sums.

crisco10 · 22-02-2022 5:39pm

And I wouldn't rule out a home charger either. Plenty of dumb chargers installed to be had for about e600 which is the size of the grant. I.e. net zero cost. Then all you need is landlords agreement to install it.

Finally, if you are in a "diesel v hybrid" assuming it is not a plug in hybrid I wouldn't get too caught up with the difference. Just run your numbers (Inc fuel consumption, tax etc) and it will all come out in the wash.

AndyBoBandy · 22-02-2022 6:05pm

You could claim the €600 charger grant against the rental property, and if you ever move to a house of your own, you take the charger with you, and you'd get the same €600 grant again at the new address/MPRN.

Landlord also wins as the house will be wired for a charger if the next potential tenant wants to install one. You'd simply have a sparks remove the charger and terminate the cables in a sealed junction box, and knock it off from the fuse board.

600km per week, so let's assume ~90km per day, or a worst case of 200km on a weekend day. Thats full EV territory all day long, and the savings would be outstanding.

Whats your ballpark budget? and what sort of value is in the Mazda?

You are currently paying €800 a year road tax, so straight away there's a €680 per year saving getting into a BEV. Over 5 years that's €3,400, and thats before you even account for the much lower fuel costs as well as lack of maintenance required!! So make sure you factor these things into your budget calculations. 600km is about what? 30 litres of petrol? so around €54 per week... 600km in an EV would be around €12 per week, so that's over €2,184 a year in fuel savings!!

5 years of fuel & tax savings could be in or around €14k!!!! so your budget could probably go up to make a lot of BEV's viable!!!

cnocbui · 22-02-2022 6:13pm

Current expenditure is going to be far less than having to pony up for a whole new car. Only get an EV if you have the cash to buy one.

Black_Knight · 22-02-2022 6:24pm

If it suits (seats, storage and range), everyone here will be recommending a 2017-2019 Hyundai Ioniq, full BEV. €15-19k. Does 150km in any weather. 230km in good weather (off the motorway). As @AndyBoBandy suggests, the savings can be huge, so even a loan costing a few thousand in interest over a couple of years would be cheaper than keeping the Mazda.

Do the math is the real answer.

Mazda vs EV (€120 tax, similar Insurance, 1cent/km (on a night rate, 2-3c/km on a 24 hour rate) + whatever the interest costs on any loan you might need)

Mazda vs cheaper to run petrol/diesel (less tax, less fuel, + whatever the interest costs on any loan you might need)

PaulJoseph22 · 22-02-2022 6:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674215#Comment_118674215

He states his budget is 5k and doesn’t really want too much debt.

kanuseeme · 22-02-2022 6:45pm

A hybrid should do 5L/100km,

fits · 22-02-2022 7:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118674363#Comment_118674363

Avoiding debt isn’t always the best strategy. I was going to buy a diesel with no loan last year but when I factored in tax, reliability, maintenance and fuel costs as well as safety benefits of a modern car and of course the emissions - it became a no brainer to go ev.

loopymum · 22-02-2022 11:32pm

I would not buy any plug in unless you are are going to install a home charger

To EV or not to EV?

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