Random EV thoughts.....

Looks like it did go live this morning, with the grant for charger installation extended to any homeowner, even if they do not own an EV;

New grant for people without driveways to access electric vehicle charging (thejournal.ie)

Was looking at the price of 2016 Leaf24s there and dealerships are asking €10k or more 😱

€6k profit for trading to a Leaf doesn't seem worth it

Also, the government publication

Plus a nice bit of advertising for ESB

I feel like that's gotta be against some law somewhere to mention one particular private company ahead of any of it's competitors...

The CPO will push the most expensive solution as there is a grant in place duh! The property management doesn't care as it is not their money and push for that and the end user will foot a bill for an eccentric system. i.e. upgraded grid connection, 22kW, commercial meter (no night rate), online dashboard (read monthly subscription), 1k quid protective pillar (like the one at Laois CoCo). I'm pretty sure no CPO will say individual connections to each unit meter, with load limiter and a simple charge point that meets the spec to fit the grant and 10% discount if you buy more than 5 at once.

I would have thought connecting a charge point in a remote parking space to the meter in the apartment could be very expensive in some places? And it assumes that each owner has their own dedicated parking space which might not be true.

”There is also the draft National EV Strategy underwent public and stakeholder consultation earlier this year. There were over 14,000 responses to the online questionnaire along with detailed written submissions received from both individuals and organisations.

Responses and submissions received as part of the consultation are currently being considered in the development of the final Strategy for publication later this year.”

Will the State’s new initiatives make it any easier to buy an electric vehicle?

I don't think any level of tax measures are going to increase the rate of EV uptake for the next couple of years, there just isn't the supply available

I like that the focus is shifting to improving the charging networks and allowing apartment dwellers to access private chargers

I see the new chargers have to be smart from September to get the grant.

Waiting for the conspiracy theories to start about how the ESB/Gubberment will restrict charging between certain hours, similar to the conversation that happened in the UK.

EV Smart Charger Register

From 1st September 2022 the Home Charger grant, administered by SEAI, will only provide funding for Smart Chargers. This will improve safety, prevent excessive electrical demand and facilitate better integration with renewable energy sources. For manufacturers and installers wishing to register their products please see this page.

I’m seeing a good few 222s on the local (south Dublin N11) roads over these last few days.

Totally anecdotal of course, but from what I’ve seen I’d say it’s around 40% full electric. Fairly high standard of cars in general.

Supply is an issue across the board, not just EVs and will resolve in time.

My point is that VRT should be abolished entirely on EVs. Im not aware this has been tried at all. The €5k reduction is the perfect example of tinkering with policies rather than a serious push by Govt to electrify the fleet.

VRT makes our new car prices some of the highest in the EU and paddy is the chump taking the hit.

The government has no hope of acheiving its target of 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030 with the current measures.

I'm not sure approvals received in August will be valid with a non-smart charger. The terms and conditions state that if they are changed after the initial application, then the revised terms and conditions apply to the application.

I think the actual percentage of EVs on typically 1 hour daily commute during rush hour is high in terms of EV ownership.

For those with 100km+ daily commute it's a no brainer to go EV for fuel savings. I did the sums and it made sense to go EV asap due to fuel savings. The numbers are entirely different for those only making local trips to nearby schools and supermarket. The quality/age of cars on long daily commute dont really represent normal buyers of new cars. It's great to see lots of EVs in daily use but we are far from targets and lots of diesels and petrols still being sold, while supply of EVs is mostly limited by manufacturers not demand due to supply chain limits. Lots of people hanging onto old car as they cannot decide if to go EV or buy new diesel or petrol. The prices of used EVs really had risen as demand has risen a lot by those with daily commute.

Is the point of it to encourage hotels, shops, gyms, cinemas, tourist attractions etc to put in more AC chargers so less people will need enroute charging?

Yeah bad news, he was constantly clashing with the works council, probably because he wanted to fire half of middle management for being useless at their jobs 😏

Hopefully the rest of VW is seeing the light and will continue their electrification strategy

I used to think that. I still would like to see that happen. They made a great start early on in 2015 / 2016 with excellent EVs for reasonable money. Unfortunately their production numbers are still very low. They don't seem to be able to produce EVs in big numbers (like say a million a year or thereabouts), like Tesla and BYD have already proven they can.