Random EV thoughts.....

I just followed the Tesla procedure and gave each door handle a thwack with the butt of my fist and it worked a charm…..

It's the same as pressing the button on the inside of the door, electronic switch drops the window and unlocks door you just have to push it then. From outside it popped open a few cms. Only came out a few weeks ago

https://youtu.be/DIsC3vTxEJg

I think it should be fine, as the cable carries current it'll warm up and loosen out

Might be worth checking the specs on the charger and cable to be safe

Not really all but a good bit considering they test these cars at the Arctic circle.

Not so sure they cater for pouring boiling water onto the plastic bits as it is customary here but let's hope they did

What's the craic with this, are these taxis running 24/7 with multiple drivers? Have been in a few EV taxis and they all said they don't need to charge during their work day.

A bit of 'pedantism' going on here I think. Reality is that the Govt has always considered private cars to be luxury items and a cash cow and taxed them heavily. This was long before we cottoned on to justifying this policy on environmental grounds.

In my uncomplicated mind if the Govt decides to incentivise the sale of EVs by either giving a grant to people who purchase them or exempting them from tax, the outcome is the same. Tax revenues will either be used to subsidise the price of the car or tax revenues will be reduced in order to achieve the same result. In any case it will only be a temporary measure as the Govt will want to quickly replace the revenue forgone from this traditional cash cow and will come up with another means to heavily tax privately owned EVs. Enjoy it whole it lasts

I guess the argument against that is that the NCT is only after 4 years for a new car and then every 2 years until a car is 10 years old

So fair enough, you get 3 years tax free but then in the 4th year you get busted for €500 in tax on top of the NCT cost (assuming that average mileage corresponds roughly to the lowest tax rate of €120)

Wipes another €500 of the resale value of any 2nd harm car coming off PCP at least which will annoy people

Not to mention the difficulty to track and possibility for tax evasion, there'll be a phone app for hacking your mileage before the tax even came into effect

My bet will be a tax by vehicle size. You buy a little Fist 500, low taxes for you. You want a big SUV or pickup, then get ready to curse the revenue office (more than before)

On top of that they're also floating the idea of motorway tolls based on the number of exits, which will probably make toll roads a lot more profitable, in turn generating more tax revenue and unloading the road maintenance expenses from the government

Between those I imagine any hole in the public finances will be filled

Who can actually afford an EV on an average salary? I've been looking. Earn 60K a year. Anything that looks half decent seems to be in the 50K+ mark.

Madness.

Yeah, I was on a tad under €60k when I bought a new Tesla back in 2020…. easily doable on €60k

Thanks lads. I'm not sure that I'd fully trust a second half E car either. I'd need something reasonably big. Currently driving an estate. Budget is max 45k.

If you can get one that is, MG5 is in the budget

Opel Astra got launched few weeks ago but no word of the Irish prices. In the UK around 35k 40k sterling