Random EV thoughts.....

I get it people don't want to pay tax, why would they? However sometimes it seems every (other) EV owner on Boards is particularly sensitive about paying tax on their EV. 2 things are certain in this country, death and taxes on private cars

I've no issues paying tax, but if there's a legitimate way to pay less tax then I'll consider it

I think people are getting in a twist regarding motor tax. Whatever the system the next government comes up with it almost certainly won't be based on electricity consumption or mileage. Both of those are difficult to track and too open to fraud

I mean, if somehow there was a tax introduced on using an EV charger, then people would just charge using the granny lead which is indistinguishable from an electric heater

As for tracking mileage, how would it be reported? One suggestion was using the NCT but there's enough ways to turn back the odometer that there'll be fraud everywhere. You'll have folks driving 100,000km in a year and then paying tax for 10,000km

Whatever it is, it'll be something which is easily linked to the model of car so it can't be faked easily.

Going by current motor tax rules, my guess will be WLTP consumption, more efficient EVs pay less.

Another option as I said is a tax in vehicle segment, effectively making bigger and heavier vehicles more expensive for taxation

No probs, as long as we get a BMW lane on all motorways 😁

Motor tax - AKA car tax is for all intents and purposes a luxury tax.

The fastest most powerfull EV's are the most expensive and will be bought by the wealthiest. The simplest way for them to do that is by power output. It was the same logic with the old cc based system and then the CO2 system and while there may be many more logical ways of doing it power output is very simple. I think the very original motor taxes in many countries were hp based to begin with.

Everyone wants someone else to pay tax but not them and while EV's pollute less than ICE's they are still a car probably carrying one person on their commute to work. More efficent than an equivalent ICE but still way below public trasnport, motorcycle / moped or bicycle but still not the optimum result. The loss of income to the exchequer is significant with the CO2 system and will continue to fall as more people change to EV so I see actions being taken to recitfy that. I think more people are now changing to EV for green reasons rather than lower annual tax. A proper campaign could sell an increase in EV motor tax if it were all properly ring fenced to secure better national public transport and energy security.

Its becoming quite clear they don't want cars in the city center so its not a question of if but when they will all be restricted. I got a taxi from the airport Saturday morning and he was saying he avoids the city like the plague now as its impossible to get around efficiently and make money. He can use the bus lanes and was driving an ID4 as I booked and EV taxi. I thought it was an interesting observation.

What we really need is a decent public transport system and planning that allows and supports it but that's a whole other discussion.

Tax on km driven.

Make it mandatory for Insurance Companies to take exact odometers when renewing insurance and then this feeds into a Revenue database.

If you sell your car then when the next person transfers their insurance over to your old car (or the dealer updates the database) the current reading is given and applied to you retrospectively.

I think the top ID3 is 204hp? Thats why I said €350 for the average family powered car. Motor tax never took power to weight into consideration in any previous guise that I can recall but I stand to be corrected. 350 is also less than one euro per day but it could be 300. Either way I can't see how anyone can argue with the logic of paying less than a euro per day to have the ability to use your own private family trasportation. Power to wieght ratios will always be a moving goal post but I suppose you could always just link it to 0-100kph speeds or perhaps another way would be to tie it to purchase price like BIK? No matter how its done it will have be very simple and hard for the manufacturers to bypass. I think they have learned as the CO2 think has bit them in the ...... Either way a Merc EQS, Porsche Taycan, Tesla Plaid + et al paying the same as Mr/Mrs Avg Family person will not be acceptable into the future especially if what the next potential government polls suggest.

I agree its not a luxury but thats how it has been treated, higher tax on more expensive items. Again thats why I use the 350 per year figure for what a family need as good capable family vehicle. I have no choice but to use a car to get to work and for work. I 100% don't enjoy the commute to work but there is no alternative so needs must and all that.

In Dublin a half hour commute each way is just 0.5k km per year 😂

I agree but it's also one of the realities of modern society that people have accepted

The fact that you've no access to public transport in something that should be addressed, but even the most ambitious plans for public transportation won't cover the whole population

I honestly think that vehicle segment is the fairest basis for taxation. A car may be a necessity, but it doesn't need to be a big SUV for most people

You could skew the tax bands so that it encourages more efficient vehicles as the size increases, for example making estate cars cheaper to tax than SUVs, or make people carriers the same to tax as a hatchback so families with more kids aren't unfairly taxed extra

Not sure the best way to replace the current motor tax system but some have suggested price per km. all post 2017 cars sold in the eu were/are required to have the sos system built in (ecall) my 2017 i3 had it. Check your car and let your family know know where the button is and when to press it

for those that don’t know the car will send a burst of data inc speed gps etc if it detects a serious crash or the button is pressed.

that data is relayed to the place designated for the area the incident was activated in. A human will call from a call centre to check the situation, if you don’t answer or request assistance then emergency services will be notified you need help, the data with position will have been sent already

you don’t need a phone on you for this to work, it could of course be blocked with a phone blocker or mechanically disabled but the fact is that tracking is built into every car on the road in Ireland since at least January 2018 (well most, private non eu imports won’t have it).

what else could it be used for? Road pricing, covert tracking, auto speed fines etc I don’t know what rules there are for eu members to request data (live or stored) from a particular car.

who knows but it’s built into probably the majority of cars on the road in Ireland today

it’s usually above the rear view mirror, on my Honda e it’s under a flip down cover

Pressed to check a few years ago and had a nice chat with a lady and a friend had a minor crash and did not know what was happening when the voice came through the speakers

maybe other people here have experienced it - I think airbags have to be activated for it to work automatically.

good idea safety wise but it could be used for a lot of things people may not be too keen on - if moving drugs or bodies then as well as switching off your burner get a blocker or use a car without the sos button.

maybe the eu have already decided that when something like 75% of cars on the road have it then live and stored data will be made available to member countries if they want it.

No it’s not, we’ve ad id4 that’s €120 a year and a 2005 Ford C-Max that’s €560 a year. The Ford is far from a luxury

Nah, think of it from the government's perspective, do they want to get into that hassle of gathering and storing all that data and complying with data protection regulations, etc, etc.

Maybe in China they'd want to in now where you are 100% of the time, but I honestly don't think our government gives a crap what people are doing as long as it isn't illegal and they're not all living off the dole

It'll be some basic as biscuits annual fee based on some characteristic of the car, same as it's always been

If they're doing pay per distance then it'll be a lot simpler to just introduce pay per exit tolls on the motorways

They can't even match up PPS numbers, with addresses in this country no chance they'd be able to manage all that big brother data