Here's the election manifestos from the different parties in relation to EVs, for what it's worth
https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/elections-2024/fine-gael-plan-for-new-car-scrappage-scheme-to-boost-ev-uptake-puts-party-at-odds-with-coalition-partners/a478570786.html
I really like the idea of heat pumps in cars, but I also feel like there's a severe lack of information about how they're used
For example most cars seem to use the heat pump to scavenge waste heat from the battery and motor. This is a great idea IMO but what happens at the start of the journey when the motor is cold? Does it switch over to an electric heater or use ambient air to harvest heat from
Also what happens for battery preheating. From what I can tell cars with heat pumps still use resistive heating to heat the battery. Probably makes sense since the heat will transfer via conduction faster, but I'm also not convinced it's as efficient as it could be
Anyway, I still think they're a good idea but I also feel like manufacturers just slapped in heat pumps without figuring out the details first
Lol
The Greens say a scrappage scheme is not needed, as people trade in their cars anyway. Instead, it will ensure new EVs are “always cheaper than the equivalent international combustion engine car”.
Green Party mistake or Indo?
Their position is the usual making the perfect the enemy of the good. Cars are bad, EVs are cars, therefore EVs are bad.
I imagined a heat pump in my M3 as a single unit, but the reality is that it's more of a system than an individual unit.
This video is well worth a watch, technical but worth it if you have the patience and interest.
Personally don't agree with scrappage schemes. People who drive bangers don't buy new cars for a reason. They are great though for lads with liquidity, ie lads who don't need a scheme, to hoover up old cars and take advantage of scheme when buying their new car. All that will achieve is make older but still good quality cars more expensive for people who need them.
Still though a good easy election promise from FG, the party of soundbites with their tick tok leader. What else would you expect
I would have agreed with you a couple of years ago or even last year, but now with low cost EVs like the Dacia and Hyundai, I'm not so sure. A scrappage deal on one of those (assuming it's a decent one) could make those cars very attractive.
Possibly but any scheme introduced by FG won't be limited to low cost EVs.
I don't think it matters. People buying more expensive ones wouldn't normally have a junker to scrap, so would have to buy one and sell their car privately. A lot of hassle that's not guaranteed to save money. Even if they did, the number doing it would be insignificant. The main purpose of the scheme to get more people into EVs would be mostly at the lower end of the market.
Scrappage schemes normally require you to have owned the car for a minimum amount of time to discourage people buying cheap cars purely to take advantage of the scheme. The one from 2011 was 18 months IIRC.
Had to have tax and NCT too which is more than a lot of cars out there have.
If you can't afford the tax or NCT, I'd suggest you're not in the market for a new car of any type. 😁
I'd be of a similar view, I think the greens idea of extending low interest loans was a better idea
One thing I'd really like to see is a means tested low cost EV leasing scheme like in France. The rules were you had to be below a certain income threshold and have a commute longer than 15km
The scheme was so successful it leased all 50,000 available cars within a day or two
It'd also be good to have something similar for college students. People might be learning to drive and getting their first car around then, if it's an EV then they'll probably stick with electric for life
There was a scheme launched in Italy at the start of this year to allow low income (under 30k) families buy EVs. It was a part scrappage scheme (had to be a Euro 2 car scrapped) and the maximum value of EV was 35k. But if you qualified, the subsidy was €13,750.
I'm sure there'll be a cost benefit analysis done between providing grants and paying EU fines.
I'm all for grants even if it devalues mine and other existing EV drivers, the second hand market will be cheaper as a result too when I change.
Woosh....
A little October fun from Rivian.
Was on 7% tonight near Sandyford. Drove to the SuC but only 2 stalls available and they both had only started charging.
Said I'll try Sundrive. 3 taxis charging. Had to wait 10 minutes to get the 50kw charger. Another taxi has pulled in and one has driven in and back out.
It's literally a taxi hub here now. Tried to see what fast chargers are close by here and it's grim. On the picture I'm adding, one of them is gone but is still showing on the map.
Would Carrickmines have been better? Traffic would probably be bad though
We really need more proper hubs, it's bizarre to think when Ionity Finglas and Circle K Clonsaugh open (around when Half Life 3 releases) there'll be 22 HPC chargers fairly close to me
EDIT: make that 30 if the Ecars site in Swords gets built. The airport taxis will be swimming in chargers
Dublin center is oddly lacking in high speed charging hubs. You'd assume they would be swamped with taxi's though.
Land is valuable and apartments pull in more money that chargers
The council is also trying to get commuters out of cars and onto bikes or buses, so they probably aren't going to do much to encourage large hubs
It would be nice to get a few hubs multi-story car parks though
Makes sense I guess.
They will add a 1 billion euro single head unit beside that bike shed soon no doubt.....
In terms of estimated range, this is my diesel car, 830km estimated range, but around town driving the number on the left estimates 250km actual range full tank to empty. For short trips diesel is very inefficient.
I've always reckoned that the range indicator on ICE cars is based on a fixed consumption rather than the measured consumption, this would seem to at least partly confirm that
On that one maybe. Any I've had changed dynamically.
Yes mine all changed dynamically too.
Thanks, I honestly can't remember what the Toyota said for the GOM
Not sure what point you're making there - diesel is fine for short trips but if it is doing 19 mpg it is likely barely moving and will also take ages to warm up. Extrapolating from that that the range is only 250 km? A diesel crawling in heavy traffic like that will take many hours if not days to run out of fuel - which is why urban diesel drivers don't get range anxiety.
Similarly, if you get stuck in heavy traffic on a cold day in an EV and turn on the resistive heater, your kWh per 100 km will be terrible. E.g. drive 5 km in an hour with 2 kW of heat = over 40 kWh per 100 km. That doesn't mean that the realistic range of a 40 kWh battery is 100 km.
Resistive heaters are a rarity these days. Heat pumps are the norm now.
Resistive only heating is far from a rarity. Off the top of my head MG4, Renault Megane models up until this year, many VW ID3 models, some ID7s, Hyundai Inster standard range - heat pumps optional or not available.
And anyway. regardless of whether the car uses a resistive heater and/or a heat pump, the point stands. Heat pumps use energy and if you are sitting in traffic barely moving and running one, your kWh per 100 km is going to be unrepresentative. Just like someone saying that their diesel does 19 mpg and has a range of only 250 km if used for "short journeys" is unrepresentative.
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