Random EV Thoughts 2 - The Jimnying

I'd imagine my above examples of the Jeep and Polestar should hold a nice amount of luggage and passengers

I think one key thing they could do is make it cheaper to import a pre-loved EV from the UK. Currently you need to pay duty, VAT and VRT where applicable. If they gave a grant to the value of those taxes, effectively bypassing the EU tariff, you could see an influx.

There used to be a 10k grant for buying a new EV, that got reduced to 5k and now stands at 3.5k. EV sales have also dropped, I don't think it's a coincidence

VRT relief tapers as the price of the car gets higher while the SEAI grant is currently €3.5k (formerly €5k and €10k) and applicable to all cars under a certain list price

Open to correction on my figures but I think the VRT relief is 100% for a €40k car and tapers to 0% for a €60k car while the grant is for any car under €55k

I'm sure somebody will be by in a few minutes to correct both of us

In any case the fact is that the grant was reduced, and with it came lower sales of EVs, looking back it might not have been the smartest thing to do

I could be wrong again but the grant reduction also coincided with a significant price reductions in many of the more popular EVs (e.g. the ID4, Model 3, etc) which has resulted in EVs now being more affordable than they were prior to the grant reduction

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No, there was 5k SEAI Grant and 5k VRT relief and in 2017 they added BIK discount https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-public-expenditure-infrastructure-public-service-reform-and-digitalisation/speeches/budget-2018-statement-of-the-minister-for-finance-and-public-expenditure-and-reform/#addressing-climate-change

VRT relief never reaches 5k. It is a publicity stunt …up to 5k

Vehicles with an Open Market Selling Price (OMSP) of up to €40,000 will be granted relief of up to €5,000. Vehicles with an OMSP of greater than €40,000 but less than €50,000 will receive a reduced level of relief. Reliefs have been removed for any electric vehicles above €50,000.

https://www.revenue.ie/en/vrt/calculating-vrt/electric-hybrid-vehicles.aspx

VRT relief peaks at 2.8k for cars priced at 40k.

Went to NEVO for an hour or so this morning on way to shopping trip to Kildare village.

Saw some cars i hadn't really seen before, smaller selection from local dealerships means you can have a good look at everything there.

Ariya on the way in, wasn't getting much attention from anyone while I was there but I think its a very impressive car to look at and sit in, very underrated car and a logical step for the masses of Qashqai drivers out there when the time comes, its a fair bit bigger though.

Bmw IX next, ugly and overpriced. Wasn't getting many looking at it.

Toyota had 2 PHEVs there, a Prius and something else I can't remember, Prius nice looking shape but very uninspiring interior.

Fiat 600 nice looking car for some Im sure, not my thing but will have its market. Very dark inside, Jeep avenger beside it not great inside either.

Renault 5 there in yellow iconic 5 trim, we laughed that we might have to try change colour again ! It was beautiful, having my doubts about my green one ordered being the best choice but we are staying firm. Just glad went for one of the pop colours anyway.

Poor Opel aren't even trying, the grand land and astra must be the 2 most underwhelming cars I've seen recently. Don't know how they expect to compete, brand loyalty from Italia 90 maybe.

Tesla Juniper there, looks well, nice materials inside, loads of space. I think its the Tesla steering wheel which is just a circle with no design is my best favourite thing about them. Change that and id start to consider one. But im sure its a really good car, Elon fighting Trump now instead of helping him might help sales.

Smart#1 and #3 there look lovely, the #1 advertised from 25k but no way was the one there a 25k car.

2 Mercedes EQE AMG 43 and the SUV EQE too, really nice feel to them inside, I wouldn't get them in the specs there though, one had yards of piano black inside you could see the fingerprints and the other had bright white steering wheel, both those interiors would be grubby quickly.

New ioniq 5 in N line spec has much better revised interior, very impressed. If I was in there in the market for an EV it would be the one id be following up on next week if i had a 40 to 50k budget. Im not actually messing when I say if they were same prices, same range, same power etc id choose the Hyundai over the BMW IX and either of the Mercedes there, just think its a nicer car hands down.

Inster is a revelation, im not a fan of the outside design but its nice inside and amazingly spacious.

A few heavy hitters missing, nothing from VAG group at all, or Kia, all of whom have new models out and ones I like so a bit disappointed there.

No BYD or MG or any of the more recent Chinese entrants.

But well organised, plenty of cars out back for test drives which I didn't take as im not currently in the market for buying anything.

Supposedly local car dealers only. Maybe no VAG dealers locally?

Thanks. Yes, strange that Sheehys didn’t turn up

https://www.electrive.com/2025/06/16/study-on-climate-advantages-of-electric-cars-held-back-in-switzerland/

Interesting study by the Swiss government about whether it's more environmentally friendly to keep an old ICE car or immediately replace it with an EV

Supposedly the report showed no benefit to keeping an old car running and switching to electric had significant environmental benefits

This is in contrast to the cohort that claims the process of battery manufacturing is so carbon intensive that it's better to keep a car running

However the Swiss government has refused to publish the report because they don't want to anger the more right wing elements of society

I've heard some folks say we're in the age of policy by tweet, all you need is to moan about something on social media and complain it's "woke" and our supposedly centrist politicians will immediately say they'll "do something" to ensure they don't lose ground to far right parties

I don't think it's a universal truth myself but this certainly feels like a great example of it

Anyway it basically just confirms what other studies have already done, although having a government department say it gives it more of an air of legitimacy IMO

Hard to look past a Model 3 at those prices