Are fuel prices pushing you towards an EV?

magicbastarder · 16-04-2026 09:22AM

i've mentioned it before, but it's possible a tipping point has been reached; a couple of years ago, for example, my parents did not know anyone with an EV and would have had the 'change is bad' sort of approach to them. now they know several people with them, who are all happy with them. i think that is a major part of them going mainstream.

old anecdote, but the last time they changed a car was 2019, my mum's car. i was suggesting they go electric - because my mum never drives much more than about 5km from the house, the engine barely ever gets time to warm up. but the only option on the market which ticked the boxes for her (a small, 4 or 5 door car - she was minding grandkids a lot, and one was a toddler, so she wanted easy access to the child seat) was the zoe - and it had that stupid €70something a month battery lease charge on it, which ruined any sort of sense of saving money. but if she went looking now, there are so many more options available.

RoyalCelt · 16-04-2026 09:32AM

Your first port of call should be getting Solar installed. But yes having at least one of your cars EV is a no brainer these days plus there's the added benefit you're not releasing fumes into the airwaves.

josip · 16-04-2026 09:34AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124398162#Comment_124398162

Hiroo Onoda, we salute you.

josip · 16-04-2026 09:42AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124398235#Comment_124398235

Which countries did you get to and what was the total trip distance? I can only get to 21 countries if I count Wales 😒 and sure that's hardly a country.

Did you take the Puttgarden ferry to Copenhagen or go the longer way?

magicbastarder · 16-04-2026 10:02AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399234#Comment_124399234

getting solar installed and getting an EV are two fairly unrelated decisions.

i got an EV in september, and solar panels in June, and i've never charged my car off the solar.

MojoMaker · 16-04-2026 10:10AM

Well that's the point isn't it, you don't charge your car off solar, you sell 100% of your solar output.

Penn · 16-04-2026 10:18AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399325#Comment_124399325

Exactly. They're not directly connected but can go hand-in-hand. The advice I'm seeing from these forums is that it's cheaper to charge your EV at night off the grid on night rates or from a solar battery, and sell excess solar back into the grid at day rates. At that point you're barely paying anything (if at all) to charge the car once the panels have paid for themselves in savings.

Getting solar panels if you're planning on getting an EV further down the line isn't a requirement, but seems greatly beneficial in the long run.

Oscar_Madison · 16-04-2026 10:45AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124394769#Comment_124394769

I don’t take abuse - thanks. Post reported

User1998 · 16-04-2026 10:47AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399418#Comment_124399418

Where is the abuse?😂

Oscar_Madison · 16-04-2026 11:02AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399212#Comment_124399212

For those who can, buying the EV at the same time as the home charger is definitely recommended - especially for older people as it reduces the anxiety of having to look for a charging station or deal with all of that in the first few weeks of ownership.
While it might seem a small thing to able bodied and younger people, those less capable could easily use that small bit of hassle as the reason for not changing to EV.

It’s amazing how most who drive an EV say they’re never going back to ICE- but a simple step may seem huge to some.

FazyLucker · 16-04-2026 11:02AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399002#Comment_124399002

Oh come on, I'm pro-EV myself (would love to get one but no off-street parking, listed property, low mileage, etc mean its not a runner) but even I know that's nonsense. You get your car serviced once a year, drop it off and pick it up that evening. Its not like you get it serviced every week!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399069#Comment_124399069

It wasn't just one incident for him, I probably worded it badly. I think he had this problem a good few times and the problem was that he was having to plan his day differently depending on this unknown. A lot of that will go away as the range improves though.

I totally get why somebody would prefer the certainty of being able to pull in, fill the car up with petrol/diesel and in 5 minutes you are on the go again. But obviously that comes with costs - financial and environmental.

A question still remains though that I think this government have done very little to improve the infrastructure for EV charging - while I get the grid constraints, we're spending €750m to reduce fuel prices and we'll have nothing to show for that. If we had spent that €750m on charging points everywhere, improved infrastructure, grid upgrades, etc then people would probably be more likely to make the switch. I know I make it sound easy but this is why we pay them the big bucks, the easy decision was for Simon Harris to pony up €750m of our money and in 6 months we have nothing to show for it.

magicbastarder · 16-04-2026 11:05AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399465#Comment_124399465

if you have a private driveway, getting a home charger is not just recommended, it's a no-brainer.

Oscar_Madison · 16-04-2026 11:16AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399482#Comment_124399482

Yeah but my point was, not everyone does that straight away- and those who have to wait a few weeks or more for the charger to be fitted have that added hassle of public charging - for older people you really need to have it all in place day 1 so they’re all set

Penn · 16-04-2026 11:17AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399482#Comment_124399482

Yeah, one of the biggest problems I'd currently face is my driveway is separated from the house by a footpath, so I'd have to get a pedestal charger installed and ducted under the footpath. But as it's a public footpath, currently they're a bit of a nightmare to get sorted. I think there's meant to be some framework to be agreed later in the year for cases like that, but until that's sorted I wouldn't be proceeding with an EV unless it could be charged at home from Day 1.

Bass Reeves · 16-04-2026 11:58AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399512#Comment_124399512

A trickle charger come with nearly every car we used it out the door for the first 2 weeks. Handy for the holiday home as well

More and more public chargers as well I have found out where about 4 are since we bought it.

You can spend you life thinking about problems. 10 minutes analysing it usually highlights a solution

Penn · 16-04-2026 12:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399606#Comment_124399606

For sure. But to me the solution is having these things sorted (as well as I can) before proceeding because they're not unforeseen factors. Day 1 is probably a bit of an exaggeration. If I knew the charger was going to be installed within a week or two after getting the car, then I'd probably proceed. But without a considerable plan in place for home charging, even though public charging may still work out cheaper than petrol/diesel, I'd find it better to hold off until I got home charging sorted.

Bass Reeves · 16-04-2026 12:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399655#Comment_124399655

The Electricity companies that do it will have it installed within 2-3 weeks gennerally

MightyMunster · 16-04-2026 12:40PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399467#Comment_124399467

There are chargers almost everywhere and hundreds in construction and hundreds more in planning. Here is a link for updates from EV owners Ireland

https://www.irishevassociation.ie/infrastructure-updates

MightyMunster · 16-04-2026 12:41PM

You don't need an EV to get an EV charger installed. Nothing stopping someone installing a charger months before they buy an EV so they're ready to go.

MojoMaker · 16-04-2026 12:44PM

Also many owners successfully operate on a granny charger for often months prior to getting to the EV chargepoint - it can be done, certainly for lower mileage use cases.

rayman10 · 16-04-2026 12:48PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399509#Comment_124399509

That's just bad planning TBH.

In any case a granny charger will tide you over.

FruitSaladGuy · 16-04-2026 01:05PM

Made the change ourselves a couple of years back to electric but just wasn't for us. Wife in particular hated it we'd a couple of very bad experiences with waiting times for chargers that left us high and dry for hours with two small kids in tow. Back to a petrol now yes the fuel costs more but just can't beat the convenience of going from almost 0% percent "battery charge" to 100% in a matter of 3 minutes standing at a pump.

Maybe in the future when the battery tech is up to scratch we'll have a look again.

User1998 · 16-04-2026 01:15PM

There are a lot of people who view their cars as something more than just transport from A to B. A lot of young people like M-Sport BMW's, S-Line Audis, GTI Golf's etc in the €10k to €25k price range for example. There aren't a whole lot of EV's in that price range that can compare. Luxury SUV's as well. If you want a Range Rover or BMW X7 etc there aren't a lot of electric options

evftw · 16-04-2026 01:15PM

We have done 3 separate 7000-8000 km summer holidays in the Continental Europe on an EV since 2018. In the other summers the trips were shorter.

The first one with a Nissan LEAF was hard work but with Tesla the charging stops just fall when a break is needed anyway and there are almost every time free chargers available. The car will automatically direct us to a different one if they expect congestion. Only remember one time where we actually had to queue.

RoyalCelt · 16-04-2026 01:20PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399312#Comment_124399312

Why not? Did you not get the extra battery installed?

Penn · 16-04-2026 01:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399734#Comment_124399734

But like I said, my driveway is currently separated from my house with a public footpath, which means there are currently legal issues to be resolved regarding getting a charger installed. And without having that in place (or at least the legal right to go ahead with it), I wouldn't proceed as I wouldn't be able to charge from home. And that's what I mean regarding the solution is having these things sorted (as well as I can) before proceeding because they're not unforeseen factors.

Perfidious Cretin · 16-04-2026 01:51PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399259#Comment_124399259

Total distance was around 8500km I think. I was even in Russia for a minute or so. Here's the route I took. Best trip I've ever done.

mr chips · 16-04-2026 02:13PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399467#Comment_124399467

What I'm getting at is that the hybrid will need oil and filter changes that an EV won't, will need to be fuelled at whatever the cost of petrol/diesel is, will have a smaller and faster-degrading battery, and anything that can go wrong in either an ICE or an EV can go wrong in a hybrid. It's the worst of both worlds. There was a much stronger case for them 7+ years ago when most EVs were either shorter-range with slower charging like a Leaf or Zoe, or else at the upper end of affordability like a Model S. All that is transformed now and bar the usual caveat about home charging, for the majority of use cases there's an EV to suit.

magicbastarder · 16-04-2026 02:13PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399855#Comment_124399855

i did. i charge both the car and the house battery in the wee small hours during the cheap window.

charging my car at night costs me less than 9c per kWh. doing it off solar 'costs' me 19c.

Red Silurian · 16-04-2026 02:20PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124399421#Comment_124399421

I was thinking the same haha!

Are fuel prices pushing you towards an EV?

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