2026 Irish EV Sales

There's mention up the thread of how some older EVs are available for as little as 6-7k. Of course that's a massive drop from new prices, but it's still more than some people can contemplate spending on a car. Our current EV was easily double that (and a bargain even then), and I never plan to return to ICE. But our previous cars were a Mondeo and an Audi A6, both 2 litre diesels, neither of which cost more than 1400 quid. Each worked as a commuting car, a long distance cruiser capable of carrying 4 adults in comfort, a load-lugger and an occasional towing vehicle. Of course they were more expensive to service and fuel than an EV, but it's fair to say there still isn't an EV on the used market that can tick all those boxes in terms of usability and upfront affordability.

How are government still encouraging the purchase of diesel cars? They attract higher VRT, higher motor tax, there are no grant available, and used imports can have absolutely massive Nox levies. EV's and PHEV's have VRT of 7% vs up to 41% for diesel.

Post 2008 diesel surge was due to VRT and motor tax restructuring from being based on engine size rates to Co2 rates. Diesel cars produce less Co2 than petrol cars and generally have bigger engines so it made sense for them to surge at the time.

France has a social leasing program for EVs which would be huge here I think.

I emailed a Minister about it but no interest

One of the shots in the arm for the initial rollout of EVs here was free on-street public charging. Ok, low power fair enough, but it was certainly taken up well and many of the early adopters on here didn't have to pay for charging for years.

Interesting to see lamp post chargers being deployed all over the cities of London and Paris. Maybe they're on to something.

Instead over here, we removed them all.

The difference in motor tax between a diesel and EV is negligible.

Difference between a pre 2008 petrol and post 2008 diesel can be massive. So if you are looking at old cars, diesel is going to be preferred. VRT, grants and levies are irrelevant to old used cars already in the Irish market.

So basically anything after 2008 everyone might as well get a diesel. That's really only changes if you do a lot of short journeys or an EV fits your use case.

Diesel (the fuel) will cost you between 4 and 5 times the price of electricity, that can be significant if you do high mileage, if you do low mileage you will clog up a diesel cars DPF and have a costly repair bill. Looking at buying second hand, EVs are far cheaper than the equivalent diesel. That's before you look at the motor tax and servicing bills

EVs are the superior option

I know that one. Free charging removed though, right?

Was a bank of similar (now ePower) lamp posts in Sandyford. Free charging removed maybe 2 years ago, and little or no demand now.

Yes, my last non-EV I bought was 250 quid. I traded that in for a mk1.5 LEAF back in 2015 when they were offering 4k scrappage scheme. I figured out at the time that the change was pretty much cost neutral over 3 years but the EV was much nicer to drive and 15 years newer. With EVs buying new used to make sense as every new generation had much superior tech and range. In the first three EVs we each time doubled the range and also the acceleration got much quicker.

Comparing at the latest two (new) EVs 2021 vs 2026 the acceleration has deteriorated a bit, the range has improved by about 20% and the utility has improved. But there is no reason why I would not next go back to the used market if the price makes sense. What I do know that it hasn't made any sense to buy a new ICE for years if a suitable one is on the market for your use case (if you can get home charging).

I wasn't able to afford paying cash outright for my last car either. So I borrowed from my credit union. The cost of the loan outweighs the fuel difference.

In the example of the Renault Zoe in your case, taking out a loan of about €10k (you should be able to get a Zoe42 for less then this) will cost about €200 a month but then you'd also save around €60 a month on bus fares so the real cost is closer to €140 a month, which you'd easily spend on fuel and repairs on an ICE

Nothing wrong with a used ICE either. No one's forced to buy an EV. Even if they were all the same price. A lot of people will never have home charger or simply never want to charge.

Some might to one long distance journey a year to go surfing somewhere with no chargers. If they a old camper just for that reason that's ok too.

What makes you think that isn't a risk with an EV?

Always with the negative waves Moriarty.

I see dealers are trying to replace the lost income from servicing by charging big prices for swapping wiper blades and pollen filters on EVs. There's a big service on EVs if it requires coolant changing. But it no wet belt.

Are mild hybrids being classed as hybrids?

Toyotas aren't mild hybrids tho, they are 'regular' hybrids. Mild hybrids are sometimes marketed as MHEV and are so weak that they can't even drive on electric power. For example: