Economical 4x4

BYD Shark could be a good option for those that need it, it's a range extended electric vehicle rather than a PHEV. Essentially a fully electric vehicle with an on board engine only for when the range is needed. It's a bit beefier than the KGM but in a similar budget way below the other pickups coming out.

An EV powered entirely from EV night rate units at 6-7c a unit would be fairly economical the 8.5k of grants could be the icing on the cake.

Unfortunately my car is not old enough for the scheme though.

The 8.5 grant/scrapage is not available against commercial vehicles. The Musso is a commercial vehicle. The BYD shark is classed as a hybrid AFAIK so scrapage is not allowable against that either.

I don't have an old enough car to trade in to matter.

Im not buying anything till Autumn so will give me a chance to look around, it would be interesting what's actually platted.

I agree shorter service intervals. 30k kilometers is the standard for many cars even 10+ years old. We have an IX 35 that I did an intermediate oil and filter half way between the setvices. The filter was top of the engine so was easy to access. It was just a matter of sucking out the oul with an oil pump out of Lidl.

I am not sure its is mechanics. Most mechanics are fairly au fait with new diagnostics. Going to main dealers for all maintenance or even to larger independent garages can become an expensive business.

When you add fuel, running costs, and maintenance to a any diesel vehicle its substantial if doing significant kilometres. When you factor that onto a farm jeep where there is less and less options for smaller SUV type jeeps trying to find an economical diesel jeep for commuting is getting impossible.

When you look at the tax benefits and the low running costs of an vehicle like the KGM Musso will do the job it becoming very attractive

Are they available in Ireland?

No not until next year and probably late next year at that. Anyway the shark is classed as a hybrid and it has not got the tax advantage of a full electric

The tax advantage of an EV is the ability to deprecate it in a single year if you had the income to do it. When you add in the running cost savings its a significant savings compared to diesel.or hybrids. With the small battery you are constantly chaging plug in hybrids.

Charging regularly is not that big an issue but compared to most hybrids it has a much higher capacity battery anyway.

Is depreciating it in a single year much of an advantage if I keep for 8 to 10 anyway? And is it a bigger issue if I don't like it and want to get rid of sooner? I'd be in the high tax bracket from farm income after my off farm job, having a few assets on depreciation yearly is not a bad thing?

I am leaning more towards the full EV anyway, as don't need the tow capacity or range, but not sure about the accelerated deprecation.

Has the AWD E-Vitara a braked towing figure of only 750 kgs?. One thing I am noticing is the towing capacity of AWD models seems to be lower than 2wd models. Most are permanent 4wd and actually heavy on battery to drive.

The AWD electric Musso has a range of 380Km. The Hilux has only a range of about 250km and is permanent 4wd. I rang today and was quoted 1.5T towing capacity for the AWD Musso. It has dual electric motors and is expected to retail at 55k ish after grant

The 2wd looks the best option