I am in the market for a used car . 2-3 years old . Budget around 28k. I still believe diesel is the best way to go . The reliability is proven . I will likely keep the car for 10 years . My current diesel Octavia has 365k km and is still going fine . My question is to the electric car folks. 1. Have you noticed your esb bill going up ? 2. Are you concerned about depreciation? 3. Any concerns of the long term reliability of thr battery ? I just do not see the appeal on any level . Most people seem to disagree with me . To me for long term ownership it just does not add up .
1.
Electric bills. Mine have gone up by a small bit, far more than offset by the drop in what I was paying for diesel. In winter, when range is somewhat reduced in EVs by the need to heat up the batteries, charging the car from 20% up to 80% charge (recommended unless one knows one is going on a long journey), costs me €3.50 and adds 174km to the 58km (the 20% charge already in the car) or just about 50km per €1. That's on a 58kWh battery. And that’s in winter. Summer mileage and range will be substantially better. In the diesel that I replaced, I’d get around 500km between refills of about 42 litres, which currently costs about €73. That’s less than 7km per €1 spent, or 7 times the cost of fueling an EV.
Now, I did have to install a home charging point, which was subsidised by the state. For straightforward installs, those can be had for around €600 after the SEAI grant. Mine wasn’t straightforward due to old wiring and cost about €1,500 after the grant, including the Periodic Inspection that the house was due to have anyway and that normally costs about €500.
You didn't ask, but fuel costs are only part of the equation when it comes to total cost of ownership. For example, the service interval on my car (a VW ID.3) is 2 years, not 1. Motor tax is €120/year. Tolls, at least for this year, are reduced by 50% (75% for off-peak travel on the M50). And although the software is complicated and can potentially cause problems, it is constantly being worked on and most updates are issued over the air. The overall mechanics of the car are much simpler than any ICE car (let alone a hybrid, which has to have two fully functional drivetrains). The ID.3 has no transmission (a fixed set of gears only), no clutch, not much of a cooling system, no emission controls (have you checked your DPF lately?), no oil, no air intakes or diesel filters. And when it's not moving, the motor isn't idling; it's not turning at all. That is offset only slightly by the fact that they are heavier vehicles than their ICE counterparts, so one can expect that tyres will wear out more quickly.
Insurance, also was slightly lower than on the 2010 diesel we replaced, despite the EV being worth 5-6 times what the diesel was worth.
2.
Depreciation. In the current context, I’m not particularly concerned about depreciation, but the current context is unique in several respects. First, I believe demand for electric cars is increasing, both used and new. But the supply of new EVs is not keeping up, partly as a result of the chip shortage. For the model I have, the entire 2022 production is already sold out. Order one today and you won't get delivery until 2023 at the earliest. The entire VAG group is in the same boat. Other manufacturers, notably Tesla and the Korean manufacturers, are having an easier time weathering the storm. In the UK, there are tales of people selling their used ID.3s for more than they paid for them new. Even if this won't last, I believe the situation in the new market will reproduce itself in the used market in the coming years: there will be a shortage of EV supply relative to demand. Add to this that my car was subsidised by the state to the tune of some €7,000 between the €5,000 SEAI grant and the reduced VRT. If those subsidy levels are cut in the future, it will increase the value of my used model.
[Late edit: I'd be a lot more concerned about the depreciation of a diesel model. Demand for new diesel cars dropped from 43% of the new car market in 2020 to 33% in 2021. In January 2022 (at a time when EV manufacturers are having trouble supplying cars), diesel cars were only 22% of sales, down from 35% in January 2021. Diesels were 54% of the car market in 2018. The writing seems to me to be on the wall here.]
3.
Battery reliability. The warranty on the battery is 160,000km or 8 years during which charge capacity is guaranteed not to drop below 70% of the original capacity. Teslas have the same warranty.
And all of this is just about costs and ignores something else important: even if they weren't cheaper to run and even if they had no impact on climate change, EVs are superior vehicles in many ways. I wouldn't go back for anything. The car, which is an ordinary looking hatchback, has instant acceleration, since it's all electric. Hit the throttle and you're off like a shot. It has acceleration that will throw you back in your seat (more so than, say, a 150PS petrol Golf, which I was also considering at the time of purchase). And the torque is continuously available at all RPMs: none of this nonsense of having to keep the motor turning in a certain range, acceleration flat spots, etc. There's only one gear and a motor that rotates from a bottom of zero (not 750rpm like in an ICE car) and a top of 15,000 to 20,000rpm.
The heat in the car doesn't have to wait for the motor to be turned on. It comes on instantly and can be turned on (along with seat and steering wheel heaters) via an app without leaving the house. If the car is plugged in when you set the app to turn on the heat, it will take the electricity for pre-heating the car from the mains power. No need to de-ice in winter: all the glass will be clear by the time you get to the car. Also, the car is dead quiet.
All-in-all my experience with an EV has been nothing but positive. It feels to me like an evolution in car technology and would do, as I say, even if there were no environmental or economic benefits. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.
