Electric Cars - a ridiculous product

Drove my first electric car yesterday and I have to say I was impressed with how it worked

Okay it took me a couple of minutes to work out that there is no start button, it's a hop in stick it in drive and press down on the accelerator
I've heard here and elsewhere about the acceleration and good god I don't think any of the high powered cars I've had in the past could match
but as I've also learnt accelerating and traveling fast is all good and dandy until you have to stop suddenly and I guessing that with the extra weight these cars have might result in increased damage or horrific accidents
But other then that I was very impressed with how it handled, the build quality (VW) and how it looked both inside and out

I'm not quite buying the argument that their a "ridiculous product" I think very much that they are in their infancy for the mass market much like cars were back in the seventies and eighties or how computers and their operating systems were in the eighties and nineties,
it's going to take a decade or two before they reach an optimized level
I feel for most people they are fairly close to that once they are not doing high milage on a daily or weekly basis and the idea that you need to do a military reconnaissance for any long journey over the range is just been pedantic, if your second cousin twice removed on your fathers side invites you to a wedding in ballygobackwards you've two choices either decline or just goggle where the charging points are and plan accordingly

But where I am very disappointed with the "electric car" is the story that came with the car from my friend
It's a 211 VW ID4 company car with 100K on the clock and she was thinking of taking it off the company with the view of upgrading it to a 232 or 241 but four VW dealers refused to take it as a trade-in simply stating the milage was to high, she happened to be down the country and tried a fifth dealer who surprisingly offered to take the trade but only offered her €16k against a new ID4
And for pig iron she asked what a trade in for her own car a 2019 2 litre Tiguan auto with 80k and was told €26K
She also informed me her boss is who bought the car with PCP is also now having a problem with the original VW dealer as he is refusing to even engage with him

So for me much that I liked the car I'll wait another few years before thinking about buying
 
The weight difference is roughly about 4 people between ID4 and Tiguan. Are cars with 4 or 5 passengers statistically much higher risk of damage or "horrific" accidents.
 
New Tiguan is 10k more expensive than the ID4. Also we are in the middle of a sales & price war/crash for the EVs and a unexpected sales increase for ICE especially diesel.

You probably wouldn't buy property in crashing market either. I certainly wouldn't be buying a premium EV in the middle of a price war. "tulip mania". However a used one might a good deal if bought cheap enough and it suits your use case. Won't suit everyone.
 
www.rte.ie

Dublin Bus carrying passengers evacuated after fire

A Dublin Bus carrying a number of passengers was evacuated after it went on fire this morning.
www.rte.ie www.rte.ie

With all the huffing and puffing on Dublin Bus purchasing electric busses, I thought this incident would reignite this BEV debate but I see it's just a regular old ICE fire. Outrage and told-ya-so's will have to be postponed!

Two years later, the 'ridiculous product' is the top seller in Ireland!

New Electric Vehicle sales total year to date (2026) 29,840 v (2025) 18,527 +61% (total new car sales are +5% YoY).

Record-breaking sales of electric cars in July 2026

www.simi.ie www.simi.ie
 
Itchy said:
With all the huffing and puffing on Dublin Bus purchasing electric busses, I thought this incident would reignite this BEV debate but I see it's just a regular old ICE fire. Outrage and told-ya-so's will have to be postponed!
Click to expand...
Well since there are virtually no electric buses on the road relative to conventional ones and the conventional buses would likely be at the end of their working lives with possible cooling problems in hot weather of course statistically more likely to be a conventional powered bus esoecially if they have already completed 100s of thousands of kilometers. Come back in a decade when all those electric buses and cars are on the road for a proper comparison of the fire risk on EVs . Anecdotally we know that lithium or other solid state batteries are a fire hazard.
 
joe sod said:
Anecdotally we know that lithium or other solid state batteries are a fire hazard.
Click to expand...
Statistically we know that they are significantly less likely to go on fire. That's by a factor of up to 100. It's unequivocal.

The caveat is that as a cohort electric vehicles they are newer and when they do go on fire putting them out is a major challenge due to the fact that the battery can produce its own oxygen but even taking age into account the fire risk is far lower.
 
It's like a scene from Killinaskully...

www.thejournal.ie

Garda forced to thumb a lift to emergency as electric patrol car can't be charged at his station

During the meeting Martin Daly, TD from Galway-Roscommon, spoke of an issue faced by his local garda in Ballygar, Co Galway.
www.thejournal.ie www.thejournal.ie

A GARDA RUSHING to a serious incident was forced to thumb a lift because his electric patrol car ran out of charge because there is no charger at his garda station, an Oireachtas committee has heard.

“It’s a Keystone Cops situation, which is most unfair to the individual garda,” he added.

Daly said he was in favour of sustainable energy and moving to electrical cars but said it was not appropriate for rural areas.

In response Kelly said it was “very concerning” to hear of the transport issues faced by his colleague in Ballygar. He told the committee that he was of a similar view that electric cars should not be used in rural areas.

“Electric vehicles are a challenge for us. Why I say is that, of course, we share exactly what you said around sustainability, and we have targets etc that we have to meet.

“However, electric vehicles have been problematic for us for some of the reasons that you’ve said, but also around charging and our ability to get chargers and fast chargers in stations,” he said.
 
So a Gard rushing to a serious incident 5km away got out of his car which had at least 30-40km of range left and thumbed a lift? Bit Killinaskully alright!
 
You'd wonder what public service oik would locate an electric car without providing for fast charging facilities at the remote locations its to be used from. Well sorry, you mightn't if you're that public servant, but I would as it's my money being wasted. I suppose whoever you are you'll go on strike on Wednesday for more pay, for not doing anything remotely (did'ja get the pun? - oh you don't know what a pun is, ah well) useful.
 
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