ESB seeks 24 ecar Ambassadors to drive an ecar for 4 months

Brendan Burgess

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[broken link removed]

ESB is looking for 24 ecar ambassadors, across a wide variety of ages, lifestyles, occupations and commuting patterns, as well as organisations to get involved in this year's trial. The selected ecar ambassadors will trial one of a selection of electric vehicles such as the BMW i3, Citroen C Zero, Mitsubishi iMiEV, Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid SUV, Nissan Euro LEAF, Renault ZOE, or a Renault Kangoo Z.E. commercial electric van.

The ambassadors will be able to charge the electric vehicle at home or in the workplace at a dedicated ecar charge point. For longer commutes, they can use the smart public charging network located across the country.
 
I hope I can get this. I have already run cars on veggie oil, and had one of the first hybrids and was about to get 75mpg on my commute and a best mpg of 95. I am slo passionate about a sustainable approach to life.

My commute would be ideal for an electric car and there is already a charging point at work.
 
Slightly off-topic but can anybody confirm what the VRT is on a fully electric car? I thought that it was zero, but someone told me that that was only temporary?
Also the same with the 5000 grant? Is this still in place?

I'd be interested in getting a Tesla model S (they are only going on sale this year in the UK), so would be a huge benefit if VRT on import was 0%. CAn anyone clarify?
 
I was listening to the ESB spokesperson on the radio this morning. He explained that there are charge points dotted around the country - some of which have the dual charging facilities - quick and normal. The quick charge takes 20 minutes. A min. of two charges from Dublin to Cork. Based on this alone I can't see the e-car as a sustainable solution.
 

The last few budgets have extended the relief year by year, so Citizens Information is out of date. From Revenue.ie:

The period of VRT relief for Electric, Plug-in Hybrid Electric, and Hybrid Electric vehicles has been extended until December 2014. The rates of each of the reliefs remain unchanged.
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Detail on the actual reliefs [broken link removed].

SEAI are still offering [broken link removed] of up to €5k up to the end of December 2014, but that grant is accessed via registered dealers only. A UK purchase won't qualify. Another problem even if you found an Irish dealer who'll bring one in, to qualify, a car must have a Euro NCAP Star Rating of at least 3, the Tesla hasn't been tested.

So on a Tesla import, VRT 14% of the OMSP minus the €5k relief. OMSP will be a matter for Revenue to guess at, but even if they go with the expected UK price of ~£82k (which we all know they won't), you'll be paying €9k VRT after the relief.

What you do when battery life starts to fade will be a problem without dealer support here.
 
There are a lot of people who have been driving for years, yet never had the need to go from Dublin to Cork (or similar journies).
 
I think that is the point of the study.

If you live in Dublin and rarely go outside Dublin, you should be able to operate one of these fine.

If you travel at random around the country, they might not be suitable.

I don't think I would like to take two refuelling stops of 20 minutes each on the way to Cork and again on the way back.

Brendan
 
callybags said:
There are a lot of people who have been driving for years, yet never had the need to go from Dublin to Cork (or similar journies).
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I think the point is that with a conventional petrol or diesel car, once you fill up beforehand, you can get to pretty much anywhere on the island without stopping. Having to stop and least twice on a straightforward motorway journey of less than three hours is farcical. If you wanted to drive from Dublin to Donegal, how many times would one have to stop and would there be any charging points along the way. I would think that it would not be very enjoyable having to nurse the battery of your eCar for 50 kilometres in search of a charging point ...
 

But that's my point.

Different horses for different courses.

You never hear anyone complaining that there are not enough secure bicycle sheds for rest stops on the road from Dublin to Cork.
 
Leo,
Thanks a lot for your very informative post. I guess I'll just have to wait a bit longer for the Tesla!
Given they appear to have best car safety record in the US, I would thi,k they will fly the NCAP but of course they need to complete the tests.
With regard to range, one charge on the higher spec gets you 300 miles which would cover any journey within Ireland. That's why I'll wait for the Tesla. Have no interest in the other electric cars...
 
No prob amgd28. As you say, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they complete the test if they are serious about the European market. It certainly looks like an interesting prospect.
 
I've had a look at the specs of the cars (and one van) in the promotion. The manufacturer-specified ranges, up to 200kms, and the quick-charge times, as low as 20-30mins for 80% charge, are very impressive. These improvements brought about in just a single generation of e-cars augers well for their futures as 1st choice modes of transport.
 
PatMacG said:
These improvements brought about in just a single generation of e-cars augers well for their futures as 1st choice modes of transport.
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We need to see a lot more data in terms of real world battery life and replacement costs before making that jump I think. To address these concerns, some manufacturers have introduced battery leasing options, where they will replace the battery when its usable life is over. Remember battery performance will gradually degrade all the time, so the car you buy today with a 200km range may only have a 150km range in a couple of years.

When you factor in the battery leasing options, or price of replacing the battery after its usable life, running costs are generally comparable to current diesel models. So with significantly less range and charge times, there's still a way to go.
 
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