At last… a sharp shock for the eco car market
But are the savings enough to make cash-strapped drivers take the EV route?
ROAD TAX
EV road tax costs just €120 a year, which would save you €160 a year compared to the average €280 cost of road tax on, say, a Ford Mondeo. That would add up to a handsome €1,600 over 10 years.
Saving €1,600 over 10 years
FUEL
As every homeowner knows well at this stage, electricity costs have shot up, leading many people to question the value – and practicality – of electric vehicles.
However, petrol and diesel prices have also risen sharply and still show no signs of coming down soon.
Meanwhile, electricity prices are falling fast. The SEAI’s survey of the last quarter of 2023 claims EVs can be run much more cheaply than petrol or diesel cars.
The latest cost estimate for running an EV is just €3.22 per 100km.
That’s just a third of the cost of running petrol and diesel cars.
An electric Renault Megane costs €648 a year, which is similar to a Peugeot 208, which costs €608 to run.
Meanwhile, a similarly sized petrol Ford Fiesta would cost €1,641, while a Mini Countryman run on the same fuel would set you back more than €2,000 a year in energy costs.
That means a saving of around €1,000 a year– at least – for EVs over petrol equivalents. Over 10 years, that adds up to quite a packet.
Saving €10,000 over 10 years
BENEFIT IN KIND
There is no Benefit In Kind on EVs. This represents a massive saving if you have a company car.
WRITE OFF
Normally when self-employed people or companies buy an asset, it’s written off over seven years. But with EVs you can write off the whole cost in year one. This means you get all the benefits of ownership straight away, saving tens of thousands in tax (though you would have received those benefits in time with a petrol or diesel car).
INSURANCE
Reports in Britain suggest EVs are being penalised with higher premium costs, but this is denied by Irish insurers.
PURCHASE PRICE
The cheapest four-door petrol car in Ireland is the Fiat Panda, at around €11,900 but the cheapest electric vehicle – the tiny Fiat 500 – is more than €15,000 more!
The arrival of the Dacia Spring is expected to slash that gap to around €10,000 and spur competition at that end of the market.
However, Insuremycars.ie surveyed the best cars for the lowest prices. And it was very enthused about the Suzuki Ignis, a hybrid with a starting price of just €15,560 – which provides the best of both worlds.
‘The Suzuki Ignis is, in our opinion, hands down the best cheapest new car in Ireland in 2024,’ Insuremycars.ie raves.
However, EV advantages, such as being exempt from Benefit In Kind, do not apply to hybrids.
Saving: None
VERDICT:
The gap between the cheapest electric and petrol cars is expected to fall to around €11,000 with the arrival of the Dacia Spring later this year.
That’s still a substantial gap but other savings on tax and fuel may tip the balance in favour of ‘going electric’.
Even if you don’t want this particular model, it will trigger more competitive pricing.
And if you’re self-employed and/or drive a company car, the major tax savings make a compelling case for going electric immediately.
RIDING THE RANGE
The range of an electric car is a big deal if you’re thinking of buying one. It also impacts price. Many EVs now boast ranges of 500km or more – a trend that’s likely to continue.
Among cheaper EVs, the little Fiat 500 offers a decent 321km – for its price.
The VW e-Up only has a 253km range, while the Dacia Spring will be 220km – the lowest of any major cheap EV and an unfortunate number in Ireland.
Adding just 20km or 30km more to the Dacia Spring’s range would put most cities within reach of one other.
But as it stands, Dublin to Belfast and any town or city in Leinster are the only major urban centres safely within range.
EV drivers are advised to cut 10% off the advertised range to be on the safe side so even Dublin/Galway and Cork/Galway, at 204km and 209km, are not close enough.
And the critical Dublin to Cork road is well beyond range at 257km.