‘E-vehicle sales so bad now we refuse to take in second-hand cars’
CAR dealer and TikTok star Nadia Adan – who was one of the first industry figures to sound alarm bells over the viability of electric-powered vehicles – said the decline in sales is so bad that her garage has stopped taking in second-hand e-cars.
When asked if she has witnessed a significant drop in the market, the owner of Ashford Motors in Co. Wicklow told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘Yes I am seeing it in my garage. The decline in resale value means I am not taking in second-hand EVs any more.’
In a stark indication of the decline in confidence in e-cars, Ms Adan said she has had ‘customers trying to trade from EVs to diesel’.
She added: ‘They find out they are in the car equivalent of negative equity. Someone who paid €60,000 for a car; months later it’s worth €30,000 or €40,000. The decline was affecting how I was being perceived.’
The motor dealer said the shortage of charging points is a major factor driving the slump in EV sales.
She told the MoS: ‘A key factor is charger and range anxiety; you go to a charge point and there are three people in front of you or the charge point isn’t working. What do you do?’
Ms Adan said electric vehicles only work ‘for a certain affluent group of people who can afford them’.
The businesswoman also said the Government must start ‘doing the simple things right’ if it is to successfully transition motorists away from petrol and diesel cars.
‘Transport Minister Eamon Ryan recently announced a €21m investment in EV infrastructure. [British prime minister] Rishi Sunak, in the same week, announced investments of £2.3bn.
‘In Norway, which has 5.4 million people, roughly the same as we have, they have 25,000 charging points. We have just over 2,000 charging points.
‘The incentives aren’t there; the infrastructure isn’t there. It is still costly. It costs €1,500 alone just to install a charger in your house and then – unless you charge at night – there are no savings.’
But she added: ‘It’s not just Ireland; demand across the world is down. A key factor is the pace of technological change. You wouldn’t buy a second hand iPhone. It’s the same with EVs.
‘There are serious skills shortages when it comes to mechanics. The mechanics are not there to deal with EV issues. You have to go to a special mechanic in a special workshop.’