Barriers to EV adoption

There are generally five arguments made against choosing an electric vehicle over an internal combustion engine vehicle.

1. They are too expensive
2. They don't go far enough
3. The charging infrastructure is poor
4. There is not enough choice in vehicle type
5. They have poor performance

I've heard some of these in the time I've been talking to people about my EV experience, and to be honest, most of these perceived issues are either already addressed, or are well on the way. Here is how I usually respond to these claims:

They are too expensive

Well, it depends. If buying brand new, EVs are almost on par with a petrol/diesel equivalent at this stage. I say almost, because they are still a bit more expensive. But if you consider running costs (where an EV can easily save the average driver the best part of €2,000 per year), then over a 5 year period of ownership, you have to add €10k to the sticker price of a petrol/diesel car to get a better like-for-like price comparison. Added to this, battery manufacture technology is becoming more mainstream now, and so battery pack costs are dropping year-on-year. So, the sticker price for EVs is going to drop over time. 

Buying second hand is a different matter. Have a look on the car sales websites and compare something like a 151/152 Ford Focus to a 151/152 Nissan LEAF. Go ahead, I'll wait here.....

Well, what did you discover? (For anyone that cheated and didn't go looking, get ready, spoiler alert!). Yep, that's right, they're both about the same price, all things considered. So EVs are not really more expensive at all, if you think it through.

They don't go far enough

How far is "enough"? That will depend on user expectation, and is likely to differ for everyone. But as a starting point, even older EVs with the smaller battery packs should be good for 100km from a charge. So, if your daily commute is up to 100km, you're fine. For the majority of drivers, this is more than enough. For longer trips, you can plan around the location of rapid chargers. Of course, there will always be outliers and drivers that need more range, and that's where the newer EVs that are being released will help. 200km range is now about the "norm", with 300km being the likely norm in a year or two. I suggest keeping a log of your daily distances over the course of a month or so (I did this leading up to buying my EV), just to record how far you do actually drive every day. Psychologically, a 200 or 300km range may be a comfortable number, but in reality you might find you don't need that from a charge.

The charging infrastructure is poor

You might have a point on this one! By "poor" here, I'm referring to two issues: the chargers can be unreliable, and they can be occupied when you need them. Except, (and here's the big news) it actually doesn't matter for most people. Why? Because you can charge at home! The majority of people with an EV do not need to use the public charging network. So much so, in fact, the SEAI provide a grant to have a home charging point installed.

However, let's say you do need to use the public network occasionally. What about reliability/availability then? Since about 2012, the ESB has provided free rapid charge points around the country (about 70 of them at this stage), and therein lies the problem. They are free. What happens when things are free? They get abused. 

There are two problems with the free model. Firstly, users will park up and get a free charge even if they don't really need it. Anecdotally, EV drivers will tell you about "Mary" or "Joe" who they know lives just a mile away from the rapid charger, but who will plug in at it instead of at home just to save a few cents. This is called "hogging" and is frowned upon, as it can block a user who actually really needs the energy. Secondly, with the no-cost model, the operator (ESB) has no incentive (or perhaps budget) to maintain charge points that need to be serviced. So, charge points can be unnecessarily blocked or simply not working when you drive up to them.

The simple way around this is to charge users to plug in at the rapid chargers. This will ensure an income for the operators to help maintain the units and install more of them, and it will discourage users from plugging unless they really have to. To this end, the ESB has announced that from mid-2019 onwards, there will be a charge associated with using the rapid charge points on its network. It should be noted that this applies to the rapid chargers only, and the slower ones will remain free to use for now.

There is not enough choice in vehicle type

This might have been true in the past. Up until a few years ago, the choice in Ireland was basically Nissan LEAF, Renault Zoe or Fluence, and Mitsubishi iMiEV. I'm not including hybrids here, because they are not EVs. However, more recently this choice has expanded, to include models from Kia (Soul), Hyundai (Ioniq and Kona), VW (Golf), BMW (i3), Tesla, and more from Nissan (the eNV200 van), plus other models too. So there is an EV option in a number of classes now. This is further expanded if you include Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles, but I'm focusing on pure electric vehicles here. And there are even more EV models coming to market in the next year or so. I don't see lack of choice as a barrier at this point.

They have poor performance

Really? Have you ever driven one? My own driving experience with an EV is limited to the Nissan LEAF, so I won't refer to the 0-100kph acceleration stats for a Tesla Model S (it's 2.5 seconds, just to save you having to look it up), or the fact that VW blew away all competition and set a new world record for the infamous Pikes Peak race using an EV (in some ways helped by the fact that at altitude EVs perform better than internal combustion engine cars because thin air does not affect them).

No, let's keep it more realistic. Even with a humble Nissan LEAF, the "off the line" acceleration is very impressive. Sure, it tapers off as you get above 60/70kph, and so the unofficial 0-100kph is a fairly ordinary 10 seconds or so, but the initial burst is more than enough to get you away from the lights ahead of most cars (I'm not suggesting you go street racing in it, or do anything that would get you in trouble with the law, but take one for a spin and you might be surprised). The top speed on my Nissan LEAF is just over 150kph, so again, it's not a slow car considering the maximum speed limit in Ireland is 120kph.

Still not willing to take my word for it?

In that case, take 18 minutes to have a look at the video below. It's UK-centric, but the mains points are still valid in Ireland. I recommend the "Fully Charged" channel on YouTube, if you are interested in watching more videos about EVs.