3 minute read
Going Electric
Article courtesy of The AA Ireland
We are seeing ever greater numbers of electric vehicles being sold in the Irish market. In fact, we are now seeing electric cars outsell their diesel counterparts in some months.
Advertisement
The trend is now moving into the commercial sector. Perhaps one of the most obvious conversions in our national fleet is the uptake of EVs by taxi drivers. There is a generous SEAI grant of €20,000 toward the purchase of a new EV. Companies such as Free Now are seeing an appetite amongst their users for a cleaner form of transport and EVs fit that bill.
As you can imagine, it is not as simple as simply switching all your vehicles over to electric. There are several considerations to be made.
What is an EV?
We are all used to the traditional combustion engine that we have been working and travelling in for around a century now. Petrol or Diesel is drawn from a fuel tank, then thousands of explosions drive pistons, that in turn drive the wheels of the vehicle. Electric Vehicles and Hybrids employ a large battery and an electric motor instead.
In a general sense, hybrids take two forms. There are hybrids with a plug to charge them up, and hybrids that do not have a plug. Those without plugs typically have very small batteries and weak motors, but they do help with efficiency. Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles have a much stronger electric powertrain and bigger batteries. They can usually drive for around 50km on battery power alone, and they have enough power to get you up to motorway speeds. Crucially, they have a plug socket so that you can charge them up on cheap, green electricity.
Fully Electric Vehicles are powered by electric motors using energy stored in the batteries. They do not have a combustion engine to power them, and you must plug them in to ‘refuel’ them.
Are there many commercial EVs available?
The answer to that question is changing dramatically every year. Passenger cars are seeing the greatest offering, but there are plenty of options across a wide range of commercial uses now.
There are many electric vans on the market. They range in size from city vans such as the Peugeot e-Partner to the 3.5t Ford Transit. Maxus provide all-electric chassis cabs where the buyer can tailor the vehicles to their needs.
We are beginning to see electric buses employed in Ireland. Higer provides a range of options that will cater to different capacity needs. Athlone is the shining example in Ireland currently as it rolls out a fleet of electric buses from a specialised depot.
It goes beyond the transportation sector, with many companies starting to import equipment such as battery-powered street sweepers, electric tractors and large excavators than run silently on electricity.
As the technology is in its infancy, purchase prices are typically higher for Electric Vehicles than their combustion counterparts. Although we are starting to see prices fall in the passenger vehicles sector, we do expect some prices to remain elevated as the scale of production ramps up in the commercial sector. However, we would urge business owners to consider the lifetime costs of these vehicles. If a company can finance a newer electric vehicle, they may well find that the increased repayments are more than offset by cheaper running costs. Although electricity prices are currently quite elevated, our monthly fuel price survey shows that it is still significantly cheaper to fuel an EV than a combustion engine passenger car. Some business owners are evenly employing solar PV on the roof of their premises and charging up their vehicles on free electricity.
Maintenance cost are typically much lower for EVs. They are far simpler machines, with fewer moving parts to service and replace. For example, Regenerative Braking allows an EV to slow down by using its electric motor to charge up the battery. As a result, some EV owners find that they never need to replace brake pads.
What about range and charging?
It is crucial that a business very carefully considers the range of the vehicle they are buying and how they will charge it. We are not yet in a position that Electric Vehicles can replace all combustion vehicles. However, there are many cases where an EV will in fact make life easier for the business. It is about usecase scenarios.
Take the example of a parcel delivery company that needs their van to be out on the road all day, but the route only covers 40kms typically. An electric van such as the Maxus eDeliver3 could very well do a week’s work without the need to be charged. Even if that route happened to be 400kms, a 45-minute charge at the depot during lunch hour would be enough to cover the distance.
The public charging network is currently lacking. Although the chargers are generally reliable, there simply isn’t enough of them for businesses to depend on their availability. This must be factored into a business’s consideration. However, many businesses can install chargers on their premises. That way, they will never need to use the public network. They can install the type of charger that best suits their needs.
The AA are part of ISME’s Affinity programme offering saving of 35% on AA Membership for Roadside Rescue, Home Start & Rescue Plus Cover – €98 per vehicle to ISME Members. Find out more here.
