How much to fill your Battery by June 2022

[John m]

Electric Ireland said it will increase its residential electricity prices by 23.4% and gas prices by 24.8% from May 1.

It said the increase will equate to €24.80 a month on the average residential electricity bill and €18.35 a month on the average residential gas bill.

[mercenary for hire]

It's still cheap enough but Watty would wanna be careful if he's solely depending on the relatively expensive public chargers.I dunno how much the government can reduce electricity prices as it might not be getting taxed as much as petrol and diesel.

[watty]

They've have to nearly double the leccy before I'd be back in diesel price territory...  25% is an inconvenience 

[silverbullet]

They've have to nearly double the leccy before I'd be back in diesel price territory...  25% is an inconvenience 

How do you know if your house is EV compliant?

[watty]

Hire an electrician?

[mercenary for hire]

What's the factor that decides suitability anyway?Cable thickness?As in the gauge of the wiring.

The mad thing about all this is there's nothing stopping leccy prices going up and up and up.I'd be very annoyed if I was paying nearly the same to fuel my fancy leccy motor as I was spending in the Prius.Kinda defeats the purpose of switching over.

Can we import cheaper electricity like we can with oil?

[John m]

Had a lad from BMW in the car last week he is driving an 80K 4x4 said he wouldnt drive an electric vehicle that he had to pay for .Recons PCP is the only way to go with full warranty as nobody really knows the costs of replacement parts as most of the units are provided by outside contractors so if you need to replace a resistor or capacitor or chip will they repair that unit or will you need to pocket for a full replacement unit .The unknown is the cost of replacement parts and if they are built to fail after a certain time .Built in obsolescence is a big thing with most electrical goods built to fail .

[mercenary for hire]

Everything fails eventually John.Took a test drive in an MG5 earlier.Very quick and lots of power.There's one coming in as a cancellation up in Frank Keane Ballymount.33k before the NTA grant.You'd have it paid with just the fuel savings in three years.I'm still a bit afraid while my current junker is still good for a year.

[John m]

Everything fails eventually John.Took a test drive in an MG5 earlier.Very quick and lots of power.There's one coming in as a cancellation up in Frank Keane Ballymount.33k before the NTA grant.You'd have it paid with just the fuel savings in three years.I'm still a bit afraid while my current junker is still good for a year.

With all the Grants If I was buying I would go electric .I bought Satins Wheelbarrow (occi ) new ,never had a days peace with the thing .Looking at second hand EV dont know the value I bought part worn 3 year old Fluence 66,000 KM on it for 11k .Car prices for Part Worns are gone ridicilous new EV looks like the best Financial move at the moment .

[silverbullet]

Everything fails eventually John.Took a test drive in an MG5 earlier.Very quick and lots of power.There's one coming in as a cancellation up in Frank Keane Ballymount.33k before the NTA grant.You'd have it paid with just the fuel savings in three years.I'm still a bit afraid while my current junker is still good for a year.

With all the Grants If I was buying I would go electric .I bought Satins Wheelbarrow (occi ) new ,never had a days peace with the thing .Looking at second hand EV dont know the value I bought part worn 3 year old Fluence 66,000 KM on it for 11k .Car prices for Part Worns are gone ridicilous new EV looks like the best Financial move at the moment .

+1

[John m]

They've have to nearly double the leccy before I'd be back in diesel price territory...  25% is an inconvenience 

How do you know if your house is EV compliant?

Its not your house Brian its your supply .Most residential housing estates are wired for single Phase electricity .You might notice small metal boxes about 18 inches to two feet high outside some houses along the road they contain single Phase transformers .We had a Three phase connection in me das Gaff yeas ago .They had to put a separate transformer on a pole outside the gaff .Some newer estates are wired for heavier supply as they are electrically heated or multistory buildings which draw more power from the single connection to the building .You would need to contact the ESB and find out if your Estate is wired for three phase or if they can connect you up by means of a booster transformer but I think that is expensive .Think we paid about £400 back in the 1970s for the connection .

[watty]

It kinda is the house as well.  Before EVs, the electric shower was the big beast in using electricity (~9 or 10 kWh) but you'd only use it for 10 mins.  The cooker or the washing machine might be next but they'd only be around 2 or 3 kWh (I think) for an hour or two.  In other words, most energy use was sporadic and it was hard to overload the fuseboard.  So if the shower (9), plus the EV (7), plus washing machine, computers and a few tellys were all used at the same time, you might trip the main fuse.

Also, with EVs, you'd be taking 7kWh (or even 11 with the newer EVs) for a continuous 7 or 8 hours at night.  That puts extra pressure (heat) on the wires in/out of the meter (meter tails) and they could melt and set your house on fire if the tails are not thick enough.  I think 16sqmm is recommended nowadays for the tails whereas a lot of houses (well, mine) have only 10sqmm.  10sqmm is ok for a house with electric shower, washing machine, tv, etc etc but not for an EV, or so the electricians say.  In my case, ESB Networks will upgrade 'their' side of the meter for €170... The electricians want €14,000 to upgrade 'my' side of the meter by rewiring the entire house!  But I'm not bitter 

I'm not an electrician so E&OE...

[John m]

Watty I think somebody is pulling your plonker .We had a supply that came into the house to a seperate at the time fuse and switch that we threw when we wanted to work machines in the shed it was on a separate circuit .I would think you can possibly get a single circuit and possibly a seperate meter .Why would a household supply need to be upgraded .Try another Electrician or ask the ESB for advice .

[watty]

Yes, that is a possibility.  Or it was.  They keep changing the rules.

It is/was perfectly feasible to put a sub-board (mini-fusebox) beside the meter and run your wall charger off that.  Plus most modern wall chargers have 'sensors' in them that will cut the power if other gadgets in the house need the juice or if it's about to overload the fuse.  No need for a manual switch.

It's all about the $$.  The big installer companies just want to do the simple installations and pretty much refuse anything out of the ordinary like mine.   I reckon it's a sub-€500 job to upgrade my side of the meter tails.  But 'the rulez' says the whole house has to be ok & certified.  For example, the kitchen sink needs to be earth bonded - just in case it electrocutes me somehow?  There's about 300 houses in my estate and if they all need upgrading at, say, €10k a pop, that's €3 million for my estate alone! 

€500 v. €10,000 rewire - you do the math (& you get to make the rules)

[silverbullet]

Hire an electrician?

How much were you quoted for the installation, and was it an older house circa 50-year-old?