It’s a big question, and while the answer to whether now is the right time to buy an electric car is broadly a yes, there is still some nuance at play, and one or two caveats.
On the actual car side of things, there is almost no doubt now. The quality, quantity, and price of electric cars has been steadily improving, especially in the past three years. The advent of the big Chinese car brands in the Irish market has helped to drive down prices and drive up warranties and special offers. Once an EV was the more expensive choice, today the cheapest cars on sale in Ireland – by quite some distance – are electric models.
Ranges have also increased out of all proportion from the 160km (official) and 100km (if you were lucky) offered by the likes of the original Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe a decade ago. Now, even an affordable Hyundai Inster can easily tackle a long city-to-city motorway run without breaking a sweat, and there are EVs on the market that can easily put 500km, even 600km of real-world driving between charges. And those aren’t even the super-expensive ones.
If there’s a note of caution, a caveat to be considered, it’s still charging. While the charging network has advanced in leaps and bounds, and continues to do so, there are still too many queues, and too many blank areas on the map. Equally, there’s a cost issue to consider – if you don’t have parking at home, and can’t charge up on the cheap night rate electricity tariffs, then you simply can’t take advantage of one of electric driving’s greatest benefits – cheap running.
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Even so, the charging set-up in Ireland is due to improve out of all recognition in the coming months, says Ivan O’Connor, head of sales at charging provider ePower: “I think technologically, we’re in a good space. The tech we have now is very solid and very stable, and that’s not me trying to gee up the industry, that’s the actual lived experience of it.
“We have 50 sites just across Dublin that we’re working on right now, all of them fast charging, and in our work pipeline alone, we’re talking about many hundreds of fast chargers across the country that will all be stood up in the ground in the next 12 months. The fast-charging infrastructure in Ireland is going to look vastly different even by the end of 2025.”
Mark Brennan is marketing manager of newly arrived Chinese brand Leapmotor. He reckons that now is most definitely the time to strike. “It really feels like the right moment for EVs in Ireland – charging infrastructure is improving, costs are coming down, and there’s now real choice for drivers who want to make the switch, with many brands now offering price parity between their EVs and traditional ICE models,” he says.
“With that in mind, at Leapmotor, we’re starting strong with the C10 family-sized SUV, the B10 medium-sized SUV and T03 compact car, and we’ll quickly grow the range with the B05 family hatchback, recently unveiled at IAA Mobility in Munich, and a new compact hatchback and matching SUV, all due to start production by the end of 2026. The idea is simple: by 2027 we’ll have a full line-up covering the A to D segments, ensuring Leapmotor EVs will be accessible to every kind of driver and every kind of budget.”
That budget aspect is critical. EVs are probably as cheap now as they’ll ever be, thanks to Government subsidies which will eventually have to be rolled back, and tax incentives which will also have to be reduced in the coming years. Getting on board the EV train now could be the secret to making the biggest possible savings.
Equally, there’s huge value in the used EV market, where cars have most likely hit the bottom of the sharp depreciation curve we saw from 2022 onwards, and a good used electric car, with lots of battery warranty still left to run, is a very canny buy, says Richard Molloy, Volvo Ireland’s commercial director.
“EVs now account for 40 per cent of our new car sales,” says Molloy. “This strong momentum is not only driving new-car performance but also reinforcing the value of our used EVs – boosting confidence across our retailer network. Consumer demand in pre-owned EVs that are two years old or older continues to rise, and we expect this trend to accelerate into 2026 and beyond.
“In short, now is a good time to buy a used EV; with more choice than ever before, customers can find the electric vehicle that aligns with their lifestyle and preferences.”
