Claire Joyce is thrilled with her electric vehicle and has found the transition to electric driving as smooth as an automatic gear change.
By working together her car and charging her car are helping to keep her motoring costs, and her carbon footprint, down.
That matters because, as a busy drama teacher living in Newbridge, Claire gives classes all over Kildare and Dublin. As the mother of four young adults, she also spends a good deal of time ferrying family around, not to mention her own participation in amateur dramatics. “I put up a lot of mileage,” she smiles.
Prior to getting her new EV she drove an 18-year-old, petrol-fuelled supermini, which she loved, but which had reached the end of its life. Even if it hadn’t, she was ready to make the change. “Petrol had gotten very expensive, and I was pumping it full of fuel every week,” she explains.
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“With an EV I hoped we’d make some savings in terms of fuel but also, from a sustainability point of view, wanted to feel that we’d also be doing less harm to the environment. It was bad enough to be spending so much on petrol but to also be polluting as we go made us all want to be more environmentally friendly as a family.”
She’s delighted she made the switch. “Now I feel a bit smug as I drive past the petrol station,” she laughs.
Power at your elbow
As soon as she purchased the EV, she set about installing a home EV charger and switching to an energy plan that provided great value for charging.
She was attracted by the smart meter plans Electric Ireland offered, particularly the ones with a cheaper night time rate, which is half the cost of its day rate.
“Electric Ireland offers an EV friendly Night Boost plan with cheaper electricity from 11pm to 8am, with a super cheap boost rate between the hours of 2am and 4am, when it costs even less,” she says.
“So now I set my car to charge from 2am to 4am, which is the best option for my family. It’s terrific value and means no more going out in the morning to find there’s no petrol in the car. It’s always ready to go.”
She describes herself as “totally non-tech-savvy”, so was initially anxious that home charging might be overly technical and confusing. Not so. “I just set the car to charge via an app,” she explains.
Cheaper to run
While consumers can expect to pay a premium to purchase a new EV, compared with the cost of buying a traditional petrol or diesel car, the cheaper running costs of her new car will recoup the difference in just a few years, Claire reckons.
“Previously I was spending in excess of €200 a month to put petrol in the car. Now, doing similar journeys, I pay less than €30 a month. That is a big saving for us, at around €2,000 a year, so I’m delighted.”
Would she ever go back to petrol or diesel? “Absolutely not!” she says.
Customer satisfaction
As EV product manager for Electric Ireland, Susie McLoughlin is wholly familiar with customer experiences such as Claire’s.
“At Electric Ireland we want to make the switch to electric simple for our customers. We know that customers thinking about getting an EV just want a simple and cost-effective solution for charging it. It’s why we provide a simple solution that includes a premium EV charger that you can set to charge when electricity is cheapest and connects you to a simple app so you can track and control everything,” she explains.
“We also provide professional installation by fully trained and qualified technicians. And we provide our Night Boost electricity smart meter plan, specifically designed for EV drivers, which allows customers to benefit from home charging at cheaper off-peak rates. This means they can access cheap, convenient home charging all from the one place.”
Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland (SEAI) grants for EV chargers are currently available, worth up to €300. It means that Electric Ireland’s smart EV chargers, from zappi, cost from just €1,199, inclusive of the home charger grant.
“Every installation is safety tested and certified by us. Before leaving your property, the technician will provide the relevant documents for SEAI grant payment,” explains Susie.
A full-service offering for your EV
The process of ordering and installing your Electric Ireland EV charger couldn’t be easier once you have your own driveway. “People also need to have broadband, because it’s a smart charger and so needs a network connection,” she adds.
Once the customer requests an EV charger, Electric Ireland will agree a time with them to carry out a remote home survey.
“This is a video call with a technician to check all the electrical work beforehand. It allows us to see things like your earth inspection box, meter cabinet, and the distance of the fuse board from the desired location of your charger. It allows us to gauge what’s involved in installing an EV charger in your home and takes the guess work out of the process,” she explains.
Not only does Electric Ireland manage the installation, it can also guide customers to get the best electricity price plan to suit their EV charging needs.
“A typical EV motorist could save up to €260 a year just by switching to Night Boost from a 24hr smart plan, for example. Not only that, with our smart chargers they get insights in their online account that enables them to see how much they’ve spent every day on their EV, because their electricity is broken down by appliance.”
Electric Ireland EV charger installations typically take place two to three weeks after an order is made, and take just a few hours to fit.
Why wait? “Our advice to anyone thinking about getting an EV is to start thinking about their EV charger too,” advises Susie. “You’ll be doing your bit for the planet, and you’ll see cost savings too, so it’s a double benefit.”
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