A QUESTION I get asked very often – aside from which EV I would buy – is whether I trust the battery in mine.

I have been driving a Volkswagen eUp for three years now, and I say goodbye to it next week. It is small, it is cheap to run, and it has never given me a day’s bother. I even have a little Aviloo box that tells me exactly how healthy the battery is. After 36,000km, mine is sitting at 96% of its original capacity. 

And still, people ask. A neighbour, a cousin, someone at a christening who has had a sherry and wants to talk about cars. Is the battery going to die? What happens when the warranty runs out? How would I even know? 

I used to think this was a quirk of the people I know. It turns out it is the whole country. 

This summer, we ran the DoneDeal Cars EV Survey. Between 7 August and 7 September, 792 Irish car buyers gave us clean, usable answers about how they think about electric cars. Some of what came back confirmed what I suspected. Some of it surprised me. 

Money talks, the planet whispers

Let’s start with the headline. Three in four respondents, 75%, said they were interested or very interested in switching to an EV. That is a lot of appetite. 

But why? Not for the reason the government’s advertising would suggest. When we asked what the main attraction was, 61% said lower running costs. Just 12% said the environment. 

I am not saying that to be cynical. I think it is healthy. Nobody ever bought a car because it made them feel guilty. People buy cars because they fit their lives and their budgets, and electric cars increasingly do both. If you can charge at home overnight, an EV is brilliant value. The honest pitch has always been the sums, not the sermon.

We........

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