Car Dealers – Buying Incentives
It’s been the dream of environmentalists everywhere since the days before our parents were just pot-smoking, love-is-all-around hippies – but finally, could it be that car dealers everywhere will soon be presenting the electric car as their deal of the month?
The electric car has been around for a long time of course, and was even more popular than its petrol-run counterpart for a time during the early 20th Century. But in this age of heightened concern for our planet (and let’s face it, humanity’s self-preservation is a pretty big issue), the electric car is making its return with new purpose and maybe, at last, a serious chance of survival.
Why? Well, in Ireland, at least, the electric car is ready to reign supreme. Motorists over there are being enticed to switch over to a more eco-friendly vehicle with a promised discount of €5,000 when they purchase an electric car. In an additional bid to get more electric cars on Irish roads, the Government are also revoking vehicle registration tax for those drivers that switch to the greener option.
The state’s electricity company – ESB – are to provide an extensive network of power sources to increase ease of long distance travel for these vehicles that need to recharge after approximately 100-160km. They will be strategically placing 3,500 charge points and 30 fast charge points throughout the country by the end of 2011. With a half-hour charge providing about 80% of full battery power, shorter journeys should be adequately catered for. There’s still a concern over the practicality of longer journey times though, as it still takes between four to eight hours to charge to full power.
Money talks though, and the Irish Government are promoting the fact that the discount and the cheaper power will cut running costs to a fifth of their current expense. So, despite the fact that electric vehicles are more expensive to buy, the initial expense at the car dealers will be redeemed in the long term.
So could the massive strides that the Irish are making be a sign of things to come in the UK, too? Only time will time, but with fuel prices reaching a record high and the country becoming increasingly aware that the new dawn for motoring seems destined to happen sooner rather than later, it might not be long before car dealers have a shocking new star on their forecourts. Bad pun, intended.
