The EV market has become so “unsustainable” that a Wicklow car dealership no longer accepts them as trade-ins. 

For years, the car industry has told drivers that EVs are the future and in the first quarter of 2023, one-in-four new cars sold in Ireland were electric. 

Despite the growing enthusiasm for EVs, Ashford Motors owner Nadia Adan has decided they are more trouble than they are worth for her small dealership.

“The way things are with the electric market currently, it’s just so unsustainable with pricing,” she told The Hard Shoulder. 

“I did come out publicly to say, ‘Look, currently I won’t be taking trade-ins of EVs or buying them in - especially if they’re out of warranty.’

“The pricing at the moment is just like the stock exchange, you could buy one for €50,000 one week and the next put it up for €55,000 and then it’s worth €40,000. 

“My small business couldn’t absorb such a big loss like that.” 

One reason for huge volatility in prices is that the market is currently flooded with new models. 

There has also been a significant improvement in international supply chains since the pandemic came to an end. 

“When we look back to the pandemic years, there was very little supply,” Ms Adan said. 

“There was a lithium shortage, there was a chip shortage - that’s not there anymore. 

“We’re seeing more Chinese brands come into the market, which is boosting the supply.”

A Charging Station. Photo: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Ms Adan also thinks more people are trying to trade in their EVs than was previously the case. 

“We’re seeing a lot of people hand back the keys to EVs in Britain and in Ireland,” she said. 

“I used to get two, three calls a week from people trying to get out of electric cars into their diesels. 

“Now those calls are five, six times a week and I can’t be that person that tells them that the car they spent €80,000 eight months ago is now worth 30 or 40.” 

Batteries

Ms Adan said she would “love” to sell more EVs but she still thinks it is “such a big risk” given the volatility of the market.

She is also worries about the cost of having to replace the batteries of some of the cars people want to trade in. 

“It’s like the iPhone, the technology is changing so much every year,” she said. 

“If the battery does go, these warranty companies will say, ‘Did you keep it under room temperature? Did you go over your mileage?’

“So, you might get caught out another way.” 

In its 2021 Climate Action Plan, the Government set a target of one million EVs on Irish roads by 2030.

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Main image: An electric car charging at a charging station in Dublin. Image: Noel Bennett / Alamy Stock Photo