Nick O’Connor is a data specialist with Aer Lingus, and lives in Co Meath. He drives a Ford Explorer
“I chose to buy the Ford Explorer EV as I’ve been intrigued by them since the unveiling in 2024. I’ve driven a long line of Fords, after owning an array of Pumas, Focus and, most recently, a Fiesta ST3 – which was one of the best cars I’ve ever owned. I certainly knew that its replacement would have to be something special, so I took the chance on the Explorer, and I’m so glad I did. My family grew in size from just two to three, so I needed something with more space for all the things that come with having a baby that end up in the boot.
“My normal driving per week is a 130km round trip to work during the weekdays, and road trips or just general shopping runs over the weekend. I could potentially drive 800km to 1,000km a week. Fortunately, I haven’t encountered any problems with the car, which might sound like an easy answer to give, but the Explorer has been nothing short of flawless for me.
“I love the vast amount of storage inside the car and the clever hidden storage to hide things like phones, particularly underneath the pivoting screen, leading to an uncluttered commute, which, after a busy day in the office, is very much appreciated. Now that we are approaching the winter months, knowing that I’ll always have the car preheated for me before I set off or also knowing that I won’t have to stop for fuel on the way home from work, is such a great comfort to have.
RM Block
“I would have said the addition of a frunk to the Explorer would have been great for the next version; however, Ford has already created a frunk accessory, which adds an extra storage space under the bonnet. I will always agree that the infrastructure needs improvement – but with a car that has a range of 600km, I’ve only publicly charged my car once in the past year. All of my charging gets done at home, with enough range to reach everywhere I’ve needed to go.
“I am very happy with the car and the driving experience so far. The car is comfortable, powerful and quiet. I really enjoy every spin I take with this car. I never thought I would be destined to be an SUV driver, but it genuinely doesn’t feel like you’re driving an SUV as it still carries the old Ford handling DNA.”
Connie Shiel is a digital project manager living in Co Dublin. He drives a Mercedes EQE SUV
“I bought the EQE because it was the largest-capacity battery in a big SUV. I had no choice but to buy new as there were zero used available at the time. I did quite a lot of research beforehand. I wanted a Porsche Taycan, but it’s not practical enough for a young family. I cover, on average, 40-45km per day, mixing work and leisure, and some travelling to see family.
“I’ve had zero problems so far, other than the panoramic roof decided to open in the rain one day while travelling to Sligo and wouldn’t close. Mercedes Sligo helped us out. I love the luxury of the quietness and power, but it would be nice to see easier charging around the place, even if the car has great range anyhow. I’m more than happy with the car. I’ve owned 13 Porsches in the past and now I love EV driving. I will probably replace this with the same model again.”
Donal De Paor is a company CEO based in Co Cavan and drives a Volkswagen ID.7
“We lease three company cars, for me, my wife and our CTO. The BIK benefits were a key consideration, [as were] the low maintenance costs and superior technology. I usually drive under 50km per day. Most times I commute to and from work and do the school runs. I drive to Dublin for business twice per month. We watched a lot of online videos as research before making our decision.
“The ID.7 software is not great – it says I have tyre pressure issues when I don’t, but I love the acceleration. The ID.7 is a great cruiser for driving to Dublin and back. The space is incredible, but I am not a good driver and I find the ID.7 is hard to manoeuvre. This is a size issue rather than an electric car issue.
“I thought the build quality would be better in a VW. When we drive to Donegal going through roads in the North, it feels like we are driving in a bouncy castle. If I were to buy another, interior build quality and suspension will be a big focus for me, but I don’t think I will go back to an ICE [combustion engine] car. The ability to charge your car at home is incredible.”
Diarmaid Sheridan works in the financial industry and lives in Killiney, Co Dublin. He drives a Polestar 4
“I was looking for an EV with above decent range and good reviews, the Polestar 4 stood out on both. In addition, the design of the car is a little different too. Finally, I was very impressed when I did a test drive with Polestar in Dublin. We live in the suburbs, so I mostly do a small amount of weekday driving with busier weekends taxiing the kids to various activities. Occasional trips down the country as well.
“When choosing it, I read and watched lot of reviews of EVs, charging and the differences between EVs and combustion cars. I was reluctant to buy a combustion-engine car on a number of grounds, including future taxation and residual values. Polestar got a number of good reviews, and a friend has owned one for a few years and was very complimentary of his car.
“Charging outside the home in Dublin requires a lot of planning and there is nowhere near enough fast chargers available, especially in Dublin, but I also noticed that in Cork when I was there recently. On the upside, the kids love the planet-themed colour schemes for the interior, and the car is very smooth to drive, and the range is better than I had braced myself for. The camera system in the car is excellent and makes parking really convenient.
“I was expecting challenges in charging the car outside of urban areas, but it has been the opposite. Anytime I have needed to do so, there have been fast chargers available, whereas in Dublin and Cork, there is a scarcity, which can cause a headache. Fast-charging infrastructure needs to be addressed; this is critical to getting more EVs on the road.
“The technology in the cars is a huge leap forward from cars from just a few years ago, but there are some limitations to the technology. The Polestar reads road signs, which is great when it does work, but it is not 100 per cent reliable and can be a little inconsistent – so it’s fine on familiar roads and not so much on unfamiliar ones. I would expect the next generation will sync to map data where the risk of being wrong should be a lot lower.
“I owned my last car for almost 10 years, and it served us very well, but the Polestar 4 is a massive leap forward. The range has stood up well to different driving conditions.”
Jennifer Noctor is a data, privacy and litigation specialist, and lives in Dungarvan, Co Waterford. She drives a Volkswagen ID.4
“I did drive an EV way back in 2014, a Nissan Leaf, and while I was a convert to some extent, the range wasn’t long enough as I commute from Dungarvan to my job in Cork and I did get ‘range anxiety ’from time to time. When the ID.4 came out and I saw the range, I was really interested. But the figures were working out a bit too expensive initially. I recently bought a 2022 one, which had come back off PCP, so it’s now making sense economically – even more so.
“Also, the company where I work has been driving an ESG [environmental, social, and governance] agenda, which I’m really invested in. We are now B-Corp certified, and this was also a factor. We monitor how employees commute and are trying to change behaviours in terms of adopting more environmentally friendly modes of transport to work, including cycling, public transport, car pooling and EVs, so it fits overall with that objective too. I compared a few models, and it was a case of I knew the car, the range and the pricing was good, so it made sense on every level
“Mostly I drive from Dungarvan to South Mall in Cork, where my office is, and the only issue is we have one charger at home, and my husband also has an EV, so we have to take turns.
“The ID.4 is very smooth, quiet, and has a clean dashboard with no gadgets. I love the active cruise control, which is great for long journeys. What I’d like to see is for fast chargers to be as ubiquitous as petrol pumps. I was talking to a girl at the gym who just bought a hybrid. She wanted to get a full EV but is renting, and there are no charge points in her building. Beyond that, I’m 100 per cent happy with the car – I love it.”
