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Irish Times
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Irish Times
Should electric car incentives be more creative?
Q: Should governments/cities offer citizens shared mobility vouchers or a car scrappage scheme as an alternative to grants and incentives for the encouragement of EV private car ownership, to make better use of vehicles and speed up the electrification of our transport? And are autonomous robo taxis the next evolution of public transport? – Cormack McK, Co Dublin A: The first question here is particularly pertinent, as there does seem to be a groundswell towards a new scrappage scheme to encourage Irish car buyers to opt for an electric car next time out. It's certainly worked in the past. Back in 2000, a scrappage scheme that encouraged owners of older, less-safe vehicles to trade-in for a new set of wheels arguably overperformed, and saw the Irish market for new cars jump to a record of 247,000 sales. Ever since then, the Irish car trade has been moaning that it doesn't sell enough cars. There was another scrappage boost in 2009, aimed to lure motorists towards cars with lower CO2 emissions (ironically, largely diesel-engine cars) while also helping the motor trade weather the dire economic headwinds of the time. READ MORE Both certainly put more cars on the road than would have otherwise been the case. However, there are inevitably trap doors when it comes to scrappage schemes. Many consider a scrappage scheme to be an inequitable way to distribute finite State funds. The claim is that such incentives are merely subsidising car purchases for the well-off in society. Equally, there's a solid argument that finite funds should be prioritising public transport over private, especially if we really want to make a dent in CO2 emissions. Electric cars certainly have their place in that reduction, but they're not the be-all and end-all for lowering carbon emissions. It's also often dismayingly easy to game a scrappage scheme unless very strict terms and conditions are applied and we've been burned by scrappage in the past. In 2009, the scrappage scheme was meant to encourage people to buy cars with lower CO2 emissions, which it duly did. [ EV Q&A: Should I buy an out-of-warranty, used electric car? Opens in new window ] However, as noted above, almost all of those cars came with diesel engines. First off, diesel power did most certainly not suit everyone's driving style, as legions of clogged-up diesel particulate filters came to prove. Secondly, Dieselgate was just around the corner. While it certainly seems that encouraging everyone to shift to electric motoring is the right thing to do, it's worth remembering that many of us thought diesel was the right thing to do in 2009. We don't have the luxury of a second go at this. It certainly seems as if a potential scrappage scheme would encourage more interest in electric cars. Second-hand classified site Carzone has seen EV searches up 16 per cent year-on-year. 'Models such as the Volkswagen ID4 , Tesla Model 3 , BYD Atto 3 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 remain among the most searched, reflecting the growing appetite among Irish motorists,' according to Carzone. 'However, barriers such as cost, charging infrastructure and range remain significant considerations. A well-structured scheme that addresses these challenges would play an important role in making EV ownership more accessible.' And therein lies a significant problem. The Government already offers as much as €8,500 off the price of a new electric car in grants and incentives, as well as other ongoing savings. Yet EV sales, although growing, are nowhere near where we thought they'd be. EVs are also becoming cheaper, due to the tumbling cost of batteries, so would a scrappage scheme that offered maybe €1,000 or €1,500 off the price of a new electric car make that big a difference? Possibly not, and even if it did, the argument that such a scheme is just aiding car purchases for the well-off would still echo. Surely the issue of getting more EVs on the road would be better tackled by more effort in improving the charging network. More fast chargers are being added, driven by EU legislation, but we're well behind others when it comes to setting up slower chargers in car parks and on kerbsides, and the cost of public charging is fast becoming a barrier to uptake. Running an EV is cheap if you're doing most of your charging at home, but it's far from affordable if you're reliant on the public charging network. The idea of shared mobility vouchers is an interesting one, and Ireland is – again – well behind the curve when it comes to the affordability of public transport (not to mention its availability). A recent trip to Prague, for example, showed that a monthly ticket for public transport covering buses, trams, metro and local trains costs the equivalent of €22, and there's a discount for students and minors, which means it costs them just €5.20. Even at the best Taxsaver rate, a monthly ticket for Dublin commuters costs €45, and that's just for Zone One. Clearly, providing better and more affordable public transport would be a massive boost to carbon reduction figures, not to mention potentially a tool for regenerating city centres. As for autonomous 'robo atxis' – don't hold your breath. Such technology certainly exists, but its price has not meaningfully come down since companies such as Google's Waymo, or Uber, started large-scale robotic taxi testing in the US. The tech needed to create a robotic driving system that's genuinely as skilled and aware of its surroundings as even a half-decent human is mind-bogglingly expensive. [ EV Q&A: Why do electric cars still have old-fashioned 12-volt batteries? Opens in new window ] General Motors, the US' biggest car maker, pulled the plug on its Cruise robot taxi service late last year, and Renault has recently said that it sees autonomous tech as more useful for large-scale public transport systems – buses and trains – than for individual cars. Equally, adding more cars to our streets isn't going to resolve the congestion problems in our city centres. What does that leave us with? Well, we know that incentives are certainly a useful way of encouraging people to buy an electric car. Indeed, without incentives many of the EVs on the market right now would be €8,500 more expensive, and that would definitely hurt their sales. The experience of the German government, which ended incentives almost overnight and saw a subsequent plummet in new EV sales, would seem to show that incentives work. Are they a perfect solution? No, not in the slightest, but perhaps perfection is not what we should be looking for here. Any encouragement is useful, and any one person who makes the switch from combustion to electric motoring is another step on the long road to carbon neutrality. In the background, though, we need to be working on the bigger picture: on a charging network that functions properly and reliably for all users; expanding renewable energy for the grid; developing viable e-fuels and biofuels to power the existing car park of combustion engine cars; at least considering the potential for hydrogen as a power source; and creating an electricity supply set-up that's affordable at the point of use when charging. Those are the actions which will truly transform both electric car ownership and emissions from transport. Incentives are really just an early-days sticking plaster.
Irish Times
29-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Shokz OpenFit 2 review: Comfort and good sound quality without ambient noise intrusion
Shokz OpenFit 2 Price : €190 Website : Where To Buy : Harvey Norman When it comes to earbuds, I usually prefer to block out the world rather than let the ambient noise filter in. That means active noise cancelling is a must and the buds need to have swappable silicone tips. But the Shokz OpenFit 2 don't fit any of those requirements. As the name suggests, the buds are open fit, sitting outside your ear rather than plugging your ear canal. There are times though when you need to hear what is going around you. When you are out walking, for example, it is useful to stay aware of your surroundings so you can hear people approach or be aware of cars around you. But at the same time, you don't want to sacrifice audio quality. Over the years I've reviewed some open-fit buds that promise a lot but really only deliver tinny, weak audio that is drowned out by the background audio. READ MORE I had higher hopes for the OpenFit 2. Shokz is known for perfecting open-fit earbuds, from the bone conduction technology it helped bring to the mainstream audio sector to the open-fit earbuds it is now pitching at runners and other audio fans. The Shokz OpenFit 2 are new to the Irish market. The buds have an ear hook design, with a flexible silicon hook that sits comfortably over your ear and position the speaker so you can hear the audio without blocking out the outside world completely. [ Mixx Streambuds Solo 2 review: Budget Bluetooth earbuds that sound pretty good for the price Opens in new window ] Out of the box, you might need instructions to tell you how to actually position them correctly on your ears, particularly if you have been using in-earbuds for the past few years. The Shokz app will help you get the most out of the buds – luckily, because I realised I was wearing them out of place. The app will also let you change EQ settings, with preset options that include vocal, bass booster and treble boost. There is also a custom setting so you could create your own personalised audio and save it for future use. Shokz has done some work on the audio side for the OpenFit 2. Its bass algorithm has been upgraded, with precisely directed bass tones that still maintain clarity in the higher frequency ranges. The end result was surprising. I expected that with the open fit nature of the buds, the ambient noise would be intrusive, particularly if the buds were being used near busy streets. But it wasn't an issue – I could still hear a podcast playing even with traffic close by. It was the same for music, with powerful bass without the rest of the audio feeling muddy. [ Sony WF-1000XM5 wireless earbuds: another leap forward in quality and comfort Opens in new window ] The Shokz have built-in microphones so you can use them for phone calls, video calls and accessing the voice assistant on whatever device they are connected to. Again, the sound quality here was good. On the other end of the call, I came through loud and clear. That is down to a couple of things: the two microphones built into each earbud, and the AI technology that Shokz has included to boost the audio. Sound leak was a concern. With open fit, you are likely to get a little leakage, but for the OpenFit 2, it was only audible at higher volumes. Still, I would be more wary of discussing anything too confidential in public, which incidentally should hold true regardless of what you are using to make or take your calls. The Shokz buds have another distinguishing feature: physical buttons. While many earbuds have opted solely for touch controls, the OpenFit 2 come with small physical buttons. The single click can play or pause tracks. The double and triple click are used for skipping or replaying tracks, while the long press can control volume. Those buttons can be customised, but there is a limit to how much you can do so. The single click, for example, can only be set to the default of play and pause, or disabled. The options for the double and triple click include having the left earbud control skipping to the next track, while the other goes back one track, or some mix of that. The long press can be changed to activate the voice assistant. That is it, however. Touch controls are limited to a single option – a long press – which is disabled by default. The only feature you can assign to it is the voice assistant for your phone. It's no real loss though if you decide to leave it doing nothing; the touch control is more awkward to activate correctly than the physical button. The buds also support multipoint pairing, which means you can pair two devices to them and switch seamlessly between the two, for example your smartphone and a laptop. Best of all, the OpenFit 2 didn't budge, even during the most strenuous workouts. If you've ever had to chase down an errant earbud, you'll appreciate the certainty that brings. Good Comfortable to wear for long periods of time. The buds are so lightweight and fit perfectly over your ear that you almost forget you are wearing them. They are particularly good if you find in-earbuds too uncomfortable to wear. Battery life is decent too. You get 11 hours of listening, with up to 48 hours when the backup battery on the case is taken into account. Bad The ear-hook design may not work for some people, particularly if they wear glasses – or sunglasses. However, the hook itself is quite thin, so it may still work for most wearers. The design of the buds means the case is a bit larger than some earbuds out there. Sound leak is definitely less of an issues than with other open-fit devices, but is still there. Everything else The buds are rated as IP55, which means they will withstand dust, light rain and sweat. Verdict Comfortable earbuds with great sound quality that won't budge during exercise.
Irish Times
27-05-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Times
Leapmotor joins the Chinese ranks in Ireland in September
Were you sitting there, fingers crossed, hunched in anticipation of yet another Chinese car brand arriving in the Irish car market? Well, then we have some good news — Leapmotor is coming in September. Leapmotor isn't entirely Chinese, however — it's actually the product of a joint venture between Leapmotor itself, and the vast car-making conglomerate that is Stellantis. That being the case, it's only natural that the Irish importer for Leapmotor is going to be Gown Auto, which already represents eight other Stellantis Group brands here, including Alfa Romeo, Citroën, DS, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Opel, and Peugeot (and Honda, which is nothing to do with Stellantis at all). Michael Dwan, Managing Director at Gowan Group said: 'Gowan Group is very pleased to announce the imminent arrival of Leapmotor in Ireland. Leapmotor aims to become Ireland's best value electric vehicle brand by offering high levels of specification and advanced technology as standard. Leapmotor's core philosophy is that customers should not have to compromise on quality or features for affordability, delivering a true value without compromise proposition for Irish car buyers.' Leapmotor is big in China, of course, and has been one of the fastest growing new brands there. Its first models will arrive in Ireland in September of this year, and they couldn't be more different. The first is the small and very cheap T03, which looks like a car trying to wear a Fiat Panda Halloween mask, has a 37kWh battery, and has a range of only 265km. It will be a rival to the likes of the Hyundai Inster and the Dacia Spring, but Leapmotor is promising high-end specifications for the dinky EV, including a panoramic sunroof, adaptive cruise control, and a modern 10.1-inch infotainment system. READ MORE At the other end of the scale is the C10 SUV, which is meant to be a premium-level car and a rival to the likes of BMW and Audi. Leapmotor C10 SUV It boasts a 69.9kWh battery and a range of up to 500km, but possibly of more interest to Irish buyers will be a long-range plug-in hybrid which boasts a range of up to 145km on battery power, and then 900km on a combined battery and fuel tank. It will be notably well-equipped, and will come as standard with electrically adjustable heated and ventilated front seats, 20-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, a 360-degree surround view camera, heated steering wheel, a 12-speaker premium Hi-Fi system, a 14.6-inch central touchscreen, and a ten-inch digital instrument cluster. Prices haven't been announced yet, but the T03 will have to start below €20,000 if it's to compete with Dacia and Hyundai. The C10's quasi-premium ambitions make for a cloudier picture, but realistically it's going to have to be priced between €40,000 and €50,000 to compete with mainstream opposition, not to mention the more established Chinese brands such as BYD. Leapmotor will certainly be tapping into some Irish market experience. The managing director position will be held by James Brooks, who will be doubling up on running Leapmotor with his existing duties as managing director of Opel's operations in Ireland. Also promoted from within Gowan Auto is Stephen McGrath, formerly Head of Product and Pricing at Peugeot and DS Ireland, who has been appointed Brand Manager. Mark Brennan, formerly Marketing Executive at DS Ireland, has been appointed Marketing Manager at Leapmotor. Emma Toner will be Marketing Director for Leapmotor, in addition to her current brand, Opel. As is ever the case with these new brands, ambition is not in short supply. Leapmotor says that by 2028 it will have expanded to an eight-car lineup, including a third model for 2025 — the B10 compact crossover. The B10 and the T03 are already being built in Europe (the B10 in Slovakia, the T03 in Poland) which means they will be able to duck around the EU's Chinese EV tariffs, while the status of the C10 is less clear, although Stellantis is known to be looking for more factory space in the EU for a third Chinese EV.
BreakingNews.ie
27-05-2025
- Automotive
- BreakingNews.ie
Leapmotor joins the Chinese ranks in Ireland in September
Were you sitting there, fingers crossed, hunched in anticipation of yet another Chinese car brand arriving in the Irish car market? Well, then we have some good news — Leapmotor is coming in September. Leapmotor isn't entirely Chinese, however; it's actually the product of a joint venture between Leapmotor itself, and the vast car-making conglomerate that is Stellantis. That being the case, it's only natural that the Irish importer for Leapmotor is going to be Gown Auto, which already represents eight other Stellantis Group brands here, including Alfa Romeo, Citroën, DS, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Opel, and Peugeot (and Honda, which is nothing to do with Stellantis at all). Advertisement Michael Dwan, Managing Director at Gowan Group said: 'Leapmotor aims to become Ireland's best value electric vehicle brand by offering high levels of specification and advanced technology as standard.' Leapmotor is big in China, of course, and has been one of the fastest growing new brands there. Its first models will arrive in Ireland in September of this year, and they couldn't be more different. The first is the small and very cheap T03, which looks like a car trying to wear a Fiat Panda Halloween mask, has a 37kWh battery, and has a range of only 265km. It will be a rival to the likes of the Hyundai Inster and the Dacia Spring, but Leapmotor is promising high-end specifications for the dinky EV, including a panoramic sunroof, adaptive cruise control, and a modern 10.1-inch infotainment system. Advertisement At the other end of the scale is the C10 SUV, which is meant to be a premium-level car and a rival to the likes of BMW and Audi. Leapmotor C10 SUV It boasts a 69.9kWh battery and a range of up to 500km, but possibly of more interest to Irish buyers will be a long-range plug-in hybrid which boasts a range of up to 145km on battery power, and then 900km on a combined battery and fuel tank. It will be notably well-equipped, and will come as standard with electrically adjustable heated and ventilated front seats, 20-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, a 360-degree surround view camera, heated steering wheel, a 12-speaker premium Hi-Fi system, a 14.6-inch central touchscreen, and a ten-inch digital instrument cluster. Prices haven't been announced yet, but the T03 will have to start below €20,000 if it's to compete with Dacia and Hyundai. Advertisement The C10's quasi-premium ambitions make for a cloudier picture, but realistically it's going to have to be priced between €40,000 and €50,000 to compete with mainstream opposition, not to mention the more established Chinese brands such as BYD. As is ever the case with these new brands, ambition is not in short supply. Leapmotor says that by 2028 it will have expanded to an eight-car lineup, including a third model for 2025 — the B10 compact crossover. The B10 and the T03 are already being built in Europe (the B10 in Slovakia, the T03 in Poland) which means they will be able to duck around the EU's Chinese EV tariffs. At the same time, the status of the C10 is less clear, although Stellantis is known to be seeking additional factory space in the EU for a third Chinese EV.
Irish Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Is investing (finally) getting cheaper in Ireland?
There was a bit of a stir in the financial advice community when Royal London arrived in the Irish pensions market. The UK mutual insurance society had been active in the Irish protection market for many years, when it decided to broaden its reach last November, launching a PRSA as part of its burgeoning Irish pensions business. So why the stir? The new entrant opted to publish its pricing structure on its website, with access for all – and some competitive charges. It has brought a welcome dose of transparency to a market that savers have often found tricky to navigate, given the myriad charges that can apply. It's not a perfect outcome; the taxation system around investing in Ireland still needs to be updated, while costs are still less competitive than elsewhere. But, thanks also to the arrival of new online players, which often offer a more cost-effective product, competition is finally beginning to crunch. READ MORE 'It's only the start,' says David Quinn, managing director of Investwise. This is good news for investors. Status quo Many Irish investors make their first move into the markets via a life-wrapped product sold through a bank, a life company or a financial adviser. The advantage of such products is that tax, via the gross roll-up system, is taken care of for you. So, no filing reports with Revenue. The downside, however, is that investing this way can be expensive. Contrast Irish Life's Indexed Ethical Global Equity fund with Blackrock's iShares MSCI World Screened. Both track the MSCI World ESG Screened Index – but have different charges. The iShares fund has a total expense ratio of just 0.2 per cent: Irish Life's fund has a fee of 0.75 per cent. And it's not always clear what the full extent of charges on Irish funds are, as we don't have a total expense ratio (TER) or total cost of ownership approach. 'Costs were opaque, with the cost of advice, administration and investment management all built into one single annual fee,' says Quinn. And, given how financial advice works in Ireland, where advisers can still be paid under the commission model (the UK banned this in 2012), the total costs of these products are not always clear. 'This annual fee often includes an upfront commission payment to the sales adviser,' says Quinn, adding that the annual cost of such a fund is about 1.5 per cent. As he notes, there can be further 'hidden' costs in a fund, which are not always required to be disclosed under regulatory rules. These can be as high as 0.5 per cent, bringing the total cost closer to 2 per cent per annum. That's a hefty deduction from any possible gains your fund might make. New options But, the tide might be turning. In 2022 Royal London, which already has a protection business in Ireland, became the first new pension provider to enter the market in more than a decade – and the first life assurance company in more than 30 years. It first brought approved retirement funds (ARFs) and a personal retirement bond to the market and then, last year, launched a PRSA . And it's just the first step. 'There are lots of exciting plans for the future as we plan to grow this side of the business,' says Noel Freeley, chief executive of Royal London Ireland. Quinn says Royal London's 'aggressive pricing' has put some of the other providers under pressure. Royal London now offers ARFs and PRSAs in the Irish market, with annual fees as low as 0.35 per cent (remember financial advice fees will also apply, as this is the wholesale price, and it applies on savings above a certain level). Royal London also offers its customers a value share. 'It's an additional boost that may be added to customers' fund returns in years that the company does well,' says Freeley. 'Though not guaranteed to be awarded every year, once awarded, it belongs to the customer and can never be taken away. 'In April 2025, value share was awarded for a third year in a row.' This year, it was paid out at a level of 0.13 per cent, thus driving down annual costs to just 0.22 per cent. 'It's unbelievably competitive,' says Quinn. While 'you can't bank on the value share', as it is a discretionary payment, it has been 'fairly consistent' in recent years, he says. Not only that, but Royal London also put its charging structures on its website; typically such payments are hidden behind broker-only access areas. They show ARF charges of 0.4-0.9 per cent, depending on the assets in the fund. According to Freeley, transparency is important to the company. 'Our research identified key areas that were important to customers, such as perceived affordability, which was the main reason for people not having a pension at the time. Therefore, pricing and transparency on fees and charges was important,' he says. More competition It's putting pressure on other providers to be more competitive. Irish Life, for example, is understood to have recently cut charges for underlying contracts taken out on its Portus platform by 10 basis points – that is, from 0.5 per cent to 0.4 per cent. And, as Quinn notes, the move towards cheaper index funds has made it clearer for investors that they may, in certain circumstances, be overpaying. This has also put product providers under pressure to keep costs down. 'People are more cost conscious,' he says. Indeed, a spokeswoman for Aviva says that while it has not cut retail charges of late, it has launched a 'number of lower-cost passive investment options for consumers' to complement its existing range of active funds. Revolut says you can invest €1,000 in the iShares S&P 500 UCITS for a total cost of just €0.73 after a year. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty New players The incumbent players are also facing a wave of new competition from the likes of Revolut, Interactive Brokers and deGiro. These offer low-cost access to a range of investments, such as exchange-traded funds and shares. For example, Revolut says you can invest €1,000 in the iShares S&P 500 UCITS for a total cost of just €0.73 after a year (based on growth of 7 per cent, and a TER of 0.07 per cent). Such investments are typically bought on an execution-only basis, which means investors won't benefit from financial advice – but nor will such fees apply. And, while tax can be an issue, particularly when it comes to ETFs and deemed disposal, change might be coming on this front. Last October, then minister for finance Jack Chambers published the latest communication in a possible reframing of taxes in the investment fund sector. As pointed out numerous times in the consultation process, the Irish system for taxing investments is inconsistent and off-putting for investors. [ Investors still face wait for overdue Irish ETF tax reforms Opens in new window ] There is a growing expectation that changes will be announced in this year's budget, after they were included in the 2025 programme for government. According to a spokesman in the Department of Finance , officials are 'reviewing options for measures that could be taken to assist with retail participation in capital markets', taking into account developments at an EU level in respect of the Savings and Investments Union. Making the investment landscape more tax-efficient should mean ETFs that are easier to account for and cheaper – and bring about another wave of much needed competition for beleaguered investors.
