Electric V diesel | Bob & Nobby 600km comparison! 

So great to see Bob back in the saddle today. Hope he is recovering well. Fantastic video lads. Well done.

Lads you are great together. Very informative. Great to see Bob back in action!

Best two car reviewers in Ireland

A year into a Tesla m3 sr and day to day for my use, it's a no-brainer just shy of 30k km done cost €950approx so far , but for this challenge diesel makes more sense. Not many scenarios where i would be travelling across country and back without a stay over . Also highlights the lack of infrastructure when off the main arterial routes. Great Video lads !

Takeaway from this very enjoyable/watchable video; For the once in a blue moon long journey, diesel or petrol is probably better (from a peace of mind point of view). For the other 99.9% of journeys, electric is better, assuming you can charge at home. Nobby should have been allowed to charge at Kinnegad station on the outward leg. Top up whenever you can when you stop on a long journey. Electric does require more planning (but then again most people need to stop somewhere on a long journey). looks like the network has improved over there as the last time I as down that way, there was only 1 fast charger site outside of Ennis.

These are great videos guys because they illustrate that its about choice and what suits the individual, there's room for all fuel types to get you there 😊

Meant to add, this was a brilliant video. Really informative and balanced.

Great video guys, the questions that people need to ask, if they're buying a brand new car, is whether they regularly do 400 mile + trips or if they're mostly just commuting 20-30 miles per day. And what's the charging infrastructure like within say a 400 mile radius of where they live. I chose an EV because I mostly have that 20-30 miles a day scenario with maybe 2 or 3 400 mile+ journeys a year. It's a lot cheaper on fuel for me as I have a very cheap overnight charging rate so the 2 or 3 times a year I need to use more expensive public charging isn't that painful. If you're a long haul driver, and especially if you don't have the option to charge cheaply at home then it still makes sense to buy an ICE vehicle. Hopefully within the next 5 to 10 years we'll get EV charging times sub 10 minutes and improved infrastructure and most importantly reduced public charging cost. It has to be cheaper than fossil fuels otherwise people aren't going to want to give it a try.

Bob, you are a legend-I deliberated long and hard before buying my Audi A3 Etron and your review swung it for me. I wish you well on your recovery and keep doing what you do.😊

Great video, lads; it covered everything with brilliant drone shots, and I love the banter between you.

I get 5c on pinergy for 3 hours on my ev rate ex vat Went to Killarney from tallaght over Easter Niro got me all the way there about 15% left. free charge at the hotel good Friday filled me up Chargers were iced for the rest of the weekend. Stopped at Cashel put in 21 quid for 50% Easter Monday the place was packed Got plugged into the ESB charger, toddler took longer to fill up on a happy meal than I need on the car. Similar trip for work to Cork overnight mid march Full leaving B&B had a 5 quid flat charge added back my 75% Got home with 30% Admittedly it does take me a couple of nights to charge up again.

Firstly, great double act with Bob! Enjoyed the video, lots of unbiased information delivered without fuss. The cars are great but the charging speeds, convenience and locations need some work. Be great to see something on devaluation, repair costs and how to get a realistic number for the range when WLTP figures are looked at. Keep up the great work.

Switched this year Tesla and VW diesel in the yard...both have their positives but for a set journey everyday with cheap 8 cent charging at home it has reduced my bill by 90 euro a week. Diesel has its advantages too but you are gonna pay to drive one over the excessive taxes this government keep putting on.

Thanks for highlighting the sorry state of country charging options Nobby and Bob. I own an electric car and this is my experience so far with them. I charge at home for 8c/kwh (for 4 hours a night) so it's super cheap daily but driving a long distance like this with my family would a non runner on a family trip. Couldn't be dealing with down chargers, queues or the pick of options. Happened once to me and was a nightmare. Government needs to pull the finger out and get the infrastructure rollled out now.

This was absolutely super lads. Really enjoyed it. Even just the chat at the end. Great chemistry

Two of the best together, great to see. Won’t be going near a EV for a good while yet, great to see you Bob

Loved watching this every minute of it! Beautifully shot and edited! Well done folks! Also, appreciated that you weren't biased towards one or the other one and instead thoroughly laided it all out as it was, so everyone can decide for themselves. Cheers, thanks and looking forward to more this kind of long-format videos in the future!

Great shoot lads. Bob’s conclusion bang on, if home charging at the Nightboost rate (mine is 10c), managing pre long trip charging (using the 10c rate) so a full or nearly full battery at the start results in my full 60kwh charge costing €6. Then got to charge probably balance 50kWh public for the lads journey so at say €0.65 public equals €32.50 and total cost €38.50 vs. Bob’s €57. Now that’s for a once off long journey. We drive c. 1,500 km monthly, only charge at the 10c Nightboost rate. Use about 350 kWh per month so that costs €35. Bob’s fill for 1,200 km tank distance was €110. Adding 25% for like for like 1,500 distance means Bob’s cost would be €137.50 vs my normal €35. An EV user with appropriate mixed peak/off peak/boost rate should be ok with occasional long journey needing public charging, against monthly restricted nightboost charge. EVs aren’t going to make sense for long distance regular driving due to charging infrastructure, range stress, as you encountered Nobby.

Good video lads. If you put a value on time, waiting and the messing with chargers, the anxiety, the 'minding' your speed and not using the tech in the EV it shows Diesel is still way more cost effective with running costs and comfort!

Goodness. I have been told the ID.7 is big, but I had no idea how big. The A6 looks like an A4 next to it. Wow! :)

Great video from the Irish Kings of road testers! I like both cars, too, so even more entertaining. (I'd have the diesel every time). Bob - hope you're making good progress.

In 2023 I purchased 2 x EV's - BMW iX and a Nissan Ariya. Both drove me nuts spending time looking for chargers that worked or weren't clagged up with people waiting to do same, hanging around waiting for charge when I don’t want or need to and range anxiety when low on charge. I gave up, lost a fortune (don't buy a new EV - you'd be mad, used are falling like a stone and actually "good value") and went back to diesel - I should never have gone away from it in the first place, it just doesn't suit my drives - frequent long range. If your pootling around towns up to 150-200 miles a week max then an EV is for you. If not, walk on by... Great presentation Nobby as always. Bleep out the FFFFF's though :)

The electric car does it now but would ye do the same test using a 4/5 year old ev and a 4/5 year old diesel ?? Most people don't have 60/70k to spend on cars

Great comparison. I totally did not expect the ID.7 to come out more expensive per trip. However if you do such a trip 2-3 times a year, for the restof the year when you do under 100km per day you have a better all round car. If you try to drive it like you would a diesel on a long trip, you will just get frustrated

As for Nobby’s ‘Will I, won’t I’ get there. I did a recent real world trip from Belfast to Dublin. Nissan Ariya 63 kWh. Left Belfast with 98 miles to home but only 93 miles range. Minus 5 projected. Wanted to test would it get there (had charging options on route). In NI I drove at 50 mph in 50 zone, 60 mph in 60 mph zone and 63 mph in 70 mph zone. In ROI, all on the M1 at limit 120 kph. Not in a rush. I drove at c. 102 kph. Radio on whole journey. Aircon front blast when needed cabin heated. Air temp c. 8 degrees, no rain, don’t know about the wind. Anyway, journey range turned from minus 5 miles to plus 6 miles when pulled into the house. Compared to Nobby’s plus to minus. Good test and info.

2 of the nicest motoring RU-vidrs and I subscribe to both channels, and more tie ups in the future please 👍🏻😊

You can get a night rate for the full 9 hours at around 14c/kWh, so that would be €11.86 to fully charge tbe ID.7 with losses. That would be a good option for anyone doing significant driving every day

I live in Spain where weekend drives from Madrid to coastal cities, Bilbao, Valencia, Málaga or Barcelona are very common. That is a 500 to 600 km Drive one way and another 500to 600 km back home. The vast majority of people in Spain will never consider buying anything other than a diesel given their range. Electric is not a realistic proposition for long trips.

Great video lads. Please can we have more videos like this in the future, the two of you together is just brilliant. One point, if the 50k watt charger had NOT been working, what then? Here in England it seems quiet a lot are faulty when you turn up to charge your car. The infrastructure & the cost is a major concern if you do long journey's on a regular basis. Keep up the good work.

Everyone in this country has different electricity deal I guess. With my BMW card I pay €0.39/kwh for 22kwh charger and €0.49/kwh for rapid chargers. That would cost me €53.9 for the same amount of kWh. I hope ESB will reduce charging prices as at this moment they’re very high.

The crossover event we've all been waiting for

Enjoyable video and great summary at the end…it does depend! Also shows the legacy 50kw units are not fit for purpose in modern EVs and the number of units is lacking especially in the west.

The aforementioned 8c per kWh is for a 4 hours window nightly so you can add another 28kWh a day for a cost of €2.24. If getting a rounded 20kwh per 100km that’s 140km daily range for about the equivalent of 1.3L of diesel.

Very interesting how bad the supercharger network in Ireland still seems to be compared to northern and western Europe, and still the ID7 did a great job 🔥 also our public charging seems to be more affordable but the private charging is way more expensive in Germany, still cheaper than diesel in tco tho

I've a Volvo S90 D4 Auto has all the spec of the VW,and costs less to buy.I do 35,000 km a year.100 quid gets 600 mile no bother,No fuel anxiety.Safe,big,comfortable and 55 mpg or 4.5 to 5.0 l/100km

Great to see you both back together again. Great honest summary at the end. It always makes me smile when I see EV Vs diesel comparisons and unrealistic journeys that you wouldn't make daily. We never see one for 100miles or less as the outcome would be obvious. I own EVs but I am a believer that one size doesn't fit all, especially at the moment. Buy the tool that does the job for your usage pattern. One or two long journeys are fine in an EV but if your usage pattern necessitates daily or weekly charges to complete your journey EV charging infrastructure isn't there yet

Congrats men. Hugely entertaining video brilliantly shot. I'll play it again on Bobs channel. The issue is a microcosm of what is wrong in much of Irish society. People are asked, encouraged and sometimes put upon to change when the infrastructure to support change i.e. charging points in this case, is not in place. Same issue with cycling lanes, rail and public transport and to an extent health, housing and education. Change and we're promised better but better doesn't arrive or takes years to arrive. The Audi's road presence is off the scale.

If you actually did do this on a bank holiday weekend, I’d worry that the EV experience wouldn’t have been as relaxing. Especially in Lahinch as it would be a popular destination.

In the UK, you can charge on an EV tariff at 7.5p per kWh, so well under a tenner to fully charge from zero.

Without the heat pump in the ID7 it wouldn’t have made it back to Dublin. Heat pumps are an essential in EV’s IMO. Great test! 👏🏻

Great video lads. Bob, your mic wasn’t very clear though.

The costs of fuelling are dictated by government policies. I drove 569 miles yesterday in a MB diesel and finished the trip with 158 miles of indicated range. A tiring enough day without the stress of range anxiety and waiting about for charging. For many people diesel is still the answer regardless of ‘savings’ offered by electric.

Great comparison. You guys are my favourite car reviewers. I drive an EV around town but take an ICE car to travel to our holiday home in France 550 miles in one direction. Charging network is not yet reliable - I'm in the UK and it's not great, but chargers in France are not that reliable either.

Great video, more of the same please.. Fantastic partnership Bob and nobby. BRILLIANT

This is very entertaining and well done. But of course the Diesel can go further. People don’t get an electric car because they go further. More Bob please :-)

Good review lads was just wondering what the range would be like in the iD7 if you had a family of four on board. Extra weight etc. plus the cost of buying lunch or snacks every time you stop. Charging network light years behind Norway with same population.

Sorry mate, watched Bob's version first... Watched again because its so great, the scenery is wonderful Great job, both of you!

If it was a 150kw charger, it also would have been about 60% more expensive per kwh, than a 50kw charger. Faster yes, but you pay a premium for faster. How they justify that I don't know - the hardware is asunk cost, after that it's the same Kw of electricity, just delivered faster.

Is it just me or do electric cars only work for the so called school run and shopping. If you are only charging so much at night at home I think this is the only good thing about e-cars at the moment ???

yes recently did a long drive to Kerry in my id3 no problem and chargers at hotel...also remember the petrol engine has 200 years of improvements over relatively new EV driving...

I've done 43,000km in my EV with 528km WLTP range (430km in the real world). I've needed a public charger less than 10 times in total. My first 20,000km in 2022 (on a day/night meter) cost €336 in total at home and maybe another fifty in public charging. 2023 home EV charging for another 20,000km cost me €588. No petrol or diesel car gets even close. Obviously you need to be able to charge at home, if not, then don't buy an EV. The running costs are so low that I wouldn't even consider a petrol or diesel car again. Strong recommendation however, don't buy a VW electric car, if VW wouldn't stand over the car for more than 3 years warranty, why should you.... along with them not being be as good as the Korean competition. I have a seven year warranty and only need to get the car serviced ever 2 years or 30k. My 2 year service was only €197. I plan to keep mine at least until the 7 warranty expires and probably longer, I love having a big, silent, mega comfortable car that is loaded with all the tech I like and none of the latest EU nanny features. Range anxiety hasn't been an issue, obviously a real world 1,000km range would be even nicer, but what I have hasn't compromised my journeys.

Thanks for the great video guys, very honest assessment of both cars. I absolutely agree that it's very often the charging network that causes anxiety than the cars and the west of Ireland can be a bit of a wasteland for chargers One alternative option I'll throw out would be to head down to the Tesla chargers in Raheen Woods hotel. I'm pretty sure they're open to other cars now and would have been faster and more reliable (and possibly cheaper)

Best video in ages. Well done.🎉

'Always be charging' stopped anyway so makes sense to charge.

Great video and good seeing Mr F. I’m now glad I’ve ordered the full blown diesel for my new Tiguan! The anxiety nah just can’t be having it!

Great video lads, really enjoyed it. Maintenence is also a factor. My electric servicing cost me €320 over the last 2 years. I find electric driving much more relaxed. Yes, I have to plan more but I can manage that.

Some cracking drone footage guys

This was brilliant. Now do a comparison between a diesel and a hybrid. Ohh, and choose more afordoble cars. One of the cheapest but well equiped would be NEW KONA HYBRID N Line 1.6 GDi Automatic (€39,295) and Skoda Octavia Style 2,0 TDI 150 hp 7-speed automat (€ 41,171). Both are similarly priced, with similar power & weight (Kona 1880 kg with 141 hp vs Octavia 2000 kg with 150 hp), and both are automatic so, the difference would remain the body style and fuel type. I think the Kona is better equiped but the Skoda is a faster car with better handeling (disclamer: I never drove the Skoda, but it's body style would suggest so). Both brands are well regarded by the public and more of an affordable "people's" car (but Skoda more so, as it is part of Volkswagen - wink, wink).

Great video lads, well done on presenting a balanced view. It keeps coming back to the infrastructure not being right for EV's when you are doing long trips. But as you both pointed out how often do you do a long trip. It really does depend on your use case and picking the right car for the job.

Good info if it was 2019. Mark why didn’t you do a 15min CCS charge at Athenry SC on the way out and the return((ie while going for restroom). 8 stalls so no risk of busy or broken compared to a risky slow single 50kw at lahinch. Great video two best reviewers, great to see Bob back. Entertaining but had you done two splash’n’dash at athenry or M6 services 4 stalls you could have stayed at 120kph all the way with the heating on and not had to wait at lahinch. The same stops and route for both cars favoured the diesel. St Bob of Arabia happy with the diesel. Fab entertaining if 5 years out of date for comparative data.

I love the idea of the quiet smooth powertrain of electric but the reality is they’re only good for short journeys and as a second car. Unless there’s a big improvement in battery technology long range electric is only going to be feasible if we adopt hydrogen power.

Great review you and Bob should have more of these types of reviews but I want to correct you on a few things. I live in West Clare and you don't have to go via Limerick to get to Kerry. There is a car ferry near me from Kilimer to Tarbert. Secondly, although chargers are scarce in the west of Ireland I agree. Here are a few options nearby: Miltown Mabay (10km south of Lahinch) has 2 fast Easy Go chargers at Vaughan's Gala garage, 2km from there is the Armada Hotel in Spanish Point with 3 chargers (a great place to stop for lunch with stunning views overlooking the beach) although I do not know if they are fast chargers. Kilkee (40 km south of Lahinch ) has 2 ESB fast chargers, so you do have some options when you come to Clare. I drive a VW ID4. Finally, Lahinch to Dublin via Limerick using the M7 is only 10 km longer than the M6 route and also mostly motorway.

Great video guys

Great video lads, also line a Fáilte Ireland video. It's food for thought as I was thinking of buying a second hand electric. Second hand electric have come down massively in price and I live near work. I only do occasional long journeys and we have a charger in work aswell as a charger at home. Only seems like if we're going out west the network let's us down.

Brilliant video. I love these Petrol/Diesel vs EV comparisons. I would love to see you guys do this again but use a Tesla as the EV. All the issues you faced with chargers are obsolete when using the supercharger network. They work all the time. Just out of interest Nobby, when driving on the motor way were you changing the driving mode to eco? I noticed in one shot that "B mode" was on but couldn't tell if you were on a motorway. In my experience switching off regen mode on a motorway will increase range.

Dont know when ye filmed this but that charger in Lahinch is OFFLINE for the last few days at least. Rollout is really slow but ESB not bothering about Clare that much. All the atlantic way counties getting chargers galore but Clare in general is getting overlooked.

Just common sense - right now, in 2024, if you can charge at home, buy an ev and enjoy the savings. If you spend loads of time and kilometers on the roads, don't buy an ev right now. But in 5 years things are going to be massively better for evs...new tech takes time...my gawd, many parts of Ireland didn't even have electricity until the mid-60s! It's the luddites of the worlds that love to hate, but give it time...markets change and perceptions change.

This Audi has radar (ACC) cruise control. This is what two black boxes on the grill are

The diesel was doing exactly what it's best at, the BEV was doing its least comfortable journey, and the BEV kept up perfectly well, and would have been grand if Nobby had topped up in Kinegad

Enjoyed that lads , but for me the Ev cost is still way out of reach of the average Joe , mind you the Audi is as well , but I still think the infrastructure is the key , and as you both did say you would not be making the trip on a regular basis and most Ev,s would get most of there charges at home , that is you live in a home where you can avail of charging, but like Bob I have a diesel ⛽️ car which gives me 1,100 kms on a full tank , with no range issues, in the cities and for someone only doing a couple of hundred kms a week an EV is ideal, and sa you both know there are plenty out there now from 37 to 45 grand that will give you 350 ro 400 kms , but I think I will stick to my Kia Optima for a few more years yet, at least until the infrastructure vastly improves , cheers guys a good review as always 😊

Great video lads but tbf the ESB chargers are usually very reliable, also Mark there's more chargers than that around there ,there's another 50kw easygo 15min down the road in Miltown

Great review lads. Not 100% on EV's to be totally honest. Not because of the cars, they're great. Electric network isn't there yet.

Very interesting debate. But if you can have splashed some charge I when you took a break, it might have made the journey easier. Driving electric does mean a change of driving habits. Always put in some charge. Top up, top up and top up. And as you rightly point out, what will the cost of diesel or petrol be in a few years. There has been far too much investment in electric vehicles for them not to play some part in our future. But it's still an ever evolving subject which is going to seriously affect residual values.

great video lads,,, i found it very interesting,,, i do a similar journey,,, Cavan to west Clare,,,, in one day,,,, in my ioniq 6,,,, i leave with a full charge from home top up in the Galway Plaza150 kw charger 30 /35 minute charge,,, then i have enough to get back to galway plaza again 10 minute charge and on to Cavan... its the 77 kw battery,,, i agree with all your both saying,,, 50 kw chargers are slow for a big battery,,,,a big thanks to you both for doing this,,,,, one last thing,,, i travel at 120 km on the motorway and always have air con on,,,

the state of the charging infrastructure in Ireland is diabolical. The lack of chargers and competition of pricing is the FAIL here - the car is fine - more chargers, better speed, competition for prices and things would be much closer!

Great video lads, and a DOUBLE RAINBOW! 🙂

Too much anxiety when driving electric cars and too many points of failure and dependencies. Will be a charger available? (suppose was a weekend or public holiday) Will the charger work? What happens if I only have cash with me (eg forgot the card and phone)? Should I rely on the calculated range? etc ... It does not worth it for long journeys, period.

Lads Energia have a four hour window for EV charging

I'll keep my 2009 Golf 6 diesel and my 2013 Mercedes E350 SW diesel till i can. Cheers from Italy

Great video gents

Thank you for this test. I am today trying to decide if I get a diesel or EV for work. It is my own car so my only concern is the trade in value in 4 years time with 160k on the clock. If I had diesel I would have some value but an EV will have little if any. For this reason diesel seems to be better

New viewer, love the video. Saw something about someone recovering? What happened

The Boy's are back in town 🎉🎉🎉

Great to see you together on another video 😂😂, wonderful informative video 📹 👏

The government needs to concentrate on the midlands and out west for the charging network in maybe 2-3 years it might be better but nowhere near Norway where the infrastructure is amazing

If you’re doing a real road trip you have a blended cost of charging at home on a cheap rate to 100% and then the expensive top ups at public stations. Would reduce the overall trip cost a fair bit but still expensive to charge in public on units with high output power.

You can't enjoy a journey like that with kids ect .win for the diesel ⛽️

Great video lads. Bob could do the same trip without refuelling. No brainer for me, diesel all the way.

Great craic lads. Should've used a Skoda Superb l&K against the Id7 and then done the spec comparison.........probably would have come in at the same money as well. I suppose yis wanted to give the EV a fighting chance......

Hope Bob's on the mend

Great video, as an EV driver I've no issue with journeys especially with a charger at home. Just some planning needed. However if you are constantly doing long trips diesel is the only way. To note my car is a company car and if I could choose I'd only go diesel.

Brilliant review of both cars, pity about the charging network, ironic that the biggest power station in Ireland was just down the road, BTW there is a ferry at Tarbert to bring you to Kerry from lahinch😂

Great video, very informative. You guys should collab more often.

If I was a local politican in Lahinch I would be highlighting this video which showsthe poor charging Network for EVs in Clare Limerick and Kerry, how can the Government intice motorists to make the change when they won't support the Daily running of EVs in rural areas!

Great video

At 35:11, Total Journey Cost is incorrect for the ID.7. Should be around €70 even at the extortionate ESB eCars Public charge rates ?? ESB eCars prices are crazy especially for legacy 50kW DC charging ? Tesla SUC in Athenry is 10c per kWh cheaper for non Tesla EV’s.

VAG are quids in regardless of which of these cars you choose.

The problem I have with EV's is, that if 70% of the population have electric vehicles, the EBS couldn't provide enough power to charge them all. I certainly won't be changing from my petrol car anytime in the future

Bob is a legend.End of.

Good video lads, more like this please 😊