SIGNIFICANT INFRASTRUCTURAL changes will be required if Ireland is to meet its target of making one-tenth of all road vehicles electric by 2020, a conference on sustainable energy has heard.
The capacity for recharging an estimated 250,000 passenger vehicles both at home and on the road will need to be developed, and renewable wind and tidal energy should be harnessed to power the cars, the chief executive of Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) Prof J Owen Lewis said.
“Interest in the use of electric vehicles is growing worldwide and Ireland is moving to prepare the way for this emerging form of transport,” he said.
“Significant investment in infrastructure will be required to facilitate even a modest deployment of electric vehicles in Ireland, as these vehicles require an extensive charging infrastructure which is not currently in place.”
SEI said similar projects in Israel and Denmark cost about €200 million for a full rollout. The system would consist of kerbside and car park charging points and 500 battery exchange centres.
The Government, as part of its climate change targets, hopes that 10 per cent of all vehicles on Irish roads will be electric by 2020.
Achieving the ambitious target could have the same effect on the environment as taking 100,000 cars off the road.
In November, under a scheme to cut the State’s €6 billion annual bill for imported fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions, the Government announced incentives to encourage motorists to switch to electric vehicles. Businesses purchasing electric vehicles are entitled to write off 100 per cent of the cost against tax, but individual buyers are not so covered.
ESB sustainability director John Campion said he was confident a “smart network” to power such cars could be developed. “Getting people to buy electric cars will be important, and some form of incentivisation will need to be developed. We need to see some non-fiscal incentives such as free parking, free tolls or even allowing electric car users to use bus lanes.”
Mr Campion said the ESB is committed to seeing the infrastructural developments required being achieved, which he said are not “insurmountable”.
“We want to encourage the electrification of transport in general in Ireland,” he said. “These very stretching targets are a signal that Ireland is serious about it, but we need to show this in practice.”
Mr Campion was speaking to The Irish Timesafter an electric vehicle and sustainable transport conference in Dublin yesterday.
