First electric car-charging points set for 2010 debut

IRISH motorists could see the country’s first electric car-charging points next year as the Government progresses its plan to make the country a pioneer in the field of electric vehicles.

Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) and the Department of Energy has robustly defended the Government’s target of having 250,000 electric cars on the road by 2020 after the head of research at Ford described recently them as “unrealistic”.

In the coming months, the Department of Energy is due to unveil its plan for electric vehicles and Minister Eamon Ryan will seek greater incentives for electric vehicles in the budget.

Recently Jan Brentebraten said the Government needs to put incentives in place before motorists could consider switching to a more expensive electric model. He also said technological advances in the internal combustion engine meant that emission levels in traditional engines were collapsing and many were now as efficient as hybrid models.

SEI head of strategy Brian Motherway however disregarded his assertion and said the Government’s target was aimed at marking Ireland out as a “leader” in the information technology and car-charging infrastructure that is vital for roll-out of electric vehicles (EVs).

The Government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Renault-Nissan to test some of their EVs.

“This country has started to offer incentives such as reduced VRT for electric cars and motor tax reductions. It is likely we will see the first charging stations next year and a number of local authorities are also likely to get on board with EVs next year. There is also the possibility of the ESB, Renault-Nissan and the Government subsidising car cost for a number of pilot projects,” he said.

“We’re doing this step-by-step as you can’t rush in and make decisions now that might not work in the future and might cut us off as technology develops.”

A spokesman for the Department of Energy last night said: “We possess considerable expertise in electric systems through ESB and by 2020 we will have an abundance of renewable electricity as we meet our 40% renewable target. We can leverage these advantages into ambitious plans for electric vehicles, to ignore these natural advantages we possess would be folly.”