Electric cars - Possibilities we should exploit fully

ENERGY Minister Eamon Ryan has said that more than 200,000 Irish motorists will drive electric cars in just over a decade.

This is an astounding target when you consider that, if it is realised, less than half a century will separate that achievement from the completion of rural electrification in this country. That timeframe is shorter than an average lifetime today and represents a pace of change utterly incomprehensible a few decades ago.

The electric car target has been endorsed by Fine Gael energy spokesman Simon Coveney who, in a report to the Dáil committee on climate change, pointed out that we need to be more proactive if we are to be ready for this inevitability and exploit the economic opportunities it will present.