Random EV thoughts.....

In 2021 there were 142,000 new cars sold in all of Ireland. Assuming annual sales of 150,000 per year between now and 2030, that would require 78% of all cars sold between now and 2030 to be EV/hybrid. I think in 2022 it's 21% for the first 7 months, so might hit 22% for the full year. The charging network won't be a problem, there are so many places where chargers can be provided that fit in with people's daily activities, supermarket car parks, leisure centres. These would only be required by people living in apartments since everyone with a house would have their own charger. Private companies have shown a readiness to deploy new charging sites where they see a business opportunity, eg. Applegreen. I don't see any problems with our grid being able to handle the future demand, Eirgrid are very competent.

The biggest problem I can see is that as Ireland urbanises and those urban dwellers are increasingly becoming apartment dwellers rather than living in a detached house, these people are disincentivised to purchase an EV due to the lack of charging at their car space. I think new apartment blocks should have all parking spaces cabled up so that a charger can installed where required. How this would be metered is a separate (solvable) issue. Building management companies and fire departments however will be reluctant to encourage EVs in their underground car parks dues to the difficulty of access and extinguishing. So that's another issue that will need to be addressed.

They've increased spending on active travel 5 fold in 3 years. Bit harsh to say they're doing nothing.

@slave1 are they applegreen units?

Well I'd argue their approach is misguided. They're right to install cycle lanes, but it's all shared infrastructure with cars which is just a nightmare for everyone, literally the worst of both worlds

If you look at places where cycling is common, they tend to have clear divisions between roads optimised for cars and ones for bikes and pedestrians. It's a much better experience for both

I appreciate that sometimes there isn't much choice, but there also seems to be a shocking disconnect between what they signal as intentions and what actually gets built

On top of that, the level of maintenance for cycling infrastructure is far worse. Leaf and snow clearing tends to block up cycleways rather than clear them

And I get there's a limit on what any government can realistically achieve in one election cycle, but the government parties have signalled what they intend to achieve by 2030 and I don't think they're anywhere near on track for that

The cable length suggests they are the same units... any car in any space...... AG for the win.

>The charging network won't be a problem,

>there are so many places where chargers can be provided that fit in with people's daily activities,

I disagree. It can take 1 year from deciding to put in a charger to it becoming operational. There is a worldwide shortage of DC chargers and supply chain delays. ESB networks can take 6 months for supply upgrades. There is also possibly planning and new substations to be built.

If government has a tender process, which they have talked about for 2023 that will delay any rollouts as interested parties lobby to get the tender rules the way they want the tender goes out, the winners announced, the winners go for planning, planning approval, order chargers, install chargers and get supply grid upgraded. We are probably 5 years behind Scotland in infrastructure. There is no signs of us catching up. If anything public chargers per EV on the road ratio is going down even with new sites. Already EV sales are being impacted by lack of public charging even for those that can get home chargers. I could have convinced 3/4 people to go EV but I don't recommend it due to problems on long trips. It only makes sense for the hassle if you have a 100km daily commute then the fuel savings make sense.

It looks like ESB is being kicked out if motorway services with a monopoly supplier, and no operator is rolling out at any scale that will solve the between cities problem.

I believe it's going to get worse before it gets better.

A car transporter fire involving seven electric vehicles has shut part of the M1.

Jaguar iPace by the looks of them?

The article says Toyota want people to buy hybrids.

Free version from Electrek

You could say Toyota are getting bZ 😂

Seems like a bit if a crazy move. Sure it might mean less flights in the air buts it's also disadavataging some people maybe who might have had a small airport near buy but not a train station or who for whatever reason do not like travelling by train. Its basically the French Government taking out the competition to benefit there rail network.