Are cars electric?
By Tom Mooney
Gary Numan, when he was with Tubeway Army, had two hits back in the day: Are Friends Electric? and Cars.
Five years ago we would have questioned the validity of electric cars, but no more. The goal posts, as Kevin McStay might say, have shifted. Electric cars are here to stay but only a fool would describe their introduction as an unqualified success.
It’s a few years since I drove my first electric car – the Nissan Leaf – and, all things being equal, found the experience interesting if not exhilarating. The most memorable note, for someone who thinks engines make music, was the sound of silence.
But the technology has moved on, and government support has increased and not waned.
Ireland- because of its advanced charge point network which already covers 82% of the country’s main towns and cities – has become the first country to trial an electric vehicle IT platform that will facilitate international roaming and seamless charging acrossEurope, with payments settled much like with mobile phones.
The motivation behind the government supported Green eMotion project is to enhance the adoption of electric vehicles through the development of interoperable systems so that motorists can easily charge anytime and anywhere inEurope.
It is impossible to be precise about the roll out of electric cars: thoughChinais expected to have 13 million electric cars buzzing in about ten years, it will take another 30 years before half of the cars on the planet are not petrol or diesel driven, which means it’s ok to stop reading this column now.
But electric cars are here to stay, and unless the government can find a way to tax them to the hilt, could prove exceedingly easier on the pocket in the long run. And as they won’t make any noise, electric cars will do for boy racers of the future what a comet did for dinosaurs.
We like to punch above our weight, so it should come as no surprise that Irish companies are to the fore in ushering in the electric age, by developing a smart home charge point that operates as part of an energy management system and allows the end user to charge when electricity is at its cheapest or greenest.
Also, expect to see new electric models such as the Volkswagen Gold, the Volvo C30 and Renault Twizy, with a Duracell up their backside, and not Shell, anytime in the next year.
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