EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potonik, pictured beside a 100 per cent Nissan Leaf electric car at Dublin Airport. As part of ESB’s sponsorship of Ireland’s presidency of the EU, the company is facilitating the provision of electric cars.
These were used to transport some visiting delegates for the duration of the Informal Council of EU Environment and Energy Ministers meetings at Dublin Castle late last month (April ), as well as other events during the remainder of the Irish EU Presidency.
The ESB is tasked with rolling out a national electric vehicle charging infrastructure as well as developing the supporting IT and communications platforms. At present there is a growing network of some 1,200 EV charge points installed across Ireland at public, commercial and domestic locations.
As more and more of Ireland's electricity is generated from renewable energy, electric vehicles will make increasingly significant contributions to meeting Ireland's international commitments to reduce green house gas emissions.
Electricity costs, based on night time tariff, for a full charge, ie, up to 160km for the Leaf that will be used next week to transport visiting delegates, are as little as €2.30. This works out at about one tenth of the running cost of an average petrol car.
There is a wide range of electric vehicles on the market and all major manufacturers will have electric vehicles as part of their fleet in the next two years.
