From rugby professional to e-mobility warrior, Peter Bracken is used to tackling tough challenges. The former Ireland, Connacht, and Galwegians rugby player, who also won a European Champions Cup medal with Wasps, has become a passionate advocate of electric cars since his retirement from the game in 2006.
"When I retired from rugby I was concerned for my mental health," he says. "I was afraid I wouldn't find anything else I was passionate about ," he says. But some years later when he bought a Nissan Leaf, "it clicked".
"I got the same buzz from playing rugby, and I can make a difference," he says. "I couldn't believe the performance and the acceleration. I thought it was amazing."
Within 10 seconds of driving the car, he believed it was the future. So enthused about the car's power of acceleration, Bracken hired a Teslar X, and undertook a 600 miles tour of Ireland to experience the car.
"In that car something hit me - one of those life changing moments. I was always sustainably conscious - I was no eco-warrior, or going to live in a tree. I like my technology and luxuries, but growing up on a farm, there was no waste. That was just in me, my grandparents and parents.
"So with all the technologies in the world to be sustainable, you don't need to be burning stuff to be moving stuff or heating stuff anymore, the technology is there, so let's do it, I thought."
Bracken questioned what he could do to lower his carbon footprint. He says there were several options including changing to an electric car, which he admits can be difficult for people, but he says there are other options - changing electricity to 100 per cent renewable energy, lowering one's carbon footprint.
"For me changing to an electric car and changing to renewable energy was easy, but it might be easier for others to even lower their meat intake than it was for me.
"My life has improved. People might be afraid their standard of living will go down. No it won't and I would urge people to give it a try."
Bracken says it is now time Galway city and county prepare for the new wave of electric cars.
"Recently Hertz, the global car rental company, ordered 100,000 fully electric cars [EVs], with an option to order 100,000 more. This first order is 25 per cent of their fleet. Other companies will follow," he says.
"Imagine all the tourists, in rented electric cars, heading to or through Galway. Where are they going to charge, either on the way, or while touring in Galway?"
As a result he believes Galway is "heading for trouble" with only a handful of individual charge locations. Although most Galway EV owners will charge their cars at home if possible, there are a significant number with off street parking that need facilities. Add in Galway's significant seasonal tourist industry and passing traffic, he questions what public charging infrastructure will be needed in Galway by 2025, and by 2030.
"Element Energy, a UK consultancy, was commissioned four years ago by the four Dublin local authorities to determine what Electric Car infrastructure was needed in the Dublin metropolitan area. I deduced from the report a framework to determine the electric car infrastructure required by electric car drivers per 100,000 population - based on reaching 80 per cent of Government targets."
He believes local people will need a mix of two charging options: Street charging [slow] and/or urban charging hubs [fast]; Travellers/ tourists need two charging options also - en-route hubs for charging [fast chargers at motorway/national route service locations] and destination chargers [slow chargers at hotels, B&Bs or shopping centres etc].
Based on his analysis of the Element Energy report, Bracken believes Galway will need seven urban charging hubs (fast chargers ), 115 street charging locations (20 slow charges ), seven en route charging hubs, and 70 destination chargers by 2025. This should increase to 28, 460 22, and 280 respectively by 2030.
Each charging hub means approximately 10 fast charges in one location which can deliver between 50 and 300 unites of electricity per hour with a typical charge time of 20 minutes. A slow charge would take eight hours.
He believes the biggest challenge for councils is to meet the electric car needs of both local people and tourists, planning for the peak, the peak of the tourist season, peak weekends like sporting finals, so as not to have unhappy visitors and unhappy locals.
Local authorities have four vital roles, he says - finding locations for charging hubs and street charging; Negotiating with Eirgrid to get power needed for those hubs; Infrastructure providers- ideally insist on a pay as you go, rather than provider apps and memberships; Negotiating with neighbouring counties to plan en route charging hubs.
"Tourism is a large employer in Galway and more and more tourists will be visiting the county in electric cars. The M6, M17, M18, N17 are busy motorways bringing tourists and business from all over the country including Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Shannon Airport, Sligo etc, so Galway city and county councils need to coordinate with neighboring councils in Clare, Westmeath, Roscommon and Mayo to ensure there are en route hubs at key points in and out of the county."
Urban Charging Hub
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He believes Galway needs at least three urban hubs in Galway city, while Galway county needs urban charging hubs in Ballinasloe, Clifden, Oughterard and Tuam, in addition to more at the Plaza on the M6.
"It would be unreasonable to expect people from other towns and villages in Galway to travel to charge their electric car. Serious consideration needs to be given to providing street charging in all towns in the county that would not have a charging hub," he says. "Galway city and county councils need to decide where they might put street chargers, These are slow chargers for local residents who do not have off-street parking. For some residents, who normally park outside their house at the footpath, a simple gully to allow a charging wire across the forthwith might be the cheapest solution. Another cost-effective solution is to put charging sockets in lampposts. As street lighting has been switched to low energy LED, there is plenty of capacity in the installed wiring to cope with 13a sockets."
He believes Ireland will need 20-40 in every average sized hotel before 2025. B&Bs will also need to install charge points, and he says, a standard plug will often be adequate. Cost of overnight charge is typically €5 per EV.
Bracken, who has applied the same enthusiasm to his e-mobility charge as he has throughout his life, says whether people want to change to an electric car or not, even if an enthusiastic promoter of cycling, electric cars are coming to Galway in large numbers and will require a significant investment in infrastructure by 2025 and a major ramp up until 2030.
"The burden of cost will be spread among local and national government, private charge providers and private accommodation providers. Nevertheless, it is 100 per cent the responsibility of Galway city and county councils to plan for the infrastructure and drive the adequate roll-out electric car infrastructure. It is time for Galway to drive forward sustainably."
