Motorcheck Blog» Electric Cars

GE to Order ‘Tens of Thousands’ of Electric Vehicles

Shane Teskey — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 12:08:49 +0000

Thanks to Ron Cella for sending me this very interesting article from Bloomberg News.

Currently GE employ over 2,000 people in Ireland and it looks like some of them may be getting a very nice surprise from Santa this year.

Largest Order in History

General Electric Co. may jump-start the electric-vehicle industry with an order that CEO Jeffrey Immelt said will be the largest in history.

GE, whose power-generation equipment provides a third of the world’s electricity, will order “tens of thousands” of the vehicles in about a week, Immelt said Thursday in a speech in London, without giving a total or identifying a manufacturer.

Manufacturers preparing to sell vehicles powered solely by batteries over the next 18 months include Nissan Motor Co., which begins delivering Leaf hatchbacks late this year in the United States and early next year in Europe; Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which starts delivering i-MiEV minicars in Europe late this year; Ford Motor Co., readying electric versions of its Transit Connect delivery van and Focus compact car; and Toyota Motor Corp., which will sell a rechargeable RAV4 SUV.

General Motors Co. begins delivering plug-in Volt hybrids this year, and Honda Motor Co., Chrysler LLC, BMW AG and other large brands are preparing battery vehicles due later this decades.

Huge step

“This is a huge step up,” said Brett Smith, a vehicle technology analyst at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “It’s the biggest order to date I’m aware of, by a lot.”

Expanding the world’s fleet of electric vehicles would bolster GE as it expands so-called clean-energy technology such as car chargers, solar panels and wind turbines. For every dollar of EV sales, GE estimates it may get 10 cents in revenue, said Gary Sheffer, a spokesman.

Immelt said half of GE’s sales force of about 45,000 will drive EVs.

The Fairfield, Connecticut,-based company also has a vehicle-leasing division through its GE Capital finance unit. Financial terms and other details about the order aren’t yet being disclosed, GE said.

GE is investing $10 billion over the next five years in clean energy across its business lines, including power-transmission software and so-called smart-grid technologies. Its products include lithium-ion batteries for cars and trucks via a venture with A123 Systems Inc. and sodium-based batteries for use in large vehicles such as locomotives.

Creating jobs

That spending creates jobs, Immelt told executives at an event sponsored by the University of Cambridge’s Programme for Sustainability Leadership.

“GE has been one of the biggest players in this game and certainly has a lot to gain from the electric vehicle,” Smith said. “They’ve really truly tried to push this hard to get things going, and it seems to be a core corporate value.”

Combined deliveries of hybrids, such as Toyota’s Prius, and battery-powered cars may reach 5.2 million by 2020, according to an Oct. 27 forecast by J.D. Power & Associates. That would be about 7.3 percent of the projected global vehicle market.

Immelt used his remarks in London to renew his call for increased private spending on renewable-energy investments.

“Now is exactly the time, because it’s less popular, where we have to invest more,” Immelt said. “We have to do it more courageously. And we’re going to have to go forward for a while without government at our backs.”

GE Energy Infrastructure is the company’s biggest industrial unit, accounting for $37 billion of the parent company’s $157 billion in revenue last year.

GE is the largest shareholder for Watertown, Massachusetts- based A123, which has signed agreements with Navistar International Corp. and Fisker Automotive Inc. to supply advanced batteries for their vehicles.

Renault Release ‘E.V.’ Prices- batteries not included!

Shane Teskey — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:37:56 +0000

Mark O’Byrnes went along on Motorcheck’s behalf to the Fitzwilliam hotel this week where Eric Basset, MD for Renault in Ireland, was announcing new details for the companies Electric Vehicle (EV) strategy.

Finally Renault were in a position to release some pricing information which we’re pleased to bring you below.

Batteries Not Included!

The first major piece of news was Renault’s announcement that it intends to lease its batteries separately to the purchase of the actual vehicle.

The company believes that this will increase the resale value of its electric vehicles as future improvements in battery technology can be enjoyed in the same car by subsequent owners and not limit its appeal by tying it down to older technologies surpassed by longer ranges and quicker charging times.

Electric Kangoo

The Kangoo van will be available from September 2011 and will cost €20,000 however after Government incentives the price comes in at a more modest €15,870 (Ex VAT). The battery will cost €72.00 P.M to lease.

The Kangoo has a 60 HP motor with 167 lb-ft of torque, which is more torque than the 1.5 DCI. The 22 kWh lithium-ion battery should provide a range of around 100 miles.

Fluence ZE

The Fluence will be available in early 2012 at a cost of € 21,620 after the Government rebate of €5,000. The battery will cost € 79.00 P.M, over 48 months, again with a range of 100 miles, and a top speed of 84 MPH.

Renault say the cost of the Fluence including battery leasing and electricity will be around the same price of the equivalent Diesel. However, the electric Fluence as with all E.V’s, will have no oil changes, filters, and timing belts to maintain.

You could even charge the battery from your own renewable energy system if you are fortunate enough to have one.

Renault ZOE

The Zoe is Slightly smaller than the current Clio and although the price has not been finalised, Mr. Basset said it will be in a similar price bracket to the Clio. It will have a range of 100 miles and a top speed of 90 MPH.

It’s great to see the line up of electric vehicles improving all the time. Renault tells us that they will have an E.V. road show in June 2011 giving people all over the country a chance to see the EV’s up close and personal.

An ‘Enthusiasts’ View of The Electric Car (and bike)…

Shane Teskey — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:19:34 +0000

Mark O’Byrnes is a regular visitor to the Motorcheck blog. Living in Co. Kildare he has always had a healthy interest in cars and has developed more than a passing interest with the electric motor. So much so that he even installed an electric motor on his bicycle!

In the article below, Mark shares his experiences with us and outlines his ‘enthusiasts’ opinion on the future of electric motoring.

Electric Bike

First off let me say that I am not a Mechanic or Electrician, more of an enthusiast. Electric cars have always interested me and I have even converted my bicycle to electric. With very impressive results. The torque is amazing and it will do 24mph (max) for 35 miles on a 52 volt 20 amp LiFep04 battery. On its current usage I should get over 35,000 miles life from the battery.

Mark's Electric Bike

For those of you sniffing at the speed let me explain, the top speed is limited by the battery voltage. It uses a 40 amp controller and it’s really that 40 amps that gives it amazing hill climbing abilities and the fact the motor is wound more for torque. Suits me fine as getting help going up the hill is a real thrill.

Throughout my research in the electric bike arena I’ve learned a lot about E.V.’s in general and I love to share that knowledge with people have a similar interest. Hence this blog for Motorcheck.ie.

These are exciting times we live in. The battle between the Internal combustion Engine and the Electric car is only just beginning. The first real affordable E.V. (Electric Vehicle) to come to our shores will be the Nissan Leaf with its claimed 100 mile range (though Nissan have admitted that with heavy use of your right foot and the electric heater will see your range drop to 70 miles or less).

In terms of charging – the leaf will take eight hours to charge from empty to full. Most of us will do this at night on a reduced tariff for very little indeed. If I knew what the consumption of the charger was I could work out the exact cost to charge, but the E.S.B say it will be as little as four Euros for a complete empty to full charge.

For most people that travel 100 miles a day, or less, the Leaf will be ideal, but for those who regularly travel more, or like to go for a long trip the odd weekend, then the leaf might not be the one for you. When the charging infrastructure is in place it might not be as much of a problem, especially when more fast chargers are in place, though continuous use of the fast charger will shorten the leaf’s battery life.

Nissan Leaf

E.V.’s are very efficient around towns and cities where they drive in really slow traffic. A normal petrol or diesel car might get around 25-35 MPG . Electrics will be much more efficient consuming nothing when stopped, only a few watts to maybe 1000 watts or maybe a little more to keep the a/c or heater going, but still it’s much more efficient than running an normal car through high traffic. Here’s a quote from Wikipedia on the Tesla roadster “The Roadster’s motor efficiency, battery-to-wheel, is 92% on average and 85% at peak power. For comparison, internal combustion engines have a tank-to-wheel efficiency of about 15%.”

Some people think that electric cars are no more environmentally friendly than the combustion engine and that the electricity to charge them comes from fossil fuel sources. Yes even though most of the energy still comes from fossil fuel, E.V.’s are still much more efficient than normal Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars, even at high speeds. It’s worth noting that power stations have to keep running even at night when power demand is low and it wastes a lot of fuel, charging E.V.’s at night will bring improve the efficiency because the power being generated to keep the steam going for the turbines can be used.

The Battery

Now the science bit – the battery. Batteries have come a long way since lead acid, the one used in your car to start the engine. Lithium batteries are starting to be used in the likes of the Leaf and the Opel Ampera and have a much higher energy density than lead acid, or Nickel metal Hydride batteries (like those found in the Toyota prius hybrid).

Don’t think that because your mobile phone or laptop battery only lasts around 2-3 years, that the same will apply to electric cars. Electric cars have far more sophisticated battery management systems, and never allow 100% discharges or 100% charges!

It takes around 8 hours to charge the Nissan Leaf from Empty but because the first generation of electric cars are really for town or city drivers the limited range and charging time should not matter much because most people wont drive use the full charge so they won’t take the full eight hours to come back to full.

Nissan estimate that the Generation 2 leaf will have a real range of around 200- 300 miles and I can see that as being true with the advances of lithium batteries in the last few years. Nissan use LiMn2O4 lithium batteries in the Leaf and seem happy to say they will go for 1000 full charge discharge cycles. So If the Leaf can travel up to 100 miles @ 1000 cycles, that’s 100,000 miles (or more if you only use 50% of the battery charge and charge every night).

Nissan also offer an 8 year 100,000 mile warranty. Importantly, second hand car buyers will be able to buy the leaf and possibly have the option to buy a new battery and benefit from a longer range battery in a few years time.

Another battery currently in development stage uses silicon nano wire technology which at this stage in development currently offers up to 4 times the capacity of normal lithium batteries. Back in 2007 the battery was expected to be on the market within 5 years. So in 2012 we just might at least have an E.V. battery that can travel up to 400 miles. The silicone nano wire battery offers a theoretical 10 times capacity over normal batteries. So 100 miles x 10 = 1000 miles. But we are some years away from that yet!

And 1000 miles @ 1000 Full (Full to empty) = 1 million miles battery life! And of course most batteries will still have 75 % capacity after that, meaning you can travel at slightly reduced range, or in the case of end of life vehicles, can be used in renewable energy systems!

Opel Ampera

The Opel Ampera is another electric car that will be available in 2011-12 and uses a LiFeP04 lithium battery, it’s a better chemistry and more stable than the one in the Leaf and should last 1000+ cycles, however the Opel Ampera can only travel up to 40 miles in electric, with one major difference, it has a 1.4 L petrol engine that acts as a generator to charge the battery when it runs down so you can continue to travel without any worries about the car stopping and failing to reach your destination (the engine does NOT drive the wheels).

Opel Ampera

The MPG (estimation) for the Ampera is 280 U.K mpg. I must confess have no idea if that’s in E.V mode or when the generator is running! One thing to note though is that if the Ampera has a E.V range of 40 miles x 1000 cycles = 40000 miles. There is no information as to whether there is more than 1000 cycles expected of the battery developed by A123 systems, However only around 50% of the actual capacity is used in the ampera to prolong battery life by not fully discharging or recharging them, so they could actually last 3000 cycles or more. No one really knows yet!

There is another type of lithium battery called the lithium air battery, which uses an air cathode which basically makes it a lot lighter because of the fact you don’t need a heavier metal cathode! IBM are one company that are investing in lithium air batteries and hope to have a battery with 40 times capacity within the next 5 years from 2010. That might seem a bit over enthusiastic! However, I think most of us could settle for an electric car that can travel up to a real 300-400 miles!

Charging will eventually be the biggest problem, or not, depending on how long you can wait for recharging. Today’s Fast chargers will inevitably slow down as capacities grow more and more. What takes 15-25 minutes now might take an hour or two in the future, still many people might not see it as much of a problem if all they want is enough charge to get home. However charging from home might take a very long time indeed. There are companies working on ultra fast charging EV batteries, but have to ensure it doesn’t shorten battery life by doing so.

Hydrogen & Nuclear Fusion

One thing that will solve the problems of battery charging and range is Hydrogen. Hydrogen reacts in the fuel cell to make electricity to keep the battery charged. Hydrogen has to be extracted from water by using fossil fuel, or Nuclear and requires vast amounts of energy making it very inefficient . It can be done by using renewable energy but most experts agree that the energy would be better put into batteries directly through the grid!

The Holy grail of course, is Nuclear Fusion which uses sea water. There is enough energy in sea water to last over 6 Billion years at our current energy needs! The earth is guaranteed to last for around that before the Sun runs out of it’s own Hydrogen! We are between 20-50 estimated years away from Nuclear fusion, which is much safer than today’s reactors with just tiny amounts of radiation.

The only thing I have against Hydrogen is the fact it will be a lot more expensive than electricity because of governments being able to tax it, suppliers charging what they like etc. Whereas electricity is cheap and easily available. And if you are lucky enough to have a wind turbine installed you can charge for free!

What would I buy?

Toyota Prius

I think if I was to purchase a new car at this minute, then I would go for the Prius. Simply because I like automatics and the prius gets good mpg if driven to take advantage of the hybrid system. There are several reports of people getting over 80 mpg with the 2009 gen III prius and I’m fed up of maintenance on Diesels. And I don’t like the clatter. I know they have come on leaps and bounds in the last few years, but they are still a long way away from petrol for refinement.

If I was to buy an all electric car, then I would wait for the Opel Ampera, simply because I like to regularly go for long drives, and because the charging infrastructure is not there yet! There is no idea of the cost of the Ampera yet, but the leaf will cost €29,990, that’s as much as a High spec 2.0TDI DSG Golf! But for fuel economy nothing will beat the Leaf or Ampera!

People have told me they will never buy an electric car. My answer to that is, when petrol and diesel and car taxes rise enough. Especially in Europe where we already pay the highest taxes on fuel in the world. That will change people’s opinions of electric cars!

Also people will come to realise that electric cars require very little maintenance. They don’t need to have a timing belt changed, there’s no oil, they have no gearbox. No particle filters to block up or break as in diesel cars and require very expensive repair, also there is numerous reports of twin mass flywheels failing on diesel cars too, and that’s a very expensive repair job!

They’re quiet and have good acceleration. They warm up very quickly in winter because of the electric heater. In the case of the leaf you will be able to turn on the heat or A/C by using your iPhone or setting a timer in the car itself so it will be nice and warm and de-frosted when you get in early on a cold frosty morning. No more waiting for 10 miles for the car heater to blow out warm in the case of a lot of modern diesels!

I think people that drive electrics will love them. It will be the new cool thing – to drive, and be seen to have, an electric car. People are surprised to know how many miles I actually go on my electric bike and the thrill of taking it off road gives me a smile all the time. I wonder if my first EV will do the same?

Car History People Look to the Future

Shane Teskey — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:20:37 +0000

The recent progress made by Ireland in paving the way for an electric future is nothing short of impressive!

An early commitment made by the ESB to provide the necessary infrastructure followed by the official signing of an historic electric car agreement meant that a specially formed Renault – Nissan strategic alliance could count on Ireland as a real champion for their electric technology.

Four months on and I was lucky enough to be invited along to the Radisson hotel in Stillorgan to test drive the first all-electric Nissan LEAF which comes to Ireland in limited supply early next year. It’s not often that a car makes such an impact that I decide to order one there and then!

On sale in Ireland in February 2011

The expected allocation for Ireland is a limited 1,000 units and over 100 are already spoken for. The LEAF will be sold in Ireland as a complete unit including the battery, meaning there will be no separate monthly battery leasing charges.

The retail price is €29,995 (€34,995 Less Government grant of €5,000) including the battery but excludes metallic paint and dealer related delivery charges. I’m told delivery charges could be a hefty 1,000 Euro but that’s to be confirmed.

Running Costs

This is where the numbers get really exciting. Average annual running costs for LEAF are expected to be approximately €232* (that’s less than €20 per month). This represents a saving of over 80% on running costs compared to traditional vehicles *calculated on an average 19,000km per annum.

ESB have committed to install home charging points free of charge to the first 2,000 Electric Vehicle customers. Currently LEAF falls into the lowest bracket for road tax at €104 and a potential for €0 road tax is also being examined as a further Government incentive.

Critical Acclaim

With so much attention on this car there are hundreds of reviews already available but two Irish journalists who drive it recently were seriously impressed.

Paddy Comyn of completecar.ie drove the LEAF in Japan back in June. His thoughts? “We were seriously impressed by our first proper drive in the LEAF. For anyone who lives in an area where the car’s range limits are adequate they will be not only getting an amazing piece of 21st Century technology, but a really nice car too. This car is the real deal – more“.

Eddie Cunningham, Motoring Correspondant with the Irish Independent was one of the first Irish journalists to drive the LEAF on Irish roads and he found it drove just like any other family car. “The first thing to note is it is normal. It is an electric family car that is different only because it doesn’t have a petrol or diesel engine.“ You can read his review here.

Electric Vehicle Incentives Raise a Few Questions

Paddy Comyn — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:46:36 +0000

Amid the fanfare, pomp and ceremony that greeted the announcement of a €5,000 incentive for electric cars this week in a sun bathed Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, a few questions were raised to which as yet there still remains to be no answers coming.

On the surface, the announcement of such an incentive is designed to offer an antidote to what will initially be the high purchase price set to be asked for, for what will be very early electric car technology.

We have seen the silent roll out of prototype models of the Nissan Leaf and Renault Fluence EV electric vehicles, which prelude the arrival of real production versions of these cars starting as early as next year in Ireland. US prices have been announced for the Leaf, which have been set at $25,000 and this seems very reasonable for what is ground-breaking technology.

Range Anxiety Could Be A Problem

Earlier this month, as part of an Irish Times article I drove Mitsubishi’s iMiev, which is the first production electric vehicle to arrive on Ireland’s shores. The results of our 24 hours in the car were mixed. For a start, we didn’t achieve anything like the 130km which we had hoped to get from a full charge, mainly because we drove this car on a variety of roads, namely city centre, dual carriageway and perhaps more nervously, motorway.

'Range Anxiety' a Factor

Motorway driving sapped the car’s battery faster than you can say “range anxiety” and this was as real-world a test as you are likely to find. Obviously, not everyone lives 50+km away from their house, as I do, but many users need to be on the M50 or need to travel on a dual carriageway with speeds of at least 100km/h and this in the case of the iMiev had a very definite effect on the car’s range and performance.

Better things are promised from Nissan’s LEAF and Renault’s Fluence EV, with a claimed 160km of range, but if you push the engineer’s and marketeers on what conditions are needed to get such lofty figures then the answers aren’t always forthcoming. We will reserve judgement until we get our hands on the production versions of both the LEAF and the Fluence EV, but they will have to perform close to the claimed distances for Irish buyers to take them seriously.

Purchase Price Critical To Success

There is no doubt about the potential benefits of electric vehicles to owners in terms of running costs long term, but purchase price is going to be key for their success.

Purchase Price Critical to Success

Nissan, at the unveiling of their LEAF electric vehicle spoke about how they were set to do things a little differently compared to their alliance partner Renault and won’t go down the route of leasing the battery, but will instead offer the LEAF at a competitive price, assisted by the government grant of €5,000.

Allowing no VRT on a new car is generous to a degree, but since VRT is now based on emissions, then it would be just 14% of the Open Market Selling Price, so not a huge amount in the first place. Allowing a €5,000 grant off these new cars for a short period, from 1st January 2011 to 31st December 2012 is welcome, but it may only serve to benefit so-called early-adopters of the electric car. With petrol and diesel cars now cheaper than ever, it might be a hard sell to get an Irish buyer to spend €25,000 on an electric car when they can spend €15,000 on a half decent petrol or diesel car.

Bizarre Road Tax For Zero Emmision Cars

Another anomaly was highlighted this week and that is the confusion over whether there needs to be an amendment to road tax. One bizarre feature of the current emissions-based road tax system is that Band A is from 0-120g/km of CO2 inclusively so as it stands, if you do buy an electric car you will pay €104 per year annual road tax.

Is €104 Road Tax Good Enough?

Our neighbours in the UK don’t pay any road tax if the car has emissions of less than 100g/km. So while offering a grant off the purchase price is welcome, perhaps the government should be seen to go one step further and offer up the annual road tax too? Classifying an electric car, with zero emissions in the same way as a diesel car that has emissions of 119g/km seems already quite antiquated.

There has been a seismic move towards Band A and B cars. Figures from Motorcheck show that 74% of all new cars sold this year come from Band A and B. In 2006 this figure was just 14%. We have been conditioned to buy diesel cars and now the public is going to be asked to embrace a new technology is large numbers.

If the government is really serious about getting us into electric vehicles they are going to have to put more distance between cars with tailpipe emissions from those with none.

Historic Electric Car Agreement Signed Today

Shane Teskey — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:26:31 +0000

The road to an electric future widened into 4 lanes today as members of the Irish Government, The ESB (Electricity Supply Board) and the Renault -Nissan Alliance put pen to paper to formalise an historic agreement that will see Ireland become one of the first countries in the world to enjoy Electric Cars.

Government Support

The definitive agreement signed today confirms the Governments ongoing support of Electric Vehicles with a VRT Tax Amnesty as well as a 5,000 Euro grant towards the vehicles most expensive part – the battery.

The ESB has pledged to continue its development of a nationwide electric car charging infrastructure with plans to install 3,500 charging points nationwide by 2011.

2,000 domestic chargers will be installed in the homes of electric car owners and a further 1,500 in prominent on-street locations. Also planned are 30 fast charging points along our national inter-urban routes.

Nissan LEAF

Renault – Nissan Alliance

Nissan will supply its all-electric, five-seater LEAF hatchback to Ireland in early 2011. Gerard O’Toole, Chairman of Nissan Ireland is clearly excited by the new developments. Speaking at the signing today he said ‘Nissan Ireland is delighted to be part of such an historic occasion for the motor industry in Ireland and Europe’.

Unfortunately pricing for the LEAF wasn’t finalised in time for todays announcement but it’s expected that the car will be comparable to other petrol models in the same class. With a total range of 160 km’s it is expected that the cost of getting from A to B in an electric car will be 80% cheaper than a normal combustion engine.

The first ‘EV’ to hit the road with the Renault badge will be its light commercial Kangoo Z.E. later this year.

Renault Fluence

100 pre-production Renault Fluence Z.E.s will be introduced in 2011 for an Irish Pilot project with the production car available for private buyers in 2012. Both models are fitted with the latest generation of lithium-ion batteries which have proven to be 1.5 times more efficient than previous technology.

Philipe Klein, Executive Vice President of Planning and Control at Renault SAS, said: ‘Thanks to Ireland’s determination to be a leader in electric mobility transport, the necessary conditions – including incentives and infrastructure – are being put in place in this country to allow for the successful adoption of electric vehicles in the near future”.

‘Boy Racer Stuff’

It’s clear from the Minister’s first drive of the Fluence that the car has a certain fun factor. As you’ll see from the clip below, the huge torque provided by a silent electric engine can take some getting used to!

First Electric Car From Mitsubishi Arrives In Ireland

Shane Teskey — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:19:27 +0000

As the ESB prepares to unveil the first of 1,500 Electric Vehicle (EV) charging posts, Mitsubishi Ireland registers the first of its all-electric city cars.

Unfortunately, supply is limited and it will be June before we see another 14 coming into the Irish market. This particular car will be used for testing purposes in advance of a Government target that 10% of all vehicles on Irish roads will be fully electric by 2020.

Electric Car registered as a Diesel?

A quick look at the official record on the Motorcheck database however makes us wonder if the registration authorities were expecting EV’s to arrive as soon as the i-MiEV did! Our free vehicle identity check shows that the registration number on show hasn’t been assigned the correct fuel type. The official database shows the all electric i-MiEV (Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle) as a Mitsubishi Grandis 2.0 Di-d Intense 5d/r DIESEL MPV.

Gavin Flood at Mitsubishi was happy to explain. Turns out the registration number used in the picture was a temporary one used for the purposes of the picture. The i-MiEV has yet to receive it’s official number plate but whatever it is – we’re looking forward to seeing it on Irish roads.

An impressive indication of what’s to come. The i-MiEV boasts a top speed of 130 kph with a range of 160km. It can be fully charged in 6 hours and costs less than €2 to charge from a standard plug.

The Future of Electric Motoring in Ireland…

Shane Teskey — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:16:37 +0000

When I heard that ESB had appointed a Managing Director to a newly formed division of the company entitled ‘Electric Vehicles’ I felt a subtle ’shift in gear’ for the motor industry. Could this mark a significant moment for the introduction of electric cars on a national scale? Are we about to dispel the notion of electric powered vehicles as a ‘concept’ to a grounded ‘reality’ that will shape the face of motoring in Ireland for the next century?

It’s only been three weeks since Paul Mulvaney (pictured above) was appointed to the position and already we’re starting to see the beginning of a new and what promises to be an exciting chapter in Ireland’s motoring history. I had an opportunity to meet with Paul and hear first-hand about ESB’s ambitions to make Ireland a significant contributor to the development of electric motoring at home and across the European Union.

We chatted about the levels of financial support on offer from the Government to those hoping to purchase an electric car and what’s being done to further the research and development of the required facilities to run them. The targets for the number of electric vehicles we can expect to see on the roads and what challenges face the ESB over the short and medium term.

Government Support

It’s clear that a significant role in the success of the electric vehicle will be its purchase price and the ongoing running costs. In its recent budget the Government stated its support for the deployment of electric vehicles onto Irish roads with a VRT exemption for the next 3 years.

Also announced was that there will be a new grant for half the costs of the batteries for the first 6,000 cars on Irish roads. This is expected to be in the region of 5,000 Euro per car which represents a serious commitment to making the electric car as affordable as possible.

Renault will bring its customers a complete range of electric vehicles by as early as 2011

The government is on record as saying it intends to have 10% of Ireland’s national transport fleet (250,000 unites) converted to electric vehicles by 2020. It will take time to develop the infrastructure but in the shorter term they expect to have 6,000 vehicles within three years followed by a sharp increase as vehicles and the necessary charging points become more readily available.

Competition for the next generation of electric vehicles is strong between the European member states. To help Ireland get a foothold, the Government is working closely with both the manufacturers and the relevant stake holders to the extent that it has signed two separate Memorandums of Understanding with Nissan-Renault and ESB. This memo was drafted in an effort to encourage the introduction of electric vehicles to the Irish market as soon as they are available.

The ESB And The Electric Car Infrastructure

ESB has committed to providing the infrastructure for a radical overhaul of our electricity system so that electric vehicles, once available can be charged on the Irish system. This infrastructure whilst built and maintained by ESB will be available to all electricity providers. This is no small task and will require that ESB provide a range of charging facilities to cater for three very different requirements.

Home Charging – a facility that will allow the car owner to charge up directly from the house supply. Using this facility one could expect to achieve a full charge over 6 – 8 hours depending on the vehicle involved.
1,500 charge points to be introduced over the next three years
Destination Charging – a quicker charging point that will achieve an 80% charge in 1 to 1.5 hours half the time of a home charge
En-Route Charging – Akin to filling up at a petrol station, there is a possibility that we will see high speed charging points available at set locations where a battery could be charged in a matter of minutes (20) as opposed to hours.

Paul and his team will be responsible for rolling out 1,500 charge points over the next three years and he expects to have the first active point in place outside ESB Head Office on Merrion Square in January with a further twenty or so in place by March of 2010.

‘Billing’ presents its own set of challenges and the company is looking at everything from smart cards with a standardized bill across Europe to a pre-paid model similar to mobile phone top-ups. It may even be possible to book a charging slot online and pay directly by credit card before you pull up to a charging point.

Speaking about the suitability of Ireland as a live test centre he says, “As a small island nation with one management company in charge of deploying the grid, Ireland will make an excellent test-bed for the rest of Europe”.

Just How ‘Green’ Is Our Electricity?

Critics in the past have scoffed at the idea of electric cars claiming that the source of the electricity required to charge them would be a greater pollutant than the ‘gas-guzzling’ cars we already use. Not so, says Paul. He points out that if we introduced electric cars to the grid as its generated today the reduction in CO2 emissions obtained from ‘Well to Wheel’ would be in excess of 50%. That’s before the introduction of SMART homes and technologies that would give us the ability to charge our cars overnight using excess energy generated from wind power.

Clearly committed to an environmentally sound ‘grand plan’ (ESB as a company aims to be carbon neutral by 2035), Paul mentioned that his department is already looking at ways to offer a ’second life’ to the batteries that ten years down the line will be removed from the electric cars. He hinted at the possibility of using ex-car batteries in our homes to take advantage of cheaper, cleaner electricity produced overnight and stored for use during the day.

The company has a number of next generation vehicles on order and is looking forward to sharing their experiences with anyone interested in learning more. Currently working with vehicle manufacturers, academic institutions, The Department of Energy and The Department of Transport, Paul is clearly enthusiastic about what’s to come!