Mr. Jim Gannon:

Transport accounts for a significant proportion of our non-emissions trading scheme, ETS, emissions. Approximately 75% of our transport emissions comes from road transport which is dominated by passenger vehicles. We see this as being a significant area of focus where we can really have an impact in the coming years.

Mr. Confrey has reflected on the targets set in 2008. It is also worth reflecting on some militating factors which we have sensed across our energy efficiency schemes. During the recession consumers were not making purchasing decisions at the same frequency they would previously have made them. Thus there were fewer opportunities for us to influence their decisions and bring them towards electric vehicles. There was not a turnover of purchases that could be influenced. Separately, there was also a lack of choice in the market. In 2008 and even up to 2011 there were just two vehicles available for purchase in this market, which was a constraint.

The grants programme commenced in 2011 and has supported the purchase of approximately 2,200 electric vehicles to date. The figure has been increasing in the past two years and there is a recovery in train. Approximately 670 electric vehicles have been imported directly from the United Kingdom, in addition to the 2,200. There is an active purchasing market. It is also worth noting that some jurisdictions such as the Netherlands only have 10% penetration of fully electric vehicles in their EV fleet, with 90% being hybrids using traditional fossil fuels alongside the battery. Not quite the inverse but close to it is true in Ireland, as 75% of electric vehicles are fully electric, with only 25% being plug-in hybrids. Per vehicle, there is a greater impact in that less fossil fuel will be used. That is a positive message coming from the incentivisation scheme and an important characteristic.

In 2015 approximately 0.5% of car purchases in Ireland were of electric vehicles. In the Netherlands the figure was 9.7%, a significant figure, while in Denmark it was just over 2% and in Germany, just 0.1%, one fifth of what we have achieved. It is worth contextualising these figures. Looking at take-up and digging more into the data, we performed a qualitative analysis just before Christmas 2016, involving electric vehicle owners, those who were considering purchasing an electric vehicle and a number of interested parties and stakeholders. There were three key findings with approximately the same weighting as each other. The first was that there was greater consumer awareness of and confidence in the technology. The second concerned the retention or, perhaps, improvement of the incentives and mechanisms that addressed the price parity point, which is connected to the fact that electric vehicles still have a price premium attached to them. The third finding concerned the importance of widespread and robust charging infrastructure to address the issue of range anxiety. It is important to put it in place.

We are developing a three-year demonstrator programme focusing on three key areas of activity geared specifically towards increasing consumer confidence and awareness. The first part will be a trip-based car use programme analogous to the Dublin Bikes scheme which will be available in the urban environment. The second will be an EV test drive campaign that will bring test driving to festivals, county towns, third level institutions or other large centres of enterprise and employment where people can try the vehicles. The third is a commercial fleet trial, in which we will assist commercial enterprises, from SMEs to large industries, to plug in electric vehicles and test them against their traditional usage patterns to see what benefits they might bring. From this demonstrator programme, we are seeking a much greater consumer insight derived from surveys, driver reports and other exercises, as well as a robust technical data set for driver behaviour, use patterns and fuel and carbon savings from cars and light goods vehicles.

A number of emerging trends are worth exploring briefly. Battery costs are generally one third of overall vehicle costs and have dropped by about 65% in the past five years. With mainstream manufacturers also putting a lot more electric vehicles into their fleets, we anticipate that the cost will come down. We see the price parity point being reached within five to ten years and I hope within five. If that is the case, the need for incentivisation or grants schemes could decrease over time. In respect of range anxiety, the improvement in the range of electric vehicles means that, at the high end, we are in the 600 km technical range. Soon we will see an Ireland-scale battery coming into being. This is a small country of a certain geographical extent. If a vehicle's range can take it from one point to another, the type of charging infrastructure needed changes. With price parity in train and the need for charging infrastructure changing, we chose to focus on the consumer awareness and confidence piece.

Biogas and natural gas offer lower emission alternatives to traditional fuels. It is perhaps more likely that they will have a greater impact in the case of heavier transport vehicles. Our recent biogas report addresses that fact in much greater detail and I invite committee members to read it. We will continue to work independently, with the two Departments and the low emissions vehicle steering group to explore more efficient and impactful ways of reducing energy use in, and decarbonising, the transport fleet.