Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

While the Senator thinks of his question, I would like to make a point about EVs. I always ask taxi drivers about EVs because they are very knowledgeable about them. They are the most knowledgeable by a mile. When I take a taxi to Heuston Station or wherever, I ask the taxi driver about EVs. They have told me that EVs are great for urban driving but are not good on motorways because if one drives at any sort of high speed they burn into the battery. In many cases, one cannot drive long distances. Taxi drivers have tested EVs in great depth. How far are we behind technology-wise in reaching a point where the average person can buy an EV car in the full knowledge that he or she can travel from Dublin to Limerick or Cork without fear and will not be required to stop at junction 14, which is what many people must do now? EV cars are unaffordable for the average person and many people believe that the battery life is not long enough.

It is about feeding into that. The discussion is very abstract. The question is how we get to the point to where a person changing his or her average car feels that an EV is affordable. At the moment, people do not believe EVs are affordable in terms of cost and practicality.