Dr. Aoife O'Grady:

We are doing a lot. We always need to do more. The average family in Ireland does not purchase a new vehicle. The people in Ireland who purchase new vehicles are a very small minority of the population when we look at the overall car fleet and how many new vehicles are purchased every year. To get to the average family in Ireland we need a second-hand EV fleet. We are only now hitting the point of EV sales when we will see EVs coming through to the second-hand fleet. At present there is a very small second-hand fleet in Ireland. They tend to be much older vehicles with significant battery degradation. We need to keep new vehicle sales coming through so that they follow through to the second-hand market two or three years later. The average family will then be able to purchase a three-year-old EV with a high-quality battery. Many of the vehicles now have battery warranties for seven to eight years. People will have security of mind and will know they will get another five years out of the battery.

I chair the EV policy pathway implementation group. A subgroup of that group is looking at how to activate and generate the second-hand market for EVs in Ireland. We have a challenge because many of this country's second-hand vehicles have traditionally come from the UK. Brexit has meant significant additional taxation charges because the UK is outside the EU VAT system. There are several elements to this. Another challenge is that with Covid many vehicle leasing and rental companies stopped purchasing new vehicles. This is one of the reasons we see such high car rental prices at present. They do not have sufficient vehicle demand.

We are working to see if we can get an incentivisation for those leasing fleets to start purchasing EVs. This is because, traditionally, those vehicles make their way into our second-hand market after two or three years. Therefore, regarding cost and affordability, getting the second-hand market right will help. The upfront cost of an EV is high. Even with our grants, a significant gap still remains between the cost of some EVs and equivalent ICE-powered vehicles. As more and more EVs come onto the market,, we will see those costs reduce. They are still higher than those for vehicles with internal combustion engines, but within a year or two - given the running costs and the difference between the low cost of running an EV and the increasingly high cost of running a petrol or diesel car - people will get their money back within a few years. This aspect will cause a switchover, as well as the cost of vehicles coming down.