Mr. Peter O'Shea:

The Chairman mentioned the report. She asked about 60% of all vehicles sold in 2030 being electric vehicles, EVs, and also about the infrastructure. I will point out two points in the report which might be of interest to members. A battery electric vehicle on the electricity system in Ireland right now would be twice as carbon efficient as an internal combustion engine. Right now, it is carbon effective to have a battery EV rather than an internal combustion engine. As the electricity system decarbonises further to 2020 and beyond that to 2030 and 2050, that ratio increases massively. There is no comparison between the amount of carbon produced by a battery EV compared with an internal combustion engine. The question was not about that but about the projections for 60% of all cars sold in 2030. We did much research to come up with the report. It was peer-reviewed research from different organisations across the globe. There is a general view that, before 2025, we will reach cost parity between the battery EV and the internal combustion car. At that rate, one would expect to see a much bigger uptake of the battery EV. We also expect that, by then, the range of the battery EV will be significantly beyond where it is now. Taking those two points together, I would argue that, to date, we have overestimated the penetration of EVs at different time periods. I think there is a real prospect that we will now underestimate it. I think the electric vehicle will take off in a really massive way and our research would show that.

On the question about infrastructure, the infrastructure has to be there. It is in three flavours. The first flavour is fast chargers. Think of motorway service stations. The Department is working with its work group about how that might come into play. I am confident that will come into play. The second is the matter of on-street chargers which we currently see. There is work to do to work out just where that fits. The third matter is domestic charging. To enable the electricity system to allow domestic charging at the sort of volume we predict for 2030, significant investment will be required in the distribution system in particular since there will suddenly be a whole street of cars to charge at the same time. That is a very different technical question for the distribution system than the current system where electricity demand is far more dispersed across individual users. I think, for the price controls that we will get into over future years, that will have to feature with regard to how one actually funds the level of investment required in networks to enable EVs. Five years ago had we asked about the electrification of transport, it was an open question as to whether it would happen. I think that question is done and dusted. It has been answered. Electrification of the small vehicle is, by the large majority view of analysts, the way it will go. Hydrogen will play a part in large vehicles but electrification of small vehicles will happen. All the things that need to be put in place to enable that will have to be put in place.