Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 30 November 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Electric Vehicles: Discussion

Mr. Brian Cooke:

I am not aware of any specific incentives. There may well be incentives based on vehicle size. There has been a move in recent years away from saloon cars to smaller sports utility vehicle, SUV, type cars.

On electric vehicles, we already have a cap. If there was an increased level of support at a lower level, that could possibly help. If you look at the electric vehicles for sale - I am always loath to talk about specific cars and specific brands - Volkswagen has the ID3, Renault had the Zoe, Nissan has the Leaf, and Hyundai has the Kona. There is a wide selection of smaller electric vehicles. They are obviously not as expensive as the bigger ones. Some of the larger ones do not get support. Therefore, there is a strong suite of small electric vehicles out there.

A small car does not suit everybody but some people have one out of choice. People with big families, etc., feel they need a bigger car, and if they want to go electric, they go for a bigger one. However, there is a wide selection of small electric vehicles out there.

I will look into it. I will try and find out from my European colleagues if there is any specific incentive that skews based on size.