Dr. Peter Mock:

I will add to this and provide the European perspective first of all. In the first half of this year, we had about 14% battery EVs in Europe among the new car registrations. That is pretty much the same amount or share as last year. At the European level, the market share for EVs is stagnating at the moment. That has a lot to do with the CO2 standards at European level, which are not demanding enough.

From what I understand, Ireland had between 20% and 30% of the market share in the first half of this year, which is definitely above the European average. In June, it was about 50% which I assume relates to the fact that the grant was about to be reduced in Ireland so people probably wanted to get EVs at the last minute. Even with the lower grant Ireland is now providing, the total cost of ownership for electric cars still looks very positive. It is not only about the purchase costs. One has to look at the total costs throughout the usage rates of the vehicle. Our analysis shows, at least in the compact cars segment, that even without any grant, EVs are already competitive today. The real problem is with small electric cars because typically there are not enough offered at the moment and they tend to be relatively expensive compared to the counter-powered vehicles.

I recommend that we focus more on that social aspect and make it easier for people with a lower income to have access to electric cars. Typically, that means supporting them with smaller electric cars which are more affordable and also making sure used cars become available more quickly. That is also linked to the weight aspect we just discussed because typically the heavier, SUV-type vehicles are the more expensive vehicles. It should be possible to develop a taxation system that has a higher tax for those types of vehicles, those which are bigger and more expensive, and provides a stronger incentive, a grant, for those types of vehicles that are smaller and lighter. That would benefit people on lower incomes more. It is the equity aspect that I want to highlight.