[Article] - First Roadside Electric Car Chargers Installed

G_R

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0326/breaking20.html

Irish Times Newspaper (26/03/2010) wrote:

Electric car chargers spark into life

EOIN BURKE-KENNEDY
The country’s first electric vehicle (EV) charging stations or “juice points” have gone live in Dublin.
The four on-street charging posts are the first of a nationwide programme that will see 1,500 installed across the country over the next two years.
The latest additions to the State’s motoring infrastructure are located at parking spaces in the city centre: two outside the ESB headquarters in Fitzwilliam Street, one outside the The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources on Adelaide Road and another outside the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland in Wilton Place.
By the end of June, a further 12 will be installed at locations in Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Portlaoise, the ESB said today.
The company plans to build 3,500 charge points by the end of 2011 – a total of 2,000 domestic units, which can be charged through the mains, and 1,500 kerbside units.
Electric vehicle drivers have to register to acquire a personalised electric fob to allow them access the public charge points, but recharging will be free for the initial phase of the project. It takes up to two hours for an 80 per cent recharge on most EVs, and between six and eight hours for a full recharge.
At today’s launch, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan said just over a year ago, the Government announced its intention that 10 per cent of the Irish motoring fleet will be electric by 2020.
“We have seen great progress since then. Ireland will be among the first in the world with this kind of nationwide infrastructure. It’s bold, ambitious and will show Ireland as a global leader in the green economy,” he said.
ESB chief executive Padraig McManus said the company’s strategy of decarbonising it electricity generation by 2035 will allow for the development of a decarbonised national transport system.
Under the company’s plan, Dublin city and county will have 500 charge points by 2012, Cork (135), Limerick (45), Galway (45) and Wateford (45).
The remaining points will be located across the country, at least one in every town with a population of 1,500. There will also be 30 rapid charges, which can charge vehicles in 20 minutes, located along all major routes, at intervals of 60 kilometres, nine of which will be installed by the end of this year.
Electric cars are significantly cheaper to operate than their fossil fuel counterparts, costing an estimated three cent a mile to operate compared to 15 cent for a conventional vehicle. The ESB have not yet settled on a recharging price, but it is expected to be markedly cheaper than petrol or diesel.

Sounds good. But 2 hours to charge a car:eek: That doesnt sound to appealing tbh.

Other opinions?

Roryhy

Plan your journeys so you dont have to charge half way and everything will be fine. Its a different system that requires a bit of planning and foresight but i for one am glad to see this happening and have the option!

serfboard

Am all in favour. Mentioned here also.

RTE wrote:

Ireland's first on-street charging points for electric vehicles have been unveiled today by the ESB.

The company has plans to have 1,500 installed by the end of next year in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.

The infrastructure is part of a Government plan to have 10% of all cars powered by electricity by the year 2020.

The unveiling of four kerbside charging points in Dublin is a small part of a big plan to end Ireland's transport reliance on imported petrol and diesel by switching to electric vehicles.

It is expected that 2,000 drivers will be using electric vehicles by 2011.

After registering, all vehicles will be able to recharge at any point, although it is anticipated most recharging will take place at home.

Supporters of electric vehicles welcome the ESB's initiative, but want the Government to provide grants for car batteries, ensure free parking for electric vehicles and allow their drivers use the bus lanes.

However I take exception to this:

RTE wrote:

Supporters of electric vehicles welcome the ESB's initiative, but want the Government to provide grants for car batteries, ensure free parking for electric vehicles and allow their drivers use the bus lanes.

Sorry, I know electric cars need to keep moving, but bus lanes are (or should be) for public transport only (I wouldn't even allow taxis in them if I had my way). How in the hell would it be policed/enforced? We know well that it wouldn't.

G_R

Roryhy wrote: »

Plan your journeys so you dont have to charge half way and everything will be fine. Its a different system that requires a bit of planning and foresight but i for one am glad to see this happening and have the option!

oh definitely glad to have the option, no doubt, but I don't think that it will be a hit until they find a way to get the car charged a hell of a lot faster than that, in my opinion.

Irish and Proud

dannym08 wrote: »

oh definitely glad to have the option, no doubt, but I don't think that it will be a hit until they find a way to get the car charged a hell of a lot faster than that, in my opinion.

...technology should improve over time!

Stinicker

dannym08 wrote: »

oh definitely glad to have the option, no doubt, but I don't think that it will be a hit until they find a way to get the car charged a hell of a lot faster than that, in my opinion.

The ESB have been one leading Irish innovator and something unique in this country in that they have some visionary thinking and none of the myopia associated with our politicians.

While this article is all about the electric car and this in my opinion under values the true actual value of this initiative Electric cars are fine however the real market and winner from this will be Plugin Hybrid Electric cars where you charge the car and get a distance of maybe 40 miles (Chevy Volt) on battery alone and then the tiny petrol engine kicks in charging and powering whole car along. Think about it.. you can drive that long journey to work or for shopping etc. on either all electric or mostly electric, park the car plug it in and drive home also on majority electricity power. Charge up overnight on nightsaver or from your own windmill etc.

True Electric cars are a long way off but when they arrive we will be geared for them. Cars running on Electricity from renewables would have zero carbon emissions and the hybrid motor could then run on either E85 or BioDiesel leading to almost zero emissions for the part of the journey longer than the range of the battery. Toyota's Prius only manages a crappy 15miles per charge so will hardly be a world changer however the new Chevrolet Volt (Opel Ampera) from GM will be to the 21st century what the Model-T was to the last century.

We are on the cusp of a Hybrid Electric revolution and both Hydrogen and all electric are all very fancy they have a long way to go before developing into a car for the masses. Barack Obama wisely bailed out GM and GM will be reborn with this car and motoring costs will be slashed to around €5/100 miles with it, plus lower costs to buy, tiny road tax and far less fuel bills, although the leccy bill will rise slightly.

I am sceptical about global warming but I am firm beleiver in innovation and change and technology like this is good for the auto industry and good for our pockets. Every penny we can save and every litre of oil not burned is good for our economy and we could soon have windturbines powering the masses of commuters on their morning commutes within the next 20 years as this technology will only improve as time goes on.

Clearly FF must have no influence on the ESB as we are doing something sustainable and proper for a change. Hybrid Electrics will be hitting the market next year so lets hope the ESB gets a good coverage of recharge points around the place.

KevR

Stinicker wrote: »

motoring costs will be slashed to around €5/100 miles with it, plus lower costs to buy, tiny road tax and far less fuel bills, although the leccy bill will rise slightly.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens with motor tax, electricity costs and the like when large numbers switch to electric. I don't think the motor tax will remain low on electric cars and I expect some sort of road pricing to be introduced (or else a tax on car charging instead).

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but don't the government take in more than €7 Billion every year on motor related taxes; they only spend slightly over €1 Billion on average every year on roads. The extra money gets spent on subsiding bus/rail fares and various other non-tranport related day-to-day things.

It's not that I don't believe in climate change, I do. I just don't think humans are having as big an effect on climate change as some would try and have us believe (so they can carbon tax us).

A bigger concern for me is our over-dependency on fossil fuels for electricity generation and transport; these fossil fuels will eventually run out. Ireland needs to be less dependent on fossil fuels and more energy independent.