A recent study has concluded that the transition in Ireland to an EV (Electrical Vehicle) future is likely to increase the current disparity between the haves and the have nots, and that it is the wealthy segment of the population based in affluent urban areas, who stand to benefit the most from the change.
The report, commissioned jointly by Trinity College, Dublin and Queen's University, Belfast, found that based in where recharging points have been installed in private households, this is most likely to have occurred in prosperous urban areas like South Dublin, and that EVs continue to be regarded as ‘Luxury” goods.
That means that families that currently own them often have them as either the second or third car.
The study also shows that those areas that do have electrical recharge points also tend to be those already well served by public transport.
All this puts at risk the ambitious target of the Irish government to have almost one million EVs on the road by 2030, one of the major objectives of the broader strategy of decarbonising Irish transport.
Evidence also indicates that there are significant pockets of forced car ownership in rural areas, where there are considerably fewer public transport alternatives. Currently, recharge points in such districts and few and far between, meaning that people there will continue to be heavily reliant in petrol and diesel guzzling cars for years to come.
And, it also means that if the price of traditional fuels increase, this would have a disproportionate affect upon those with lower income levels living in deprived areas.
Of course, not all products have such a limited appeal to the population.
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Apart from the availability of recharge points, one of the major obstacles hold the spread of EVs back is the limitations of battery technology itself.
Not only do existing batteries have limited capacity, in terms of how far a car can travel before it needs to be recharged, but also there is the question of the length of time that it then takes before the battery is recharged again.
Even with the most optimised vehicles, it can take currently 30 minutes or more to recharge to 80% capacity, and longer still before it is fully charged. And this also has longer-term implications for battery health, because repeated rapid charging of a lithium-ion battery can have long-term detrimental effects on its effectiveness.
This does not mean these challenges are insurmountable – there are a lot of companies now involved in different aspects of the battery business, sensing a major business opportunity.
Nevertheless, as the report suggests, there is often the world of difference between the lofty ambitions of government policy , and the practical implications for those who are at the sharp end.
