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Politicians' exhortations to motorists to go electric or use greener means of transportation don't have any impact on their own, but government policies can encourage changes according to an automotive consultant, writes Brian Byrne . "It is when such policies have a financial impact on motorists that things change," UK-based automotive industry consultant Dean Bowkett told the recent Electronomous Car Tech Summit 2018 organised by Cartell.ie . "Everything depends on government policy, and when that policy says you will pay more, you'll change your habits." He was speaking on the theme Electric Vehicles: the heir apparent to the diesel crown? He gave the example of the big switch to diesel cars in Ireland when the CO2-based taxation system offered a financial incentive for motorists to do so. But he described as a 'myth' the perception that it was the Volkswagen diesel debacle that caused the current decline in interest in the fuel. ...

Local authorities in Ireland 'did not buy in' to the benefits of electric cars investment when Nissan Ireland powered up the concept back in 2010, writes Brian Byrne . That's the view of James McCarthy, MD of Nissan Ireland, who said that the initiative 'fell off the radar' because of a 'lack of coordination across all the shareholders'. Speaking at the recent Electronomous Car Tech Summit 2018 organised by Cartell.ie , he said that while government 'had been incredibly helpful', and branches of state like the SEAI were very active, it didn't seem that local authorities had made any investment. "Back in 2010 Nissan had identified Ireland as an ideal test site to drive forward EV adoption," he told motoring journalist Quentin Wilson, adding that the climate here was much more suitable than in Norway, which has subsequently made enormous strides in its electric vehicle infrastructure. "We were very buoyed by the statement th...

Plug-in hybrids will become a 'more likely' scenario in the medium future than all-electric vehicles, according to the thinking at forecourts giant Applegreen, writes Brian Byrne . The company's Head of Commercial Fuels, Daire Nolan, told the recent Electronomous Car Tech Summit 2018 — organised by Cartell.ie — that a consensus of opinion from global analysts suggests that it will be 2030 before there's a real increase in battery electric vehicles (BEVs). "Changes have started, though we're hedging our bets," he admitted. "We certainly see EVs as part of the future, and hydrogen is there too as shown by Toyota." He added that liquified natural gas is a direction for freight vehicles. "Our strategy is based around the customer and what they want," he continued, saying also that there is likely to be an urban/rural divide on which powertrains are favoured. "We are prepared for market demand, and we'll see what consumer s...

'Multiple' changes coming down the line in the transportation sector are 'very important' for policy-makers in governments, according to Sharon Masterson of the OECD's International Transport Forum, writes Brian Byrne . Speaking at the Electronomous Car Tech Summit 2018 in Killarney organised by Cartell.ie , she referenced in particular the concept of shared mobility against the background of a 'very strong' growth in urbanisation. "This growth will be mainly in emerging economies, which have not yet reached the peak of their transport mobilisation," she said. Underlining the 'extreme' inefficiency of the private car, which on average is used for less than an hour a day, she said this does show appreciation for the convenience of a car, but suggested such convenience could be leveraged for shared mobility. This leveraging could include partnerships which are already emerging between transport companies and carmakers, assisted by ...

Top people from the Irish and international motor industry are in Killarney for two days of discussion centred on electric vehicle technology and trends, and the progress towards the autonomous car, writes Brian Byrne . The event in the Irish National Exhibition Centre is hosted by Cartell.ie, the vehicle information specialist, with MC being former Top Gear presenter Quentin Wilson. The speaker list included top executives from Ford's research and development headquarters in Aachen, Germany; telecoms and connectivity specialists Nokia; electronics and automotive systems giant Bosch; EUCAR, the European Council for Automotive R&D; Applegreen; Nissan Ireland; the Norwegian EV Association; the Electric Vehicles Division of Nissan Europe; Volvo Cars; and the Valeo automotive technology company. Corporate partners include First Auto Finance, Nissan, SEAI and Start Monday automotive industry recruitment. Among the early speakers was Barry Napier, CEO of Cubic Telecom,who t...

One in three Irish motorists are prepared to consider an electric vehicle when looking for a new car, writes Trish Whelan . This is a conclusion from an AA Rescue survey of 5,000 motorists. But follow-up questions found that only 2.4pc of respondents were actually committed to buying an electric car. More than four in ten respondents said they were definitely staying with petrol or diesel power, though among these, 20pc were looking at going hybrid.