Commenting on the latest electric vehicle sales in Ireland, Geotab Vice President, Ireland & UK, David Savage said: “SIMI’s July sales data shows that the Irish Government faces an uphill struggle to reduce transport emissions, with EVs only accounting for 17.64% of sales despite a record month. While the figure looks impressive at first glance, the EPA’s latest Greenhouse Gas Emissions report revealed that transport was the only sector where emissions rose last year, despite increasing sales of Electric Vehicles.
“Passenger cars were responsible for 53% of emissions in 2021 – more than heavy goods vehicles, light goods vehicles and buses combined. So it is odd that the Government has reduced grants for EV purchases when Ireland is still at a relatively immature stage for electric vehicle adoption and with transport emissions headed in the wrong direction.
“At the very least there needs to be an intervention to boost the sales of light commercial vehicles (LCVs), which account for 19% of emissions in 2021, but electric LCVs only account for 2.77% of total sales in the segment. A recent Geotab study – Profitable Sustainability: The Potential of European Fleet Electrification – reviewed the operational cost and environmental impact of traditional petrol and diesel light commercial vehicles (including passenger vehicles, SUVs, minivans and light-commercial vans) and compared them with their battery electric counterparts. According to the study, six in ten Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles analysed as part of the study were considered suitable to switch to an EV alternative today and fleet managers could expect to see average savings of €9,508 per vehicle over a seven-year period.
“Given that the Government is on course to miss its own sectoral emission targets as part of Ireland’s Climate Action Plan, we would hope that there is a change of heart in October’s budget in order to ramp up momentum behind EV purchases.”