1 September 2009

'Fuel for thought' at Green Power Forum

A discussion on the future of the electric car in UCD today may not have come to any particular conclusions, but it did leave those who heard it with fuel for thought.

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The 'Green Power' symposium at the Global Irish Institute was organised by the Irish Motoring Writers Association and sponsored by Semperit Ireland.

The event had speakers for and against electric cars, and included representatives from Nissan, GM, Peugeot-Citroen, UCD academics and Transport Watch UK, as well as the ESB. They were introduced by IMWA Chairman Michael Moroney as 'a knowledgable team of international and local experts'.

"They are putting the electric car 'on trial' for our audience," he said before leaving broadcaster Rodney Rice to moderate the proceedings.

ESB Network's Senan McGrath laid the ground work by noting that there will be an excess to requirements of wind-produced power on stream by 2020, and using electric vehicles would be one way to use it rather than sell it at a loss to other markets.

Sceptic Paul Withrington of Transport Watch UK said governments were 'going against the evidence' by promoting electric vehicles development, suggesting that the efficiency figures didn't stand up against ongoing development in diesel and petrol engine efficiencies, especially since, he claimed, only 30 percent of electricity generated actually reached the plug points.

Tom Smith of Nissan Europe said that the company is firmly committed to reducing CO2 emissions using a number of technologies, but that the 'only viable' direction in terms of tailpipe emissions today is EVs. "The electric car is a real car, not science fiction, not a golf buggy," he said. "And it is here."

Joseph Beretta of Peugeot-Citroen Europe said that customer needs were the most important thing for mass-market manufacturers. His company was looking in a number of directions, and will be producing a 4-seat EV in 2010 with a range of 150km. "In 2011 we will be producing a diesel hybrid, which is our major step," he said.

Dr William Smith of the Electronics Engineering Department posed the question as to why would anyone bother going for electric cars when cars are 'only responsible for 10 percent of carbon emissions'? "In ten years it will only have had a 1 percent impact on our greenhouse emissions," he said. "The carbon argument is really a red herring." He said there was a case to be made for EVs in an urban environment, but not for travelling longer distances, and since most people couldn't justify having two cars for different needs, there was a better case for a plug-in hybrid.

Craig Cheetham from GM UK & Ireland promoted the extended range EV as shown by the Chevy Volt and Opel Ampera, family sized cars which will go on sale in Europe in 2011. These use electric power from batteries which can be charged by an on-board petrol or diesel motor, but which in 90 percent of journeys will have true zero emissions. "No hybrid can claim this," he said.

Questions from the floor pursued the matter further, including incentives from government, cutting down oil dependance, the statutory requirement to cut emissions, and the potential for rapid battery technology breakthrough.

Paddy Murphy of Semperit Ireland noted that tyre technology will be a 'huge part' of extending the range of EVs, providing tyres designed for 'meaner' rolling. "That's the reverse of the trend for the last 10 years," he commented. "And maybe we can now look forward to a time when drivers actually think more of the condition of their tyres, and that can only be a good thing."