Nissan is calling on the Government not to abandon its target of having one million electric vehicles (EVs) onto Irish roads by 2030, writes Trish Whelan.
Speaking to motoring journalists at a Nissan Journey to Electric Test-Drive event yesterday, James McCarthy, Group CEO of Nissan Ireland, said the target of one million electric vehicles on Irish roads is expected to be cut to 650,000 when the Government publishes its new Climate Action Plan in the coming weeks as the new plan aims to reduce car travel and car dependency and to promote a radical new shift towards public transport, cycling and walking.
James McCarthy said the country is on track to achieve the target of one million EVs by 2030 and now is not the time to be writing a new Climate Action Plan on EV adoption or to be phasing out the grants that are incentivising thousands of motorists to make the switch to zero emissions driving.
“EVs are becoming more expensive and that is why the €5,000 EV grant is so important as it incentivises buyers to choose an EV over an ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle 95pc of the time.”
Mr McCarthy warned that any move to change the EV grant scheme will trigger a dramatic slump in EV sales. He pointed out that the removal of the grant scheme for plug-in hybrids had seen a drop of 28pc in sales of these cars since the grants were withdrawn last March and he warned that the PHEV market for 2022 is now stagnant.
Mr McCarthy said Environment, Climate and Transport Minister Ryan’s proposal to reduce car travel and car dependency is ‘a pipe-dream that ignores the reality of family life in Ireland’.
“The Minister’s priority should be to deliver a Climate Action Plan that works for the transport sector and that takes account of the reality of family life in Ireland where a car is a necessity for families living in suburban and rural settings.” He pointed out that there will also be more cars on Irish roads as our population grows and the age profile of drivers widens, and said our priority must be to ensure that these cars are cleaner, electrified vehicles.
Nissan has questioned why Minister Ryan is proposing another u-turn on Ireland’s EV target at a time when countries all over the world are setting higher targets having identified EV adoption as the key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving net-zero emissions.
The Group CEO of Nissan Ireland pointed out that Minister Ryan ‘has a less than impressive record on environmental protection in the transport sector as he promoted tax breaks for diesel cars in the past and is now trying to convince us that the best way for the Government to achieve its target of a 51pc reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 is to reduce our EV target by more than one third’.
“Improving public transport infrastructure is not mutually exclusive to achieving a target of having one million EVs on Irish roads. Minister Ryan should be looking at delivering the two in tandem. He needs to stay the course on EVs, to increase EV grants, to extend the €60,000 ceiling that applies to them and to invest in developing Ireland’s re-charging infrastructure as the most effective way to reduce transmission emissions,” Mr McCarthy said.
“Nissan has backed the Government EV target since 2019 when we predicted that 15pc of car sales would be EVs by 2022. We were bang on the money as EV sales are currently 86pc up on last year and 15,000 motorists have made the switch to electric driving in 2022. This trajectory proves that we can achieve the target of one million EVs by 2030 and there is no rational reason to abandon it,” the Nissan Ireland boss concluded.
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