Back to the present: our experience of three EV trips

TURN to page three today and read about what Cathal Doyle encountered as he tried to take electric cars for longer journeys.

His experiences highlight two things (among many).

First, Cathal’s is a simple, practical, low-key demonstration of what is out there right now to facilitate undertaking a journey from Dublin to Mayo.

But it is also a graphic illustration of what we really need to do – and now hopefully will do – to get our charging infrastructure up to a standard so anyone can set off on a longer journey in an electric vehicle confident of being able to charge quickly and conveniently along the way.

To be fair, there are huge challenges for all concerned and change takes time.

In many ways the government has made a whip for its own back, not least in proclaiming we’ll be an ‘electric Ireland’ by 2030.

The reality, today, is a long way from that.

There is no other way to put it: we urgently need those promised major improvements in the charging infrastructure.

It is the lifeblood, the oxygen of EV driving which, on the back of this week’s UN climate report, is all the more urgently needed to lower carbon emissions.

For that to happen cars, many of which are capable of travelling much further than before on one charge, still need assured replenishment areas.

That is core for a system to instil confidence and a sense of coordination.

Please read Cathal on page three and do let us know of your experiences with, and opinions of, electric vehicles.