TIME TO END EMISSIONS QUANDARY
As talks about the formation of a new government continue – and the process looks like being just as drawn-out as was the case in 2016 – one thing is for sure: whoever gets in has to give priority to letting us know exactly what will happen to our cars.
The defeated transport minister Shane Ross planned to ban sales of ICE, or internal combustion engines (ie, petrol and diesel), in 2030. In its manifesto, Fianna Fáil said 2035. France has targeted 2040, and Germany has said nothing, but since both have massive car industries, and since they are the most powerful countries in the EU now that the UK has left, you can bet your bottom dollar that the EU position will solidify at 2040, and that it actually might sanction countries that take the leap to full electric sooner.
A 10-year deadline is confusing for most, but even 15 appears to have left many baffled. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the ban is proposed for 2035, but a new survey conducted there by Opinium for InsureTheGap.com shows that even customers there are confused. The survey of 2,000 drivers showed that one-third are holding on to their cars for longer than usual because they are not sure whether to buy petrol, diesel, hybrid or electric. In the 18-34 age range, that leapt to 41%. Meanwhile, a majority 57% said the issues around electric cars were too daunting to buy one just yet.
Those numbers surely are reflected here, and a wider debate clearly must be conducted to ensure that whatever way we jump, it is the correct way. It is arguable, for instance, that the increasingly stringent emissions limits on both carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide might of themselves make petrol and diesel cars driven on shorter journeys as environmentally friendly over their lifespans as battery-powered electric vehicles, taking into account the energy consumed and the natural resource depletion in the batterymaking process.
Last time they were in government, the Greens insisted on a VRT and taxation advantage that saw the traditional ratio of petrol to diesel sales turned on its head, and look where that got us.
Kneejerk virtue signalling is not what is needed now. Instead, we must examine all the options, set out a clear timetable, and give people the certainty they need to make an informed choice about their next car.