Car charger puts Cavan on the green map

People in Cavan can start to look seriously at buying electric vehicles now, county manager Jack Keyes said at the launch of the ESB car charge point last Thursday. Mr. Keyes said it was a "really proud moment" for the county council, a body that is taking environmental development seriously: "We have to be at the forefront of the sustainable agenda," he said, adding that there are real savings to be made by adopting the green approach. He commended the staff in the Environment Section, congratulated them as they will be using the council's new electric van, and welcomed his old school friend John Campion, director of sustainability at the ESB, which is partnering the council in advancing the green agenda. "He took his country cousins and adopted them," said Mr. Keyes with a laugh. He noted that representatives from some of the garages in Cavan were present for the launch, and said he would be looking at strategic alliances with them. The Green Fleadh was the perfect launch pad for the unveiling of the on-street charge point (at Cavan Courthouse), said Mr. Keyes, and the addition of an electric van to the council fleet of vehicles highlighted the efforts Cavan was making towards achieving the national targets for the introduction of electric vehicles. Mr. Campion said he was overwhelmed to be in Cavan, especially as the launch of the car charging point co-incides with the green fleadh. "Our ambition in the ESB," he said, "is to transform our company to make it truly green. It's our ambition to be carbon neutral by 2035. When electricity is green it stands to reason it becomes an attractive fuel. The question is how to reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels - it's our belief that electric vehicles will play a significant part." The government target is for 10% of cars in Ireland to be electric by 2020, about 250,000 vehicles. "People have to be able to get around, get from A to B, and 95% of the infrastructure [the ESB network] is there - all you have to do is put in a charging post," said Mr. Campion. He recognised that the motor companies are delivering a substantial number of electric cars to Ireland, because it appears to be a good test bed, and that "will benefit our country". He concluded by complimenting Cavan County Council as Cavan is the first town of its size to have a charging point, commending Jack Keyes and his team on that, and their award earlier this year in the area of corporate responsibility, and on the fleadh. Cavan is the third location after Dublin and Galway to have a public on-street charge point and will be followed by others in Cork, Waterford and Portlaoise in the coming weeks. The ESB has committed to 1,500 public charge points by 2011, including the following locations: Bailieboro, Cootehill, Clones, Kingscourt, Virginia, and Ballyjamesduff. There will also be additional charge points installed in Cavan town, and the roll-out will depend on demand and car sales in the area, ie infrastructure will be located in areas where ecars are sold. The ESB has committed to installing up to 30 fast charge points nationwide, including one on the M3, which will enable drivers to charge their ecars by 80% in 20 minutes. The ESB has also committed to providing and installing 2,000 domestic charge points free of charge to the customers of new electric cars. Anyone in Cavan who buys an ecar in 2011 can avail of this service. The government has set ambitious targets for the introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) in the coming years. • 10% of all vehicles to be electric-run by 2020 • 2000 EVs by end of 2011 • 6,000 EVs by end of 2012 See P33 for a review of the new, all-electric Nissan LEAF.