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THREE IN EVERY four young car-owning adults plan to change how they use their car – or already have – following the release of the Climate Action Plan, new polling has found.
74% of 18 to 24-year-olds plan to reduce the number of short car journeys they take or switch to a hybrid or electric car.
However, 32% of car owners overall do not plan on making any change to the number of their car journeys.
The recently-revised Climate Action Plan is targeting the government to ensure that walking and cycling are safe and accessible, that public transport is cleaner and more frequent, and that the rollout of electric vehicles is supported around the country.
Polling by Red C for The Journal interviewed 858 car owners from a random sample of over 1,000 people between 5 and 10 November.
The poll explained to respondents: “Under the government’s new Climate Action Plan, there are plans to reduce the number of kilometres travelled in petrol and diesel cars by 25% before 2030. This is just one of hundreds of actions to be published under this plan.”
With that information, it asked respondents to indicate which change out of a list of options they would be most likely to make, or if they would make no change, or if they didn’t know.
Overall, 61% of car owners intend or have already made a change in their life like reducing the number of short car journeys they take or changing to an electric vehicle.
Young car owners aged 18 to 24 were the most likely to say they plan to reduce their journeys or switch to an electric car, although none said they had already made the change.
They were followed by 45 to 54-year-olds, of whom 63% plan to reduce their journeys, switch to electric, or already have.
Nearly one in three (32%) car owners said they have no intention of changing their journeys, which rose to 39% in rural areas.
12% plan to reduce the number of car journeys they take that are less than four to five kilometres in the next few years, and 15% intend to reduce journeys that are less than two to three kilometres.
7% said they don’t know.
The Climate Action Plan, which was published earlier this month, has reinforced the government’s target of having 845,000 electric passenger cars on the road by 2030, along with 95,000 electric vehicles, 3,500 low-emitting trucks, and 1,500 electric buses.
The plan aims to increase the proportion of kilometres that are driven by electric cars should increase by between 40 and 45% by 2030 and to facilitate an additional 500,000 journeys made by public transport, walking and cycling every day.
“The proposed pathway in transport is focused on accelerating the electrification of road
transport, the use of biofuels, and a modal shift to transport modes with lower energy consumption (eg public and active transport),” it outlines.
In the Red C poll, 29% of car owners said they will switch their car to a hybrid or fully electric vehicle in the next few years, with the highest interest among 45 to 55-year-olds at 35%.
However, 55 to 64-year-olds were significantly less likely to plan on changing their car at 19%.
In urban areas, 32% of car owners are interested in switching to electric, but that drops to 24% in rural areas.
Only 5% in total have already changed to a hybrid or electric car.
Climate experts, though supportive of a move to electric vehicles, have raised concerns over whether the electric vehicle target is feasible at the current level of support being provided by the government.
Minister of State for Road Transport Hildegarde Naughton has said it is an “ambitious” target.
“We need to recognise the challenges at the moment. There are issues around range anxiety, where the infrastructure isn’t rolled out sufficiently across the country for people to have confidence in purchasing a full EV, particularly for example if you live in rural Ireland,” Naughton said.
“Midway through this decade the cost of petrol and diesel cars and electric vehicles will be on a par, so as we go through this decade it will become more of a prospect for many people, because I can appreciate right now it’s not affordable to get a pure EV for some people,” the minister said.
Figures from the CSO for 2019 (before Covid-19) show the transport sector accounts for around 20% of all emissions in Ireland, second only to agriculture at 35%.
More than 70% of all journeys are made by cars, the majority of which are powered by fossil fuels and have higher emissions per passenger compared to modes like buses or trains.
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Government will increase their levy on fuel and motor tax to “assist” young people making the decision to reduce car usage. They won’t be able to afford to use their cars.
@David Corrigan: actually most do feel the need to reduce their environmental impact unlike the boomer generation.
@Brendan Cooney: The majority of people will do their bit to help. But the wrong areas are being targeted.
@David Corrigan: hahaha a likely story….. 18-24 year olds driving electric cars – do they even realise they’re gonna have to get jobs, pay taxes and levies, exorbitant rents/mortgages, rip off prices everywhere and then more rip off prices for EVs – I’ll believe it when I see it!!!!!!
@David Corrigan: which will be the dearer in the Futher a electric car or a box flat ha electric cars are only for moving the exhaust to chimleys to a different location Ireland needs nuclear ,
@Nora McElhinney: Our young people will be priced out of owning a home or a car within the next few years. Some existence to look forward to eh?
@Brendan Cooney: “actually most do feel the need to reduce their environmental impact unlike the boomer generation.”
You mean your own generation.
Electric cars (1) still use power coming from the same environment damaging power stations and (2) their huge batteries that are in the floor of cars, are currently unrecycleable.
* Also Journal, why is another news item currently locked up? https://www.thejournal.ie/hse-accountability-paul-reid-5601488-Nov2021/#comments – This is becoming all too regular with the Journal. No legal cases involved with that now censored comment section.
@UnitedPeople #StopCETA: 1. With increasing renewable power coming on line that excuse is becoming moot. 2. Actually they are recyclable.
@UnitedPeople #StopCETA: it’s interesting your first statement is half right and your second is completely wrong. All cells manufactured for years now have been 100% recyclable or reusable in other applications. In regards to fossil fuels, taking your energy from scrubbed emissions sources is a hell of a lot better than taking it from a tail pipe, but I do agree we need to do better.
@Sean Mac Gabhann: genuine question, can the batteries be recycled into car batteries again? Or do they get turned into something completely different. The whole “100% recyclable” can be miss leading at times as I understand it, they generally get down graded as they get recycled each time.
@Joshua Walsh: the batteries can be recycled. However when they get to a point they are no longer usable in a car they are still quite useable in others applications like home storage or massive battery banks for the grid extending their lifespan by another 20 years or so.
@Joshua Walsh: “can the batteries be recycled into car batteries again?”
Study on that recently (Recycled cathode materials enabled superior performance for lithium-ion batteries), “Here, we demonstrate that the recycled LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 has a superior rate and cycle performance, verified by various industry-level tests”
Just conducted a similar poll this morning on twelve, 18 to 21 year olds.
70% are car drivers.
Quick result: zero plan to either reduce their number or journeys or change their vehicle similar to question asked in the above poll.
Now, to be honest I didn’t need to run this quick poll to call complete BS on the one above.
@Gavin Linden: exactly: the article is pure GP/D4 nonsense. No young person I know is even contemplating EV. Quite the opposite: they all seem to want an IS200 :)
@John Moylan: And fair play to them, posting videos of them attempting donuts in a Prius or a Leaf just wouldn’t have the same level of being interest.
@Gavin Linden: like to know where the 18-24 year olds will get the money to change to an EV from??? Must be a D4 south side poll conducted.
@Gavin Linden: 12 people isn’t really a valid sample size.
No homes and now no cars up the Greens , village can have a couple of cars and then in the mornings the natives can have a bicycle race to the central car park , first there gets car and can go to work , problem solved by Mr Ryan
They won’t be able to afford the cars and then won’t have anywhere to charge them either and electricity is in short supply ..no infastruture set up its BS ..
@Elizabeth Eccles: Electricity is NOT in short supply. Still lots of excess capacity at night which is why night rates exist.
74% of 18 to 24 year old’s would say anything!
I’m 48. Italian. Our generation grow up with the car should be fun, on a first place. Thinking back all the Ads and the mostorport of the 80s and 90s.
Sadly not anymore. Yougest generation don’t care, they consider more fun stay on facebook, rather than the feeling of 100CV revving…
I’m sorry for them. I’ll let them drive a vacuum cleaner, I’ll still enjoy my rare, classic Alfa 75….. :)
@Proudly Italian: I dunno, I was behind an Audi E tron the other day. Do you know when the Starship Enterprise goes into Warp speed? It was like that!
@Proudly Italian: “the feeling of 100CV revving… I’m sorry for them. I’ll let them drive a vacuum cleaner”. Easy enough sort that, play Engine_Revving_MP3 then stomp on the accelerator to enjoy the better electric acceleration.
Are they going to have their other 4 housemates/ parents pay for the electricity?
Great to see the younger generation leading the way unlike the auld lads and dears who frequently come on here whinging “on their behalf”. #timetochange
@Brendan Cooney: They will have no choice. They won’t be able to afford to do the things they want.
@Brendan Cooney: i actually think your wrong,i think older people are taking the lead albeit quietly in there own way to protect the enviroment.
I’ll believe that when I see it. Young people are full of great intentions when it comes to the environment but don’t give a second thought to buying cheap throwaway tat in the likes of Penney’s or using one use cups in the like of Starbucks.
I’m 29 and considering the switch to an EV. Where do I fit in ?? Old.. young..
Old
There are currently approx 1.2 Billion cars globally.
Production capacity is around 95 million
Total EVs in the world approx 7 million.
I know EV production will probably increase exp’lly but will Ireland have 1 EV million by 2030?
@Anarch Eco: Government actively penalising business ownership of EVs.
Recent budget added back BIK previous budget removed SEAI grants for businesses.
Because EVs are more expensive BIK will be almost as dear as a diesel equivalent. Eg. A EV Kona is nearly 40% more expensive than a petrol Kona so BIK will be almost as much for a locally much cleaner car.
@Gavin Tobin: Doesnt make sense at all.
Company cars are a good source for the secondhand car market too.
Wana get around? Need a car. Cheapest way? Diesel. Great plans these, shame they’re not reciprocated in reality.
If FAME was reduced from diesel, it would be a far cleaner product!!!! All diesel now has ultra low sulphur content … Diesel is much cleaner than it was twenty years ago..
FAME does more harm than good to diesel engines… it keeps the garages going with replacement filters and egr valves!!!
Total cost of ownership of various EVs in Ireland:
https://www.seai.ie/technologies/electric-vehicles/compare-and-calculate/?gclsrc=ds&order=1
You’ll find when adding up all costs, EV driving will generally work out cheaper than ICE driving for equivalent car types over the lifetime of the car, even though EV purchase costs are higher.
have your say