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A DECLINE IN electric vehicle sales has been driven by a reduction in grants provided by the government, the chair of the Irish Electric Vehicle Association (IEVA) has said.
New registrations of electric vehicles were down 29.3% last month compared to the same month the year before, according to figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) today.
Both the IEVA and SIMI are calling on the government to increase supports for electric vehicles in the upcoming budget.
New car registrations for August 2024 overall were down 8.4% (7,567) compared to August 2023 (8,261).
1,259 new electric cars were registered last month, which was 29.3% lower than the 1,782 registrations in August 2023.
To date this year, 15,129 new electric cars have been registered, a 25.3% decrease compared to the same period in 2023 (20,266).
Speaking to The Journal, IEVA Chair Matthew Sealy said that the key issue is government’s decision to reduce the level of grants available for EV buyers.
In July 2023, the government reduced the maximum rate of the private electric car grant from €5,000 to €3,500.
“Since then, the figures have started to come down,” Sealy said.
Sealy said that reducing the grants “sends out the wrong signal” to people considering an EV purchase.
He added that there are other European countries that have reduced EV grants and consequently have seen a similar drop in EV sales.
“That’s something we would like to see brought back to where they were to give consumer confidence,” he said.
Sealy also said that there needs to be more public education and information about EVs and efforts to make them easier to use, such as accessibility of charging locations.
“The situation is already better than people assume it to be,” he said, adding that making people aware of where chargers are located is key.
SIMI Director General Brian Cooke has similarly said that the government should use Budget 2025 to provide more support for electric vehicles, such as extending the benefit-in-kind incentive and accelerating the rollout of national charging infrastructure, in addition to restoring the grants “until the EV market recovers”.
“At this crucial stage in the EV transition, these measures will increase the sale of EVs, signalling their importance to consumers, boosting confidence and reassurance in electric vehicles,” Cooke said in a statement.
“Budget 2025 presents an opportunity for Government to demonstrate its commitment to fleet electrification and is an opportunity they should not miss.”
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This really shouldn’t happen in this day and age in a modern western country
It shouldn’t but it can if a driver disobeys a signal inadvertently or not.
Some cab signal systems will stop the train in a situation like this, but the driver may be able to override it to some degree.
There might be no cab signalling, the system might be down.
This section of line is privately owed. And has no proper advance warning system it is run by station masters making phone calls to other stations to see if the single line is clear ,a very antiquated way of running a railway in this modern era but devastating when mistakes are made ,as we all can see ,I would reserve blaming anyone till the investigation is complete,
I remember my dad telling my that in the case of a train crash, the middle and second last carriages were always the least likely to de-rail. I always choose the second last carriage. Look at the picture.
Strange this points to a big signalling failure or driver error.
The train network in Italy is superb usually, certainly safer than driving over there.
Or maybe one of the drivers had a stroke or seizure.
Good point Shawn but train’s like this would be fitted with a device called the Deadman pedal. A bell or buzzer with go off every so often and the driver with have to press pedal. If not the emergency brakes would kick in
Their banks are on for a collision Aswell..
Skydiving feels safer than driving in Italy Jimmy
Go to talk about banks somewhere else please. Thank you
Thanks Kaz.
It appears that telephone block signalling was used on this line, this is an antiquated system. See arnie reply above.
Extract from article:
Ferrotramviaria’s 81km network is electrified at 3kV dc and includes 40km of single-track line. Track-doubling is underway on the section where the collision occurred and the line is still equipped with telephone block signalling. Last December the company had announced plans to install the Italian SCMT automatic train protection system on the Ruvo – Bitonto section of the Bari – Barletta line.
Death toll is rising, sadly.
have your say