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THE GREEN PARTY has promised to facilitate a cut in electricity prices for electric vehicle (EV) owners if reelected to government.
Green Party Minister of State Joe O’Brien said that the amount of electricity stored in an EV battery is “surprising big” compared to the typical household power demand.
“Over the course of a day, the average Irish household uses less than a sixth of what a typical EV can store in its battery,” he said.
The party said that most EV owners currently charge their car batteries at night as electricity tends to be cheaper to use due to lower demand, but most owners don’t come close to using their full battery charge during a normal day.
Speaking today, O’Brien said that the Green Party will introduce a system where EV owners can charge their car batteries using low-price electricity at night, and then run their homes using that same electricity during the day – if returned to power.
“This means they get to avoid paying more expensive day-time rates for electricity,” he said, adding that it was also more environmentally friendly, as most electricity generated at night comes from wind power, while gas plants are used during the day to supplement increased demand.
The new system would also allow EV users to sell a portion of the electricity from their car batteries to the national grid for a profit when demand is high, such as during winter nights when lots of families are cooking and watching TV at the same time, the party said.
A similar system is already in place which allows homes to sell surplus electricity from their solar panels to the grid.
“The Green Party has been leading the way for years on making green technology more accessible to households such as cutting the red tape around installing solar panels or making them cheaper or harnessing the potential of offshore wind. That’s why it’s so important that we’re part of the next government,” Minister O’Brien said.
In September, it was reported that 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.
The chair of the Irish Electric Vehicle Association said that the decline in electric vehicle sales has been driven by a reduction in grants provided by the government.
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Nonsense, you had 5 year to do this already, energy prices, especially electricity are already falling.
@Shimo F: Joe O’ Brien should read the ingredients list of his hair and beard dye. Some of those chemicals are very harmful to the environment.
@Shimo F: he can find all those kids he lost, how about that? Not right gorman.
Begging for votes from those who can afford an EV . Destroyed the city with bike lanes that don’t work. Green rot.
@Oweke 68: bike lanes are important
@Oweke 68: so in effect those of us who cant afford EVs are going to be subsidising those that can
@jaune hendy: Stop peddling lies.
@jaune hendy: So are roads, they are used by the majority of people in the country, you know the ones that pay tax insurance and NCT to use them.
@Eric Gaffney: roads are socialist. As are pathways. And everything else that is owned publicly
@F1rYnpWc: Try driving on one without the above mentioned.
@jaune hendy: for bike yes of they are used. Stop lights don’t matter. Just drive on . They don’t work in certain areas
@john salmon: agree totally
@jaune hendy: Not in Cork. City has been ruined.
So the green party want to reward those who are affluent enough to afford very expensive electric cars by reducing the cost of electricity they consume, very good, for those who cannot afford a very expensive electric car, we will take more of your lesser income in the form of green taxes and pass it to the wealthier people outlined above. Nice.
@Eddie Garvey: don’t forget FG sold off homeownership to foreign funds. And FGs chaotic immigration policies.
@Eddie Garvey: electric cars are not that expensive.
@Ciaran Miller: To YOU. There’s always one knucklehead.
@Marvin Dollery: And here you are he is completely correct
@Eddie Garvey: They are not all very expensive
@F1rYnpWc: That’s strange nearly 100% sure I own my house not some foreign fund.
@Ciaran Miller: Way more expensive than UK or Japan. No global market for the lowley irish tho, boo
Green Party if elected that’s a good one, hope they realize they are not wanted anymore due to their dreadful record.
@Ned: the Green Party are our only hope in this climate crisis
@jaune hendy: No they are not
@jaune hendy: They’ve the guts of 5 years to implement their policies and all we got was tax, tax, tax…They’ve made very little positive change to the country and their ideals lie in some form of zero emissions utopia, that quite frankly just doesn’t exist!
@jaune hendy: what climate crisis ? Tell that to my garden of fruit & veg that I’ve grown for 30 years now. You can set your watch to their growth and harvest every year. Zero “change”
@Des Daly: Correct Des.
@Ned: what’s your hope for FG/FF? Who’s been in power. And their dreadful record on immigration and housing.
@jaune hendy: would you go away and do some housework or cooking if you can’t say anything but nonsense
@jaune hendy: there is no climate ” crisis “
@jaune hendy:
@jaune hendy: the green party have destroyed the green movement in Ireland.
@jaune hendy: the green party have destroyed the green movement in Ireland.
I’m hoping this party will be extinct in 3 weeks.
@DavyDoDa: I’m hoping to see the back of FF/FG and their chaotic immigration
@DavyDoDa: Don’t forget to “X” out the boxes
Yous won’t be reelected lads so don’t worry about it.
Just eliminate VRT… Allow Irish people access to the global market.
So in other words those on lower incomes will suffer higher prices than the wealthy who can afford an EV. The Green party detest the working class. Hopefully they are consigned to the bin of history.
Please don’t vote green
The Gimp Party
Ev’s are too expensive, too little, too late
EVs are a con job
@Penguin O’Toole: Well my name is Con, and I have an EV, which is excellent and saves money, so I’d agree; they are just the job.
@Penguin O’Toole: interesting view. Where is this information from
@jaune hendy: they don’t run on fresh air
@Penguin O’Toole: I’m pretty sure you’re the con here.
@Cornelius Traas: Agreed Con, they cost very little to run when charged at home at night
@Cornelius Traas: How did you manage to mis-spell your own name, Corn? Why leave out the “r”? Oh yes, you’re another of Brendans little woke minion accounts.
They have been in power for 4 years, so why didn’t they do.
@John Farrant: That’s the problem with the Green party.
There so many issues they could work on, but other than EV’s or bicycle lanes (although I think that down to councils), not much has been done by them.
For example: Why not make it mandatory to have solar panels on every new build? It’s a fraction of the total cost of the build.
Vote anyone but FF/FG
@F1rYnpWc: Unfortunately…there is nobody else.
@F1rYnpWc: so who would u suggest ?
@Sheila McNulty: None of them…but that would be a spoiled ballot. Still won’t be getting under ten on mine.
@F1rYnpWc: I give SF, Independent’s, Aontú, Healy-Rea’s, PB4Nobody, Labour, S-Dems, and the NEW Parties a good run for the front gate with my dogs after them, Freeloaders the lot of them !
We have done well with FG, FF and the Greens and it appears it’s the best choice out there.
Dossmen Pass By !
Nice. I’m getting pretty good value at the moment, especially thanks to V2H, but I’ll take lower prices all the same!
@Jack Hayes: That’s great “Jack”. The green party have a spectacular little shill in you. Thankfully you’re restricted to South Dublin.
Sell the electricity back to the grid for profit? At a time when electricity costs are hammering us into the ground? Christ.
@Marvin Dollery: a lot of people do this with a home battery pack and solar already.
@Yleennoc: People don’t want it. They want affordable electricity rates without having to buy both an EV and Solar Panels, to then have to sell the surplus back to the grid in order to “make it cheaper”. Dear Lord.
That’s not nearly enough to save this nonsense party. Good riddance.
Green ministers driving around in diesel car and flying around the world a joke party
@Paul Byrne: Exactly . Eamon Ryan jets off to China for St . Patrick’s Day 2023 , then off to Brazil for St . Patrick’s Day 2024 . But the Greens don’t want the rest of us to burn coal or turf . Sooner Greens are wiped out in General Election the better .
@Paul Byrne: Mercedes 450H. Well for some!
They still will be to dear
EVs are likely not the way forward. They are just another fib peddled by the Green Party and lobby. While we can safely say no greenhouse gas emissions directly come from EVs, they do run on electricity that is, in large part, still produced from fossil fuels in many parts of the world. A massive amount of energy is used to manufacture these vehicles. And let’s not forget the battery.
I have voted Green in the past for reasons that I’ll not go into, however this is their 2nd time in Government and the last time they didn’t play ” senior hurling ” this time they had ministrial voices along with a good base.
I think that they always seem to have overcomplicated their strategy, Ryan has always been aloof, and the few times I met him …..pedestrian and inspirational but with nothing but getting something Green done, unfortunately that came via taxes that has irked the electorate.
Being environmentally responsible is important and we need to transition to give the planet a chance, and us it’s inhabitants……..but they always seem to miss the vital points when the pressure is on.
@Paul O’Mahoney: * uninspiring
@Paul O’Mahoney: I might add too that being green is what humanity has done forever, it’s only the last 200 yrs that stuff went wrong, due to Greed…
Surely with the technology now we could all be happy to do our bit.
It’s all gone a bit arseways.
@Paul O’Mahoney: Your heart is in the right place Paul, but they’ve catastrophised the whole thing and made existence prohibitively expensive.
Now they’ve just watched their vote plummet to ZERO. What about the rest of us that pay Electricity bills? So this Government artificially inflated ESB bills to make sure we all suffered…
it wasn’t too long ago that you lot said that we don’t have an electricity network and we will be suffering from blackouts.
That’s about as useful as a chocolate teapot considering the drop in demand.
Don’t believe a word of it. You cannot trust any politicians. They tell you what you want to hear and they are gone.
We’ve had enough years of FG’s immigration policies
@KkFpk23W: I give SF, Independent’s, Aontú, Healy-Rea’s, PB4Nobody, Labour, S-Dems, and the NEW Parties a good run for the front gate with my dogs after them, Freeloaders the lot of them !
We have done well with FG, FF and the Greens and it appears it’s the best choice out there.
Dossmen Pass By !
He reminds me of Non, from Superman 2
@Penguin O’Toole: kneel before Zod!
Joe the minister fo integration and freebies flooding fingal with chancers. Close the door joe on the way out.
Utter guff….why wait? Easy to make promises they’ll never have to deliver on. The sooner the anti-car zealots are gone the better.
When will they acknowledge that their precious EV’s are not possible without child slave labour in Africa?
@Matt D: I like the way they pan for diamonds
Yup green party hungry to hold onto power o Gorman was caught on tictock breaking the law in sticking his poster up helped by the guards long before election was called in the dark of night no report of it in mainstream media
@liam ward: In fairness the SF posters were up around Wicklow on Thursday, there’s bigger fish to fry with all the parties than putting up posters a bit early.
I’m a supporter or the “Green” idea in general and protecting the environment.
The problem with the Green Party, they didn’t really much in this regard, or simply didn’t make it public enough.
EV’s are one thing, but nothing about salmon farms, despite the constant problems and the issues in the media only over the last few weeks.
Over-use of fertilizers in farming and so on.
All more important issues than getting a few more bikes or EV’s on the road, I believe.
@Wolfgang Bonow: I agree, they are only tinkering around the edges instead of actually doing something meaningful. The salmon farms are a disaster and their offshore wind farms are still not in existence after decades of talking about it, it’s always the low hanging fruit with them and this proposal is even more daft than their usual.
Rewarding the wealthy in society who can afford an EV vehicle, yet nothing to help ordinary working families who are struggling to pay their Energy bills & the cost of living crisis. Working families would love to Retrofit & buy an EV vehicle but can’t & are just surviving month to month. These guys are so out of touch with the everyday reality of people on the ground. Where has I Brien been hiding as well, himself & O Gorman have destroyed Tourism in Ireland & their Open Door policy is costing the State Billions now. Don’t come to my door Joe with your BS !
@SV3tN8M4: John you can pick up an EV for 60% less of it’s list price anywhere now. My wife sat into a full EV recently, Porche and the owner go it for 60k a full 62%”off list and only 2 years old…full leather trim too.
@Paul O’Mahoney: Full leather trim LOL. As if that’s breathtaking. Plus, all modern cars have fake leatherette. Why was your wife sat in a strangers Porsche?
Get in the bin.
So if you go along with their agenda they will reward you is that just buying votes
@Brendan Muldoon: Yes, it is. If it’s not a criminal offence already it should be. That’s taxpayers money they are throwing around to benefit themselves and the party. The other parties are it too, the standard of politics in this country is that of the gutter.
Why can’t a party run, and win, on a foundation of strong ethics, transparency and accountability across the board. All the other issues will soon be resolved in the fullness of time. FFG again means more problems, no solutions and as you were for another 5 years. The only time FFG will not be looking to steal your vote is when they have properly ran this country into ground.
A manifesto of “fix health” and “fix housing” is not going to go anywhere when you are trying to do it in a culture of corruption and cronyism. We need to acknowledge that we need a root and branch approach instead of papering over the cracks and sweeping under the carpet, as has been our way for decades. Enough already!
don’t worry very few greens will get back in, too many ppl effected by their policy’s
Would you believe I can already do this. I managed to buy and install solar PV panels about ten years ago, and get paid for the excess electricity going back to grid. Our family also has an EV, which is charged at night, and can feed back to grid during the day. The grid can’t distinguish between power it’s paying for from the solar or from the car, so this is already a possibility. However, for car buyers, be aware that not all EV’s have the facility to discharge back to your home or grid, so this may be a consideration when buying an EV.
The Greens have lost the plot, if they ever had it.
Ideologues like ISIS.
Wow.. This great “new system”, eh ? Any Kia EV6 owners want to burst their bubble ?
@Tommy Roche: What doe that mean?
@Vinnie M: Kia and Hyundai have the capability to power your home from the car battery. You need a wall charger capable of accepting the load and AFAIK they aren’t available/allowed in Ireland
Lol lol all 25 electric cars
ROFLMAO! Well That’s a vote winner….NOT!!!
Why not have done this earlier, why wait until the election to try and buy votes.
Too little too late!
Don’t worry. You won’t be re-elected.
Just for Men might have a word with you .
How much damage to the environment is his hair dye doing?
Why don’t you just cut costs for everyone and stop singling certain groups out to get better benefits than others. This is why half the country feels resentful
What a corr()PT self serving party they are
Joes promises are as bad as his hair and beard colouring.
This was suggested by Google years ago and would take years to change systems for it work.
@Brian Flanagan: No it works fine. I’m doing it “currently”.
@Cornelius Traas: Good for you, Chad. Meanwhile, back in working class Ireland, not everyone has €60,000+ for a dangerous EV and another €30,000+ for Solar Panels. Come back to us with a solution, I won’t hold my breath – “but but just become wealthier, peasant” won’t cut it.
@Marvin Dollery: Can you please explain the “dangerous EV” part in your comment?
@Marvin Dollery: Yes above explain dangerous EV and also why solar panels NEEDED if have an EV. Bet you don’t have an EV, the people here talking s&it about EVs don’t even own one or ever have!
@Wolfgang Bonow: For a start, they’re explosive and volatile. They are also heavier, so produce more tyre wear particles and iron particles from brake wear. This leads to respiratory illnesses. As they’re heavier, they wear the surface of the road faster, creating potholes which can lead to suspension damage and sometimes road accidents. Down the line, and it’s coming – they’ll be hackable. This spells disaster.
@Wolfgang Bonow: in Paris yesterday a lorry carrying 10 EV cars one of them went on fire & ended with 10 cars & lorry all in a ball of horendous black smoke terrible to see so would not have confidence in any EV
@Sheila McNulty: 100% correct Sheila. It’s the equivilent to driving a ticking time bomb. The problems with electric cars will present themselves in tragic circumstances in the coming few years.
@Marvin Dollery: Why haven’t we seen loads of these fire bombs already? There’s thousands of EVs on the roads already and they’re around for years at this stage. Same tired old clueless anti EV nonsense.
@Marvin Dollery: You can buy a 2nd hand EV for less than 20k and a good solar pv system for 8 or 9k.
That won’t work, charging a battery requires more energy than it’ll output because there are inefficiencies when its charged/discharged. Overall, It’ll cost you the same amount of €€€ as the day rate and also decrease the lifespan of the EV battery costing you more money. If batteries were 100% efficient and had infinite lifespan then it would be a good idea.
The Green Party won’t have to worry about having to keep it’s campaign promises after this GE ..
Could have sworn they have been in government the last few years!! Pushing up our energy bills with extra green charges. They would say Mass.
so all for the rich leaving in towns. elitist f…
In practical terms, how can you tell what electricity you use for EV in the home versus everything else ?. So they will reduce EV electricity only . Probably add the cost to general electricity use. I see another green tax coming here.
Why did you not do this while currently in government?
What has changed?
And will FF and FG allow you to commit to this?
4 attempts to finish reading this article.So your buy an expensive electronic vehicle that won’t be worth much after a few years and basically park the car and use it as a storage battery.
Does anyone read press releases,
Shocking
They get in I’m emerging to Poland ffs
Hopefully the Green Party will be annihilated this election. I’m one of the 24,000 adoptees, not entitled to redress, thanks to Roderic O’Gorman. How dare you exclude us and try to minimise my lived experience as an adoptee!!!!
I’m tempted to tell the green clown party to shuck off. But the auto censor won’t let me.
What about minister Ryan going to work on bike and the car behind
That’s very unfair to other motorists as they have already got vrt off the new car I think it’s to copon or you will be on the bus or the bike not very good Idea
No more Greens. Please don’t vote for these people.
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