Mobility Basic Figures

According to figures published within the EU funded project ALTERMOTIVE in Ireland the passenger vehicle stock has increased from 0.7 millions in 1985 to 1.9 million cars in 2007. The share of gasoline cars was about 65% and increased continually during the years. The cars density is comparable low with 434 cars per 1,000 inhabitancies (2007 value published by Eurostat). Until 2007 the share of alternative vehicles was marginal with less than 100 vehicles running on LPG and no hybrid or electric vehicles. According to the European funded project BEST most recently Ireland is among the countries with the highest total sales of Flexifuel vehicles in the EU with an overall fleet size of about 7,000 vehicles in 2009 and 2,730 units sold in 2008.

In 2007 the lowest fuel price within the EU was determined in Ireland (gasoline = 0.65 EUR per litre).

The Government has set ambitious targets for the introduction of Electric Vehicles in the coming years.

• 10% of all vehicles to be electric by 2020

• 2,000 EVs by end of 2011

• 6,000 EVs by end of 2012

Within the European funded project BEST about 31 E85 Flexifuel stations were accounted. The webpage www.ilpga.ie/outlets.htm lists about 85 LPG refuelling stations all around the country. No refuelling stations for biodiesel, biogas and hydrogen are listed.

Currently for electric vehicles there are four public charging points in Dublin with plans to install further charge points in Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Portlaoise within 2010. In 2011 there will be 1,500 on-street charge points throughout the country. Public on-street charging is free until the end of 2010, after which a payment system will be in place.

Fiscal Instruments

There is a VAT of 21.5% for gasoline and diesel and 13.5% for electricity.

For gasoline there is an excise tax of 0.509 EUR/litre and for diesel 0.368 EUR/litre.

From July 1st 2008 onwards the vehicle registration tax (VRT) is based on CO2 emissions. Rates vary from 14% for cars with CO2 emissions up to 120 g/km to 36% for cars with CO2 emissions above 225 g/km, applying to the Open Market Selling Price of the car. The 7 VRT rates are related to the new system of emission labelling that was introduced in 2007. Rates rages from 100 EUR a year for the least CO2 emitting cars to 2,000 EUR for cars with the highest emission rating. Electric cars and mopeds are exempted from VRT. Hybrid and flexible fuel vehicles benefit from a tax relief of maximum EUR 2,500 per year. This benefit is valid from July 1st, 2008 until December 31st, 2010. Also in July 2008 the so-called annual motor tax (circulation tax) was modified that for passenger cars it is now calculated on CO2 emission (for commercial vehicles still based on weight). Again the tax amount is calculated according to the different emission labelling classes. The tax reform has had an immediate impact on vehicles registered in July 2008 having CO2 emissions some 21g/km lower than those vehicles registered in the same month in 2007.

The pilot Biofuels Mineral Oil Tax (MOT) Relief Scheme that was launched in August 2005 for a two year period has already achieved the introduction of over 5.5m litres of biofuel on the Irish market. Following the success of the pilot scheme a second Biofuels MOT Relief Scheme was launched and rolled out in 2006. In July 2006 a new excise relief programme for biofuels was established with a valued over 200 mill EUR.

The scheme is being rolled out over a five-year period to 2010 and is providing excise relief on selected biofuel projects in four specific biofuel categories, following below:

• Biofuels blended with diesel and complying with diesel standard EN590 that can be sold at regular diesel pumps. Biofuels can be produced from oil crops such as oil seed rape as well as from tallow or recovered vegetable oil. Biodiesel blended at 5% can be used in all diesel engines and is covered by engine warranties.

• Pure Plant oil, which is made from crops such as oil seed rape and used in modified diesel engines as a pure 100% Biofuel.

• Biofuels for use in captive fleets.

Funding

Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is supporting a project together with the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to demonstrate how wind and ocean energy may be used to provide electricity, heat and transport requirements for the people of the Aran Islands. This would reduce significantly the need to ship fuel to the islands and make the islands more self reliant and economically sustainable for the future. By demonstrating the use of energy storage, the islands could also serve as a model for the future energy system for the whole of Ireland. One element of this project is to assess the ability of electric vehicles to meet the transport requirements for the islands. Hence, 10 electric vehicles are deployed and monitored on the islands started in January 2010 and finishing in December 2012.

Using performance data collected from the vehicles and the homes, the energy efficiency, reliability and maintainability of the vehicles will be judged. An assessment of the potential of locally generated wind power to supply the electricity requirement for the vehicles will be also made. Ireland has a target of replacing 10% of its transport fuels with renewable energy fuels by 2020. Given the scale of Ireland’s wind and ocean energy resources it is considered that a significant portion of the target can be met by using this energy for transport in Electric Vehicles and Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles. In support of this objective the government have set a target of replacing 10% of its passenger and light commercial vehicles with Electric Vehicles by 2020. This project represents one of the leading attempts worldwide to demonstrate the potential for wind energy fuelled Electric Vehicles.

In April 2010 the Irish Energy Ministry launched a support programme for electric vehicles (EVs) and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ESB, Renault and Nissan to ensure availability of first production models of electrical vehicles (EVs) to the Irish market. The programme, to be administered by Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), will provide financial support to consumers buying qualified models from any manufacturer as long as they meet specific standards of performance and safety.

The programme will incite the purchase of up to 6,000 electric vehicles onto the Irish market from January 2011 until the end of 2012. Full battery electric cars will qualify for up to 5,000 EUR and plug in hybrid for up to 2,500 EUR depending on the vehicle cost. The support scheme will apply to vehicles that meet certain safety and performance criteria such as speed, endurance per charge, emissions and warranty. The subsidy will apply at the retail level and will be paid directly to dealerships on the completion of a sale. Dealerships will be required to register with SEAI as authorised sales outlets. The programme will commence in January 2011.

The Department of Transport and Marine and the German-Irish Chamber of Commerce has introduced a pilot project “Biofuels for Transport” to incite the use of Pure Plant Oil biofuel among transport operators, in particular those with fleets of vehicles. The scheme was launched early in 2007 and over 40 vehicles have been selected to receive a 75% grant to modify their engines.

Regulative Measures

As part of the introduction of the new CO2 based VRT and road tax systems, the motor industry in consultation with the Department of Environment has established a new colour coded labelling system for new passenger cars. These labels, which are displayed on nearly any new car for sale, provide valuable information and assist consumers in making their environmental decision with details on the CO2/km for the car, the appropriate VRT, motor tax rates and fuel usage and consumption information.

In February 2007 Ireland announced the move to a biofuel obligation. Under this scheme, fuel suppliers of the Irish market will be required to ensure that biofuels represent a certain percentage of their annual fuels. With targets from 5.75% up to 10%, the obligation will provide enhanced opportunities for farmers to contribute to this emerging market. The obligation will also give all market players the needed long-term perspective to make appropriate investment decisions. Targets of 5.75% for 2010 and 10% by 2020 have been announced as part of the obligation.

In Ireland over 1,000 organisations are involved in public procurement ranging from schools to government departments. The annual contract volume is about 15 billion EUR. The public procurement guidelines published by the National Public Procurement Policy Unit (NPPPU) which is a specific body of the Ministry of Finance defines in a very generally way that environmental criteria can be undertaken for contract awarding. Further references are made to guidelines published by the European Commission, i.e. “Buying Green”. Generally each institution is responsible for its procurement and can apply own criteria i.e. for the vehicle purchase.

A kind of online joint procurement facility was established (LAQuotes.ie) which is currently used by 30 smaller local authorities. A so-called Forum on Public Procurement (FPP) was established in 1996 following a meeting of public sector buyers based in Dublin, Cork and Belfast. FPP represents organisations and individuals dealing with purchases within the public sector in Ireland. Its principal objective is to promote best practice and offer support to both buyers and sellers operating in the public procurement market in Ireland. FPP offers an independent objective voice in the area of public procurement. In principle also this instrument could be used for starting joint procurement initiatives.

www.seai.ie	webpage of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) with information on grant schemas for electro vehicles.
www.esb.ie/main/sustainability/ESB-ecars.jsp	webpage of the Electricity Support Board with a broad range of information on electro mobility and public charging points
www.procurement.ie	The Irish public procurement portal with links to other platforms responsible for procurement in Ireland
www.fpp.ie	webpage of the Forum on Public Procurement
www.ilpga.ie/outlets.htm	Webpage of the Irish LP GAS Association with a list of refuelling stations in the country.
www.simi.ie	webpage of the SIMI (Society of the Irish Motor Industry)

Public Procurement Guidelines – Competitive Process

CO2 emission guide 2008

CO2 label

Hybrid Electric and Battery Electric Vehicles - Measures to Stimulate Uptake