As the ESB unveils its cleaner hybrid trucks, Shane O’Donoghue tries them out and asks if the electric motor really is the future
FROM BEHIND the wheel of this ESB Mitsubishi Fuso Canter there’s little to give the game away. There’s nothing space age about the controls or instruments, and you can hear the noise of a normal diesel engine.
Yet this vehicle is the first 6.5-tonne commercial truck on the Irish market to use a hybrid power train. Along with substantially reduced harmful pollutants, the Canter Hybrid is claimed to use about 15 per cent less fuel. That, plus the associated reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide, is why the ESB has taken delivery of 10 of these vehicles.
Besides the obvious financial benefit of such fuel savings, the ESB has set itself a target of cutting its CO2 output by 30 per cent by the end of the year and becoming a net carbon-neutral company by 2035. Given that the organisation operates a fleet of about 2,000 vehicles, it’s no wonder that every one of them is being examined for savings.
John Seale, investment manager of ESB Fleet Equipment, is taking a pragmatic approach: “There is no one thing out there, no silver bullet.” Hence the ESB has many solutions under test. Part of its mandatory driver training focuses on more efficient driving practices; the company is also trialling biofuels and electric vehicles, and using battery power instead of conventional engines for auxiliary equipment such as lifts and winches. Feedback from operators of the electric vehicles has been positive, with very little in the way of the dreaded range anxiety often talked about in relation to electric cars.
It would appear that large public-sector organisations with big fleets of vehicles are ideally placed to pioneer the use of electric power in Ireland. The journeys and distances travelled are monitored closely and most vehicles are stored in central locations overnight, allowing for easy recharging.
One of the biggest barriers to this happening is the investment required. Taxpayers’ money is currently being channelled into a €20 million fund to subsidise the purchase of electric cars, but it’s debateable whether the average buyer yet has an appetite for these vehicles.
Incentives alone will not create a market for electric cars: in Spain, only 15 cars have been sold despite an incentive of up to €6,000. Admittedly, there are still very few good electric cars on the market, so the arrival of cars like the Nissan Leaf or the Mitsubishi i-MiEV will offer buyers more choice.
In spite of much positive publicity, it’s still unclear how ready the public is to buy electric cars in their thousands. Shaky global economy aside, there are worries about the suitability of electric cars for everyday use. On top of that there is little in the way of recharging infrastructure in place.
One scenario the Government could find itself in by the end of 2012 is that few motorists will have taken the incentive to buy a new electric car, leaving it with a €20 million fund that perhaps could have been used elsewhere. Putting large numbers of electric vehicles in the public fleet is one option. It would immediately reduce emissions by a substantial amount, especially in urban areas. Noise pollution would be reduced too.
No matter how successful electric cars become, there will undoubtedly be a long transition from conventional to purely electric power.
The Government appears to be placing all its bets on electric propulsion while ignoring significant developments in internal combustion that are leading to reduced emissions and fuel consumption.
As the emissions tax bands stand, there is no incentive for a car buyer to opt for a model with emissions of less than 120g/km. Yet a wide range of cars easily better that figure, down as low as 89g/km. Crucially, these are vehicles that are more conventional than electric cars.
Petrol-electric hybrid cars produce some of the lowest CO2 figures right now, and a generation of diesel-electric models is waiting in the wings. These cars are being ignored in favour of a theoretical demand for purely electric vehicles.
Drivers require a very small amount of extra training to drive the hybrid Mitsubishi truck, yet the returns are expected to be substantial. Perhaps all of us – and most importantly the Government – could take a leaf out of the ESB’s multifaceted approach rather than pin our hopes on one technology.