As the EU continues to crackdown on carbon dioxide emissions more and more car manufactures are likely to offer electric cars in the future, here are ten things you may not know about electric cars writes Geraldine Herbert
1) Electric cars have been around for over 170 years.
2) Over 120 electric cars have been sold this year alone compared with just 19 for the same period last year.
3) Currently there are 13 electric vehicle models on the market, and the number continues to rise.
4) By 2020 it is projected that every tenth car on Irish roads will be fully powered by electricity.
5) Electric cars are fast off the mark. The BMW i8 will shoot from 0- 100km in 4.4 seconds and has a top speed of 250kph.
6) The ESB estimate that while petrol cars cost on average 14c per km, diesels 8c an electric car costs 1.4c per km. (Figures based on a Renault Fluence as it is available in petrol, diesel and electric)
7) As these cars run on electric motors they require very less maintenance as compared to combustion based engines. They have very less moving parts so you need not require replacing your car parts more often.
8) Range has typically been used as an argument against the electric vehicle industry but given that the average driver logs 18,000km this would suggest that the average driver does less than 60km daily.
9) Japan has sold the most electric vehicles worldwide, followed by the US, China, France, and Norway.
10) If you are plan to buy an electric car it is worth checking with your insurance company as to whether they offer a discount or not as some do, e.g. AXA offers a 20% saving off their insurance premium by going electric.
Geraldine Herbert
19th June, 2014
