Study to assess viability of electric vans

A pilot project to test the viability of using electric vehicles in a business environment has been initiated by the Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar.

The year-long trial will see telecoms company Eircom use three electric vans as part of its commercial fleet.

Half of the €800,000 funding for the project will come from the Department of Transport.

One of the vans will be home charged, another will use rapid charging facilities at Topaz service stations while a third will use a combination of both in an effort to find the most efficient way of running the vehicles.

The Ecology Foundation, in charge of collating the data, will also test the vans for electricity usage, cost, mileage and emissions.

The Minister said he hoped the project would play its part in helping to achieve the Government’s target of 10 per cent electric vehicle usage by 2020.

Although the cost of the fuel is about a third of using petrol or diesel the “expense obviously is buying the vehicles in the first place,” he said.