We use a 1.4 litre Toyota Yaris. A Tankful for 76cents!
With the times that are in it, any good news is a bonus especially for the driving world where few if any bargains fell our way down the years. On our doorstep is a very exciting concept – the electric car. So, instead of filling up with Russian or Arab petrol, we’ll just
plug in to a socket, as if to boil a kettle, and recharge the battery at the attractive price of some 76 cents: that’s the equivalent of running costs of just 1 cent per kilometre and will have a range of nearly 100km at a top speed of 75km per hour. Higher performance batteries will become available with a greater range and speed.
The average running costs, annually, for a small 2-door car will be in the region of 200euro, motortax will cost 31eur and insurance will be reduced. Those small cars are already available from Renault-Nissan in Ireland and carry a price tag of 10k to 15k eur. They will be generally available within two years. Plans are afoot to have 250,000 such cars on Irish roads within 10 years, that is about 10% of our motor population.
The ESB are to instal powerpoints at appropriate locations throughout the country; this project will give much employment and announcements have been made that some 4,000 people will get the nod. Energy minister, Eamonn Ryan, plans to reduce and eventually eliminate engine CO2 emissions.
Our next generation will hear stories of petrol pumps and their attendants, of queues and rows, the odd road rage incident and even shooting when patience ran out in times of shortage. Did we ever think that in a few short years the public telephone booths that graced every street corner would disappear so quickly.
Ireland will provide the world with a model for how electric vehicles can be achieved globally, the minister has stated. So, going electric promises to be good for the environment and even better for your wallet; and if you want to be ‘greener’ theres electric bicycles on offer in the price region of 1,000eur.
It should be all so pleasing in the future not having to draw on the dwindling oil wells that held us to ransom so many times in the 60s and 70s. Now, let the Irish be the ones to put the wind up the Shieks for a change.
Leave a Reply