EV deployment has reached a tipping point. Fifteen per cent of all new cars sold in Ireland in 2022 were full battery electric vehicles, with annual sales nearly doubling each year. Maintaining this exponential growth in the future would see all new cars being electrified by 2026, a target that policymakers can and should aim for.
Mining minerals for battery components does cause environmental and social harms, which policies and scientific innovations should seek to minimise, including by incentivising smaller EVs with lighter batteries. However, these impacts must be weighed against the damage caused by mining, refining and burning the far greater volume of fossil fuels that EVs will displace.
While the Exchequer may be hesitant to maintain EV subsidies, we must consider the most cost-effective ways to meet our carbon budgets. Studies from UCC and others suggest that ongoing EV supports, combined with reductions in car use, will be necessary to avoid more costly measures later this decade, such as prematurely scrapping fossil fuel cars or implementing harsh travel restrictions.