PREVIEW
Dublin to host inaugural International Electric Vehicle Summit
F
ully Charged 2012, an International Electric Vehicle Summit takes place at the Convention Centre in Dublin on July 11th. Fleet Transport caught up with Paul Mulvaney, Managing Director of ESB ecars, who are hosting the event on behalf of the Green eMotion EU Project. Can you explain what is Fully Charged 2012? It’s a conference that has been organized by ESB ecars on behalf of the Green eMotion project. Green eMotion is an EU funded project and is the largest one relating to electric vehicles to support the mass market adoption in Europe. This is the first conference – we’ve been asked to organize it and we are very happy with that. The planning is progressing very well – we have delegates from all over the world with speakers from China, the US, and a lot of European countries as well. We are looking at getting a perspective from all across the world really. The focus will be on policy setting for example, and how it is handled differently in different regions. There will also be a focus on the technology and on the end-user – we’ll have cars on display including the new electric Volkswagen Golf which has just recently been released and will premier at the Fully Charged event. Electric cars are really becoming mainstream, versions of standard cars that we are familiar with are beginning to emerge like the Renault Fluence – there are petrol and diesel versions available for the last number of years, now there is an electric version. The Nissan Leaf will be there, Opel will have the Ampera, which is a plug-in hybrid, and is on the same platform as the GM Volt, and Toyota will have its Prius Plug-in Hybrid. We’re excited about having those cars on display, and there will also be an opportunity for the general public to test drive some electric cars – they can log on to the website www.fullycharged2012.com and can register for the draw to test-drive on the day of the conference as well.
and south. So we had an ambition to put Ireland on the map and this is an opportunity to do it. It’s also recognition from other countries that they see that what we are doing is cutting-edge so it’s a great opportunity, Dublin is a great venue and the Convention Centre is a fantastic venue for something like this. We’re running this as a satellite of Dublin’s European City of Science 2012, and there’s a big City of Science Convention starting the following day in the Conference Centre as well, so there is a good overlap with the whole science and innovation theme. Who is the conference aimed at, and who are you hoping will attend? The conference is really aimed at people from the business sector. It includes government bodies both central and local from the policy setting side, but also automotive manufacturers, energy utilities and equipment manufacturers such as the people who are making the charge points, or are involved in the IT and communications aspect of electric cars. There is a special student rate as well and a number of Phd and Masters students have already signed up. What are the key topics that are going to be covered at the conference?
This is the first conference. There will be a number more of them, probably in different countries as there are so many member countries involved in this project. From ESB ecars’ perspective are you happy with how the electric vehicle roll-out is going so far, and what do you see are the key areas that need to be looked at to enhance the project?
There are challenges because it is a new technology, it’s a whole new mindset to get people to think about electric transportation, but we have an advantage in that we are in there right at the start, we are involved in developing the standards and the technology. What we are installing in Ireland is an advanced ‘Smart’ charging infrastructure which means that there’s communication between the IT systems, the electricity grid, and the car and end-user. Having a smart system that allows all of these elements to interact means you get a much better result overall. For example you can control the charging of the cars in order that there is least impact on the electricity system, The fact that the inaugural event is being or in order that cars charge using held in Dublin, how significant is that the greenest or cheapest electricity for Ireland, and why, in your opinion, possible. We’ve been working with was this country chosen? Intel and IBM on developing context aware charging that will learn about ESB ecars has been very active in the people’s preferences. It will look at, electric vehicle space right across for example, their iPhone diaries, and Europe, and from the start of the see journeys they have planned, or O'Flaherty, ESB ecars and Reg Plunkett owner of the 1899 Sperry Cleveland project we have had an ambition to Dervla meetings or social outings, and ensure pictured at the launch of the Fully Charged 2012 alongside the Opel Ampera. make Ireland an exemplar of how to that the charge is optimized to suit introduce electric vehicles. Ireland has their needs. So lots of exciting things a number of advantages - the physical size of the seamless access to charging infrastructures and like that happening in the area at the moment, and country, the fact that we have just one electrical related services in place. This is one of the big we are very involved in developing those. distribution system – in lots of countries the drives behind the whole Green eMotion project distribution system is owned by various different in the first place. There are lots of things that need To register please visit www.fullycharged2012. bodies and coordination is much more difficult, It’s to be standardized - processes, IT, connectors, lots com. an advantage that the ESB owns the distribution of different elements. system both here and in the North and we’re working very closely with the Northern Ireland Is this conference a one-off, or are there plans to project as well to ensure inter-operability north hold on a regular basis? Text: Cathal Doyle - cathal@fleet.ie
There are a number of themes. One is around policy perspective right across the world. Another theme is interoperability. It is key that standards are put in place so that people can move from country to country, region to region and have a simple,
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