EM - June/July 2014 - (Page 9)

9 June/July 2014 www.esb.ie/em Innovation The Great Electric Drive just got greater 8 32 new Great Electric Drive ambassadors from 20 counties Focus on Future Internet John McSweeney gives keynote address P10 GOOD NEWS FOR EV DRIVERS TRAVELLING IN EUROPE 8 ESB pioneers the development of seamless roaming for EV users in Europe Pictured is Dermot McArdle, General Manager ecars, charging an ecar in Arnhem using a mobile app developed by ESB to access the charge point in Holland. ESB'S ECARS TEAM have been working with Dutch utility Alliander Mobility Services on developing a pioneering mobile App, which will allow EV drivers to seamlessly access the electric vehicle (EV) charging network in both countries. The two companies have been working for over a year on integrating the charg- Pictured are new ecar Ambassadors with John McSweeney, Head of Innovation, ESB at an event to announce the launch of the Great Electric Drive 2014/15. THIRTY-TWO NEW ecar ambassadors have been selected by ESB to take part in the Great Electric Drive 2014/2015. The ambassadors were announced at an event held in Dublin, attended by Pat Rabbitte, TD, Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources. This is the second year of the Great Electric Drive, which gives 26 members of the public and six commercial organisations the opportunity to trial an electric car for up to four months each. The ambassadors were selected from more than 20,000 applicants from all over Ireland. Minister Rabbitte said: "The electrification of transport is a key component of Ireland's emissions reduction strategy and reducing our dependency on imported fuels. I am delighted Ireland continues to lead the way in this area and welcome the very strong response to ESB's Great Electric Drive from the general public". The electric vehicles are being provided by major car companies and include the BMW i3, Citroen C-Zero, Mitsubishi iMiev, Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid, Nissan Euro LEAF and Nissan e-NV200 commercial van, Renault ZOE the Renault Twizy and the Renault Kangoo ZE commercial van. Participants will share their experiences on the ESB ecars blog Pat Rabbitte, TD, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, and ecar ambassador Amanda Meehan at the launch of the Great Electric Drive in Dublin. throughout their ecar trial. Six organisations have also been selected as commercial ecar ambassadors, including: Inland Fisheries Ireland; Parcel Zone (Dublin); Verve, the Live Agency; the Spelt Bakery (Kilkenny); Cork City Fire Brigade; and Mercury Engineering. All will drive an electric commercial vehicle during the trial. Speaking at the event, John McSweeney, Head of Innovation, ESB said: "We are delighted to have 32 new ambassadors to take part in the second Great Electric Drive. We have chosen people from all over the country and all walks of life. People in Ireland are really starting to realise the benefits of electric cars and their suitability for everyone, no matter what their driving patterns are". In September, ESB will be undertaking a cross European drive from Cork to Brussels using charging infrastructure in four countries and demonstrating the rapidly developing capabilities of electric vehicles. n ing networks in order to allow for EV roaming across Holland and Ireland. This initiative is being developed as part of the MobiEurope project, which is a three year European demonstration project, that brings together 12 public and private entities from five countries including Ireland and the Netherlands. The project aims to develop interoperability among the different pilots with the goal of allowing international roaming by EV drivers, facilitating low emissions road transport. On a recent visit to Alliander offices in Arnhem, Holland, ESB ecars used the opportunity to carry out a demonstration of the integrated charging system through a mobile web application. This app is available on all mobile platforms and allows ESB EV customers to access the charge point network in the Netherlands. ESB ecars team - Dermot McArdle, Senan McGrath and Donal Herraghty - successfully used the mobile app to access an on-street charge point to charge their ecar in the suburbs of Arnhem, Holland. A similar type demonstration - involving a Dutch EV driver using the app to access the Irish charge point network - is scheduled to take place as part of an ecars roadshow ESB will host in Limerick City, the City of Culture 2014, during the summer. n ESB ECARS UNDERTAKES CROSS-BORDER DRIVE TOP GEAR-STYLE! TWO TEAM MEMBERS from ecars Conor Cooney and Patrick Kirby - successfully undertook a driving comparison between an ecar and a conventional diesel car, travelling from Larne, Co. Antrim to Cork, a journey of almost 500kms. Both cars followed the same route, allowing for real time comparisons to be made in terms of fuel cost savings, environmental savings and journey duration. It took Conor eight and a half hours in the electric car, stopping for two hours and twenty minutes to avail of fast charges along the route at Newry, Lusk, Monastervein and Cahir. He used approximately 80 kWhrs of electricity, both off peak and standard rate electricity, at a total cost of €13, with zero tailpipe emissions. Patrick drove the diesel car in six and a half hours, stopped for a total of one hour for lunch/coffee. The diesel car consumed 28 litres of diesel at a cost of €42 and emitted an estimated 72kgs of CO2 emissions. Dermot McArdle, head of ESB ecars said: "This was a great opportunity to demonstrate the versatility of electric vehicles, and show that they can not only be used for short commutes or city driving, but also for longer journeys, with significantly lower costs and lower CO2 emissions". He added: "Our aim was to show that an electric vehicle can do everything a conventional vehicle can do - while saving you money, and being easier on the environment". n ESB International staff briefing Page 12 Pictured are ESB drivers - Conor Cooney and Patrick Kirby with their cars as they set off for the Larne to Cork drive.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of EM - June/July 2014

EM - June/July 2014
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EM - June/July 2014