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Arthur T Knackerbracket [soylentnews.org] writes:

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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story [cnet.com]:

Products like the Porsche Taycan prove our pending all-electric future doesn't have to be a dreary one.

To spur the adoption of electric vehicles and ultimately help clean up the environment, Ireland may ban the sale of purely internal-combustion-powered cars. This prohibition could take effect by 2030.

According to RTE, [www.rte.ie] Ireland's National Public Service Broadcaster, the new law is expected to be published early next year. It will be bundled into Climate Action Amendment Bill 2019, which will probably be further tinkered with by a range of government departments.

Over the next decade, leaders of Ireland want at least one-third of its vehicle fleet to be electrically operated. Furthermore, by the year 2050, the government is aiming to make the nation carbon-neutral, an impressive and ambitious goal. Naturally, the transportation sector is responsible for a large amount of pollution. In 2018, it reportedly accounted for more than 20 percent of Ireland's emissions, so any reductions here can make a big difference.

Of course, if you can't swing the monthly payment on a new Taycan, you may end up driving something more like this Chevy Bolt.

If all goes according to plan, some 936,000 electrified vehicles will be on Ireland's roads by 2030. Making things a little easier, this total includes both pure EVs as well as hybrids [cnet.com].

Battery-operated vehicles, like the Porsche Taycan, [cnet.com] offer numerous benefits over their internal-combustion-powered counterparts. They have fewer moving parts, emit zero harmful emissions on their own, provide instant torque for speedy getaways and are nearly silent. But unfortunately, today's battery technology is still lagging, which means EVs often have limited range that can be significantly reduced in cold weather, and not everyone has a convenient place to recharge.

Addressing that final issue listed above, concurrent with its broad electrification plans, the Irish government is also pushing to double the number of home chargers installed. It is also aiming to introduce public charging stations across the island nation.

Ireland's push to electrify its vehicle fleet likely won't be easy, but it should make the country significantly cleaner and more Earth-friendly.

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