Stewart is a self employed taxi driver based in Antrim Town. He has been driving an electric vehicle for several years and describes his current vehicle as ‘absolutely brilliant.’ Running cost, environmental benefits and technology were some of the factors which influenced Stewart’s choice to switch to an EV.
As a taxi driver, Stewart drives approx. 250 miles per day and has calculated significant cost savings over the past few years. Asked about the advice he would pass along to any other drivers considering an electric vehicle Stewart stresses the importance of doing your research as the purchase cost of the car can outweigh the savings to be made on electricity and maintenance.
Reflecting on the existing infrastructure Stewart adds that the public charging network in Northern Ireland was sufficient up until 2019 but as EV sales have increased many of the chargers are no longer active due to poor maintenance.
For the future development of the public charging network locally, Stewart believes more clarity is needed on the installation schedule and locations for new charging infrastructure and costs need to be kept below 30p/kWh. He asserts that high overstay fees should be implemented to free up chargers more quickly and that higher KW chargers are required to reduce the time needed to charge some of the larger car batteries now available on the market here.