Northern Ireland has one of the best infrastructures in the world for those daring individuals who have decided to forego burning liquefied dinosaur innards in an internal combustion engine.
The Electric Vehicle (EV) is possibly the next step in automotive design. They’re cleaner, more efficient and quieter than normal fossil fuel cars. While the majority of electricity in Northern Ireland is still produced via burning fossil fuels, the efficiency is much higher in a power plant than would be possible in a small, self – contained engine.
So we have the infrastructure but where are the cars?
Part of the problem is the battery issue. These things are heavy and expensive and if someone wants to change the world, solving battery output would be the most amazing leap.
The other part of the problem is the cost of commercial EVs. They’re not made in sufficient quantities to drive the price down.
So the idea is to host design challenges to bring the production price of an EV to below £5000. To develop new battery technology. To create new power generation that might reduce reliance on large batteries.