A new report by the taxi-hailing app Free Now has found a 48 per cent rise in demand for electric taxi trips in Ireland and a 104 per cent increase across Europe generally.
The report, which looks at emerging transport trends across Europe, draws its findings from 54 million users across the continent and from 16 countries including Ireland.
Electric mobility
The 48 per cent increase in demand for electrified taxi trips in Ireland, the company says, comes after it rolled out its Eco service to Cork, Galway and Limerick last September (it has been available in Dublin since 2020) and the Eco fleet now comprises 30 per cent of the overall Free Now fleet in Ireland.
As well as taxis, however, the report also looked at other mobility trends and found that 58 per cent of Free Now's users believe that there are too many private cars on Irish roads, with three quarters saying that Ireland needs more sustainable electric transport options.
Some of those sustainable options could include electric scooters, a booking and hiring system for which Free Now intends to bring to market here later this year. This will, the company says, form part of its eventual single, multi-mobility app like it has in other European markets.
Comment
Commenting on the findings, Niall Carson, Free Now's general manager in Ireland said:
"Looking at the big picture, the number of private cars in Europe is set to rise to 273 million by 2025, compared to 263 million today. It is estimated that these 10 million new private cars could remain parked approximately 95 per cent of the time and would require additional parking space equivalent to the size of Dublin. A shift away from private car ownership is becoming apparent with more people considering multi-mobility, or a blended approach to daily transport as a real alternative to meet their everyday travel needs."
"The transport sector has ambitious sustainability targets to meet as per our Climate Action Plan," he said, "but with growing public appetite for sustainable transport and a collaborative effort from transport providers across the country to deliver electric and multi-mobility options, we can hopefully bridge the gap between where we stand currently and where we need to be by 2030."
E-scooters in Ireland
A number of different e-scooter hire companies such as Dott and Tier have expressed an interest in integrating their services through the Free Now app. This comes following the government's approval last October of new road traffic legislation making provisions for the use of e-scooters on Irish roads.
Under the new legislation, although electric scooter riders will not be required to possess a driving licence, tax or insurance, the scooters will be limited to a maximum speed of 25km/h, with local authorities having the power to set lower limits. It will also be permitted to use electric scooters in cycle lanes.