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Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
EV Q&A: Why doesn't Ireland use roadside furniture for charging electric vehicles?
Q: I live in a terraced house, so we can't have a charging point . However, there are several public lighting stands around my home that could be used as electric vehicle (EV) chargers without posing hazards to either traffic or pedestrians. Why has no one thought to do this, to attach chargers? I've seen loads of them on side streets near where my son lives in London. – Tom H, Co Cork A: Tom, you are speaking my language here. I too live in a terraced house, and I too cannot have a home charging point – for a whole variety of reasons from the position of the meter box in my house to the fact that I've been told I can neither run a cable-cover across the pavement nor have a swing-out arm to run the cable up and over. Besides, it's free parking on my street and everyone and their dog parks right in front of my place, so I inevitably have to park far, far away. Right, personal whinging done with, it's important to remember that this is – and will be a – significant factor for electric vehicle uptake in the years to come. According to data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) about 42 per cent of Irish houses are of a full-detached design, while another 3.3 per cent are semidetached (these figures are from 2017, but they're the most recent ones we have). READ MORE It's fairly safe to assume that a fully-detached house will have a driveway or at least some space around it where a charging point can be fitted and a car can be pulled up. With semidetached houses, that certainty falls a touch, but let's say there's a statistically reasonable guess that around 44 per cent of Irish houses have a driveway. [ EV Q&A: Should I buy an out-of-warranty, used electric car? Opens in new window ] Electricity supply and internal wiring allowing, all of these people can to get a home charging point and have their shiny new (or approved used) EV ready to rock with a full battery every morning. However, the mathematically astute among you will have noticed that leaves a probable 66 per cent of Irish houses which either may not or just flat out don't have any off-street parking. There will also be an enormous urban-rural divide. Where I live, for example, the vast majority of the houses on the streets around me have no driveway and only access to on-street parking. With predictable helpfulness, the nearest on-street EV charging point is a 30-minute walk. Not so horrible on a nice summer's evening; much less agreeable on a November night. Even if I were always prepared to make the schlep to the charger and back, the 10-hour maximum charging time, before 'overstay' fees kick in, would mean that assuming I connected the car at 6pm and walked home for my dinner, I'd have to return at 4am to collect my car before being penalised. Never forget: the very fact that overstay fees exist is a tacit admission that the public charging network is not fit for purpose. But I'm drifting slightly from the point. There are a small handful of lamp-post chargers in Ireland, mostly found in the Dublin suburbs of Dún Laoghaire and Malahide. They were installed on a trial basis by Ubitricity and others, but the trial has long since ended and some of the charging points have now been removed. Why? Well, a predictable lack of focus and energy on the part of local authorities I'm afraid, although there are potential issues with lamp-post and other kerbside chargers. We've previously asked Zero Emissions Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI) about this, and their response was: 'In other countries existing lamp-posts have been retrofitted with EV Charge Points with the meter for measuring electricity fitted to the charging Cable (ie external to the lamp-post). This allows for the existing lamp-post – where suitably located – to have a charge point installed using spare capacity within the post; usually 2kW to 3KW. [ EV Q&A: Why do electric cars still have old-fashioned 12-volt batteries? Opens in new window ] 'In Ireland this solution is not currently viable given the requirement from ESB to have an in-built meter and a separation from ESB and charge point infrastructure. This requires a bespoke lamp-post to be installed with enough space to include an ESB meter. 'The ESB is considering a bespoke lamp-post solution and are looking at potential pilots for this solution. However, it should be noted that this solution will most likely add significant costs over retrofitting of existing lamp-posts and the use case for this solution will only be considered following the review of any pilot. 'It should also be noted that any lamp-post solution would only be considered where the lamp-post is positioned at the front of the footpath and any lamp-post positioned at the rear would not be suitable for health and safety purposes, with cable not being permitted across footpaths.' There are some issues with this response, not least that recent research shows that most lamp-posts have sufficient spare energy capacity to deliver around 5kW of power to a charger, which isn't too shabby at all. Equally, installers with whom we've spoken say that the tech is versatile enough that a charging point can be fitted to almost any piece of roadside furniture – bollards, for example. There are also mixed messages from Government about this. While ZEVI seems to largely rule out lamp-post chargers, a Department of Transport paper in 2023 called for a 'world class' EV charging network to be up and running by 2025, with then-Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, specifically saying: 'There is need for a seamless public charging network that will provide for situations or instances where home charging is not possible, such as on-street and residential charging, destination charging and workplace charging.' Once again, those among you with a head for figures will have noticed that it is now 2025, and we most certainly do not have a 'world-class' charging set-up. Perhaps, as is so often the case, we need to look to Scandinavia. The Swedes have already introduced legislation that demands a minimum number of charging points per number of parking spaces offered by businesses or other properties. Meanwhile, in some suburbs of Stockholm, pencil-thin kerbside EV chargers are so numerous up and down some streets that they don't even bother marking out 'EV Only' parking spaces. Alas, such urgency and forward thinking seems to be, as ever, rather lacking here at home. Which means Tom and I are going to have to keep charging at the nearest fast-charger, more than doubling the cost of running an EV, until some more on-street electric car chargers are rolled out.
Newsweek
28-04-2025
- Health
- Newsweek
Gen Z Is Leading a New Weight Loss Trend: Ozempic Microdosing
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. As Ozempic use skyrockets across America, Generation Z is fueling a new weight loss trend, according to a new survey from healthcare software company Tebra. Many Americans are taking GLP-1 medications, which include weight loss and diabetes medications Ozempic and Wegovy. However, Gen Z specifically appears to be driving a microdosing trend for the medications, with nearly 9 in 10 Gen Z users saying they are or have microdosed, according to Tebra's survey. Why It Matters Ozempic is a prescription drug developed to manage blood sugar levels in patients with Type 2 diabetes. But it can also cause weight loss as a side effect due to its impact on appetite. Ozempic is one drug of many based on the naturally occurring human hormone GLP-1, which contains semaglutide and can significantly reduce appetite amongst users. Microdosing on GLP-1 medications may be done as a way for patients to save money while still losing weight or looking to avoid some of the side effects that could come along with taking larger doses of the drug. What To Know The number of people using GLP-1 mimic medications like Ozempic has skyrocketed in recent years. Between the start of 2020 and end of 2022, prescriptions rose by 300 percent across the U.S., according to healthcare analytics firm Trilliant Health. The younger generation is using these drugs slightly differently, Tebra's survey suggests. In the survey of 640 GLP-1 users, 36 percent said they have microdosed with the drug. Gen Z was leading the trend, with 89 percent of Gen Z users saying they had microdosed in the past or currently do so. Tebra said that was significantly higher than other age groups. Across all respondents who microdosed, 24 percent said they had been microdosing for six months or more, showing it may be a more sustainable way to tackle weight loss goals. It can save a significant amount of money as well. With one monthly dose of Ozempic ranging from $1,000 to $1,200, 38 percent of GLP-1 users said they were microdosing to save money. However, some users who admitted to microdosing said they later regretted it—roughly one in five. As for why people opted to microdose, avoiding side effects was the main reason for 66 percent of microdosers, while 38 percent said they did it to save money. Weight loss satisfaction did not differ between those who microdosed and those who didn't, according to Tebra. However, microdosers were 16 percent more likely to feel confident about maintaining their weight loss over time. In this photo illustration, boxes of the diabetes drug Ozempic rest on a pharmacy counter on April 17, 2023, in Los Angeles. In this photo illustration, boxes of the diabetes drug Ozempic rest on a pharmacy counter on April 17, 2023, in Los People Are Saying Tom Holland, an exercise physiologist and weight-loss expert and author of Beat the Gym & The Micro Workout Plan, previously told Newsweek: "Unfortunately the human condition is such that, when it comes to diet and exercise, we are constantly seeking the quickest fix with the least amount of effort, regardless of the costs, both monetarily as well as physically." Dr. Sharon Giese, plastic surgeon, weight loss expert and creator of the Elective Weight Loss program previously told Newsweek: "Many of these patients have tried 'everything' and have not been able to lose weight without some assistance. This is exactly the time when trying an appetite suppressant, like Ozempic or semaglutide, may work." What Happens Next? While the number of Americans using GLP-1 medications continues to be high, the side effects and the weight gain many report after stopping the drug have some questioning the drug's long-term effects. In one 2022 study, patients who stopped taking semaglutide had regained two-thirds of the weight they initially lost one year out.
