A SOLUTION to the question of how damaged and potentially hazardous batteries from electric vehicles can be disposed of should be in place soon, the Infrastructure Minister has said.
Deputy Jonathan Renouf said he had discussed the matter with officials in the wake of a JEP story earlier this month concerning an Islander whose hybrid vehicle was badly damaged in a fire.
The motorist said he had been told by both the police and fire service that there was nothing they could do about the damaged car, which was stored temporarily on a driveway before being removed the next day.
Deputy Renouf said that he viewed having a workable solution for the safe storage of critical batteries as “extremely urgent”.
“It’s clearly not acceptable if people cannot get help in dealing with a critical battery,” he said.
“I’ve discussed this with officials, making clear that I see this as a very high priority, and I would hope to hear back about this within two weeks.”
On the wider issue of disposing of electric vehicles at the end of their lives, Deputy Renouf said that the Infrastructure and Environment Department was working with a local partner on a means of storing such vehicles, how their batteries will be removed and how the batteries would be safely transported to the UK.
Deputy Renouf said that some technical issues still needed to be resolved, as well as questions about how the disposal of end-of-life vehicles would be funded, but expressed confidence that these matters would be resolved.
The matter has also been considered by the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny panel.
Deputy Hilary Jeune, who chairs the panel, said: “We were aware of this and received a briefing prior to the election, and it’s been followed through during the new political term.
“What we’ve heard from the minister and his officials is that they are working hard to find a solution, particularly in relation to the storage issue.”
She added: “It’s important that Jersey has an ‘end-to-end’ approach to something like this – if Islanders are being encouraged to acquire electric vehicles as part of our climate objectives, then they need to be supported in disposing of vehicles once they have reached end-of-life.”
