Question

Can I somehow omit the first line? i.e. $this->load->model('Model_name'); and autoload it when necessary?

To load a model you will use the following function:

$this->load->model('Model_name');

Once loaded, you will access your model functions using an object with the same name as your class:

$this->Model_name->function(); 

Answer 1

Lazy loading is not supported in Codeiginiter 2.1

There are a couple of options available to you

1. Use the ‘autoload’ in the config. This will always make the model available throughout the application. See here for more info

2. Load the model in the __construct() of your controller (if it is specific to that controller)