THE Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan T.D. today (Thursday, 1st July) announces the first approvals for funding under the SEAI’s on-street public charge point scheme for Local Authorities. These are the first grants under this particular scheme to roll out public Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across counties and towns in Ireland.
More and more people in Ireland are making the switch to Electric Vehicles. To date in 2021, applications for EV purchase grants are at 305% of 2020 equivalents. The Climate Action Plan, committed to a target of 936,000 electric vehicles on Irish roads by 2030, with an updated Plan to be published shortly. While the vast majority of EV owners in Ireland charge their vehicles at home, providing on street chargers will help encourage more take up of EVs by those who don’t have a home charger, as well as addressing driver concerns about range anxiety.
Announcing the funding, Minister Ryan said:
“I am delighted to announce that Louth County Council and Dublin City Council have been allocated funding under the local authority public charge point scheme. This funding will see an additional 29 charge points rolled out for public use. There is significant growth in the number of electric vehicles with EVs making up 12% of new car sales from January to May 2021. As more people are making the switch to clean and efficient electric vehicles, it is important that infrastructure keeps ahead of demand. I encourage other local authorities to follow Louth and Dublin’s lead so we can grow this scheme all over the country”
Today’s announcement is part of broader strategy for EV infrastructure which will be led by the Department of Transport to ensure sufficient public infrastructure is in place to meet the increasing demand.
On-street and public charge points allow those who do not have a driveway access to a charge point, removing a barrier to the uptake of electric vehicles. Charge points may be located where public parking is provided on-street or where Local Authorities identify a suitable area in their jurisdiction.
This support complements the Electric Vehicle Home Charger Grant, a grant of up to €600 currently available to purchasers of new and second-hand electric vehicles to support the installation of chargers in homes with own off-street parking. The Department is currently examining options to expand the scheme to support the installation of chargers in residential buildings with private shared parking (e.g. apartments) and expects to have a support in place in the coming months.
