Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 February 2025
190. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Transport to outline the expected timeline for the planned development of a new national EV infrastructure strategy, as proposed in the Programme for Government. [2723/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion and modernisation of the EV charging network over the coming years. Having an effective and reliable charging network is an essential part of enabling drivers to make the switch to electric vehicles.
While over 80% of EV charging is expected to happen at home, which will address most users charging needs, there is an absolute need for a seamless public charging network that will provide for situations or instances where home charging is not possible.
To date this has been led by private sector investment, and the number of publicly available charge points in Ireland has increased from 1,700 in September 2022 to 2,400 in 2024. In order to achieve Ireland’s EU targets under the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), it is expected that there will be 3,200 – 6,210 public chargers required nationally by 2025, depending on the level of power supplied at each.
The EV Charging infrastructure Strategy 2022-2025 sets out the Government’s ambition regarding the delivery of this network to support up to 195,000 electric cars and vans by the middle of the decade.
Arising from the Strategy, the National Road EV Charging Network Plan (2024) provides a roadmap for the deployment of charging on motorway and primary and secondary roads. The second part of this plan, the Regional and Local EV Charging Network Plan was published for consultation in May 2024 and provides a pathway for the accelerated delivery of regional and local networks of public EV charging infrastructure in cities, towns and villages across Ireland with the focus on neighbourhood and destination charging. These documents were complemented by the publishing of the Universal Design Guidance for EV Charging Infrastructure (2024) which includes recommendations on the design, placement and information provision of infrastructure.
The existing iteration of the overarching EV Infrastructure Charging Strategy runs until the end of 2025. Work will commence this year on the development of a new national EV Infrastructure Strategy to cover the period 2026 – 2029.
