Michael McAleer
A series of 17 new EV fast-charging hubs along major roads has been announced by the Minister for Transport.
With an average distance of 45km between the so-called "recharging pools", it is due to add 131 new fast and ultra-fast charging points to the road network and ease the ongoing concerns of potential EV drivers.
The Department said the infrastructure will be built by private business, grant-aided by the Department of Transport and are expected to be in place by the end of 2025. The chargers will deliver 150kW charges or higher.
While more expensive than home charging, limited access to public charging network has been highlighted as a major hurdle for motorists considering a move to EVs.
The new charging stations will be on the M1 at Junction 18, Ballymascanlon, Co Louth; on the M7 at Junction 17 Portlaoise Plaza; at Junction 27 Birdhill and Junction 23 Barack Obama Plaza; and on the M4 at Junction 7, Maynooth and Junction 15 Mullingar.
On the M11, there will be a new hub at Junction 16 Rathnew, Co Wikclow, while on the M8, new hubs will be added at Junction 12 Ennis Plaza and Junction 4 Clondrinagh, Co Limerick. On the M7 the new facilities will be at Junction 20 at the Tuam Plaza.
On the M6 it will be at Junction 16 Galway Plaza, and Junction 15 Ballinasloe. The M9 will get new hubs at Junction 7 Paulstown and Junction 2-3 Kilcullen. On the M3 they will be at Junction 6 Dunshauglin and Junction 9 Navan Retail Park, and on the M2 at Junction 4 at the Pillo Hotel in Ashbourne.
"Each of these recharging pools provides banks of Fast and Ultra-Fast recharging points, so that people can charge their EVs quickly," it said in a statement.
"This initiative will bolster Ireland’s Electric Vehicle (EV) recharging infrastructure and promote sustainable transportation. It is the first part of a major plan to ensure that there are more recharging points along our roads. A second grant scheme concentrating on national roads is expected to open later this year.
"Following the installation of the grant-aided recharging infrastructure, the average distance between high-power recharging pools along the scheme routes will be 45km."
Eamon Ryan also confirmed that the current purchase grant for EVs, the home-charging grand and the lower VRT rate on the purchase of new EVs will remain in place in the the upcoming budget.
The Minister said: "We will follow it up with many other schemes to ensure people know that they can charge their cars easily. This will complement our other commitments such as the EV purchase grant scheme, which will remain unchanged again next year, our grants for home chargers and the continued VRT reduction for EVs. Add this to the greater choice and price competitiveness on the market, we hope more and more people will be encouraged to choose electric.”
The 131 high-power recharging points will provide 24,260 kilowatts (24 megawatts) of additional recharging capacity. They will be funded by Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI) under the first EV Charging Infrastructure LDV (Light Duty Vehicle) En-Route Grant Scheme and led by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
The grant scheme was launched in February this year and aims to accelerate the development of EV recharging infrastructure across Ireland's road network by incentivising private sector involvement.
The Department said that there were no successful applicants for additional high-power recharging pools to supplement the existing recharging pool at Cashel, on the M8 corridor between Junction 3 Ballacolla and Dunkettle.
"However, additional LDV en-route grant schemes are under development and will seek to address any areas of the network requiring additional support, where it was not possible to make sufficient awards under the initial LDV grant scheme, as well as providing further EV recharging infrastructure coverage of the National Road Network," the Department said.
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