In a significant development for electric vehicle owners, power firm SSE has revealed plans to establish a range of charging stations with ten bays each. However, an acclaimed academic has stated that unless grants for drivers are renewed in the looming budget, the government may fall short in realising its goals for the quantity of electric vehicles on our streets.
SSE recently unveiled the maiden multi-vehicle charging hub of its new range at Lough Sheever Corporate Park in Mullingar, just off the M4. In the ensuing months, the business aims to initiate three additional hubs at Blanchardstown Business Park and Greenogue Industrial Estate in Dublin, along with Ashbourne Retail Park in Co Meath.
SSE claimed that in line with its planned rollout of 300 EV charging hubs in the UK and Ireland over the forthcoming half-decade, more hubs will follow suit.
SSE’s entry into the EV charging hub domain ensues the ESB’s initial infrastructure rollout, succeeded by various private sector firms like EasyGo, Circle K, Applegreen, Ionity, and assisted by partnerships with supermarkets SuperValu, Tesco, and Lidl.
However, in the words of Prof Brian Caulfield from Trinity College, Dublin, who specialises in lowering carbon footprint in transport and assessing the environmental implications, the number of EV chargers should be increased considering the current registration of just above 121,000 cars in the state. “Although petrol stations are visible everywhere, the same isn’t true for electric charging points,” Prof Caulfield posited.
He maintains that to reach the government’s preliminary target of 175,000 electric cars and 20,000 light goods vehicles on the roads by the close of next year, effort needs to increase. The objective extends to having 945,000 electric vehicles on the streets by 2030, with private passenger cars expected to make up around 845,000.
Nonetheless, the Central Statistics Office announced that the number of newly registered electric vehicles in the Republic declined by 25 percent in the first half of 2024. Prof Caulfield observed that challenges, like providing grants for those transitioning to electric mobility, should be tackled for the government to fulfil its aims.
He expressed his opinion that the imminent budget offers an opportunity to the Government to restore the grant reductions imposed on purchasers of electric vehicles, which experienced a decrease from €5,000 to €3,500 in 2023. He articulated his scepticism about this reversal occurring, however, suggesting a reluctance on the Government’s part to oscillate in their decisions. Prof Caulfield also encouraged further consideration of electric car sales disparity between metropolitan and rural locales. He highlighted that while urban areas predominantly boasted the highest amount of electric car transactions, regions such as Donegal – known for its extensive driving distances – present greater potential for individual carbon emission reduction. As such, he proposed the implementation of rural-specific grant incentives, aimed at broadening the environmental advantages of electric vehicle ownership.
An informal survey among electric car owners in the country – carried out via Facebook – indicated a broad level of satisfaction concerning the deployment of charging points. However, it unveiled several prevalent issues, inclusive of conspicuous blind spots. These were predominantly found in areas within the west of Ireland – like Donegal, west Mayo, west Clare, and Kerry – as well as the M1 motorway connecting Dublin to the Border. Drivers voiced their concerns about the limited availability of suitable charging stations, often limited to a solitary station. Lingered repairs of malfunctioning charging stations, the blockage of charging points by petrol and diesel cars without repercussions, the requirement for accelerated charging capabilities, the need for a universally-accepted charging card among all suppliers, and the desire for extended charging cables at parking spaces were also raised as problematic areas.
Whilst the Department of Transport’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) claims there are exceeding 2,400 active charging points, critics argue that the majority qualify as “slow chargers”. Independent application, Plugshare, estimates a stark lesser figure, suggesting fewer than 200 fast chargers operating at 50KW are viability accessible.