EasyGo claims to have surpassed the ESB as the State's largest provider of electric vehicle (EV) charge points.
The Kildare-based company, which uses DC rapid chargers, developed by plug and charge company Tritium, also announced it had secured an additional €10 million in funding from private equity, which would fund the ongoing rollout of its network, while creating an additional 50 jobs.
It said it now has a network of 1,250 charge points nationally, which is used by more than 9,000 EV drivers.
The ESB, which began rolling out charge points first, has a network of about 1,100.
EasyGo, which was set up in 2018, said it was on course to have 1,300 charge points in operation by the first half of 2021.
It is financially backed by Rubicon Capital Advisors, a boutique investment bank, which focuses primarily on infrastructure, energy and utilities.
The company recently signed a deal with telecommunications firm Eir to convert 180 former telephone kiosks into rapid charge points and is also planning to roll out charge points across SuperValu's retail network.
Predictions for the Irish EV market are hugely promising, said EasyGo director and co-founder Gerry Cash.
Consumer demand
"The market for EVs is on track to double in 2021 due to ongoing EU directives and Irish Government policies on climate action and growing consumer demand for affordable, greener motoring solutions," he said.
Mr Cash cited figures from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s (SEAI), which show there are more than 17,000 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids currently on Irish roads and that this number is on track to double in the coming year.
“Global public demand has seen a huge increase in the range of EVs from car manufacturers which now provides the Irish motoring public with a myriad of choices aiding the fast growth of the market and satisfying both private consumer and business fleet demand,” he said.
“These include Bevs [battery electric vehicles] that exclusively rely on rechargeable battery packs and Phevs [plug-in hybrid electric vehicles] that use batteries to power an electric motor and another fuel, such as petrol, to power an ICE [internal combustion engine],” he said.
Under its Climate Action Plan 2030, the Government aims to have almost a million electric vehicles on Irish roads by the end of the decade.
Department of Transport figures, issued last year, suggest there were about 10,000 fully electric cars in the country, which amounts to less than 0.5 per cent of the national fleet.
