It looks very much as if the Republic is about to miss yet another of its climate change targets.
Mobility Partnership Ireland − or MBI, a group of companies which have come together to try to exert more pressure on the Government to hit its sustainable transport targets − has said that far more ambition is needed to ensure that enough electric car charging points are rolled out by the end of this year.
MBI − which includes heavy-hitters such as Toyota’s Yuko instant rentals service, GoCar.ie, Freenow, and payments service provider Payzone − has called on Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers to instigate an “urgent review” of the National Development Plan when it comes to the provision of EV chargers.
According to MBI, not only do the latest figures show that Ireland‘s transport emissions increased in 2023 − the most recent year for which there are precise numbers − but that installations of electric car chargers have fallen well behind not just expectations, but behind what we’re legally committed to having.
Data from the Department for Transport shows that just 700 additional public EV charging points have been added over the past two years, bringing the total to 2,400 in 2024.
But, under the EU Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), Ireland should have at least 3,200 public EV charging points in place by the end of this year. As a result, MPI says that it is concerned that the State is on course, not for the first time, to miss its EU targets.
Hugh Cooney, chairman of MPI, said: “With Ireland set to miss its EU targets, a greater level of ambition is needed to accelerate the roll-out of Ireland‘s EV charging infrastructure. The establishment of a new infrastructure division and taskforce in the Department of Public Expenditure and review of the National Development Plan offer a timely opportunity to craft a coherent, more coordinated, and fully funded approach to developing Ireland‘s EV charging infrastructure. Transformative change is needed, and this should be reflected in the National Development Plan.”
The lack of a truly widespread, and indeed reliable, charging network for electric cars is cited as a major block on their uptake by broader swathes of Irish car buyers.
While registrations of new electric cars have risen significantly this year, by 24 per cent so far according to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, that rise comes off the back of two very disappointing years in 2023 and 2024, both of which saw significant falls in electric car sales.
This EV malaise is being found in the rest of Europe too, and it’s why many car manufacturers are rolling back on previous promises to become electric-only by the end of this decade; it’s why major Chinese car makers are ramping up the development and sale of plug-in hybrid models instead of fully-electric cars; and it’s why both the EU and the UK have recently amended the regulations surrounding the expected levels of electric car sales between now and 2035, allowing hybrids to stay on sale for longer, and deferring fines for not selling a sufficient number of electric cars.
While cost and reliability remain significant concerns for electric-shy buyers, some 34 per cent of Irish rural car buyers surveyed by car sales website Carzone said that the lack of a widespread charging network was holding them back from committing to electric power.
The Irish Times asked Darren Kinsella, new energy landscapes development manager at Schneider Electric, and recently appointed as the spokesperson for Electric Vehicles Charging Association of Ireland (EVCAI) −which includes the likes of EasyGo, ESB e-Cars, and other EV charging providers − why we’re still waiting for an electric charging network that’s good enough to convince wavering buyers?
“We’ll see a substantial improvement by the end of this year,” Kinsella told The Irish Times. “Because that’s when the chargers supported by the latest round of ‘LDV’ funds from Zero Emissions Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI) are due to be completed. We’ll also see 50kW chargers installed at 250 sports clubs this year. But it comes down to education and skills − we will never build all this overnight.
In terms of education, it comes back to the mindset of each individual person. The majority of people who own and will own an electric car will do the majority of their charging at home, and most of them will do less than 60km or 80km per day. So why do you need a car that can do 400km, or 500km, or 600km on one charge? It comes down to mindset and perception.”
Kinsella also reckons that we are still in the very early days of the development of the EV charging infrastructure, and that there are huge opportunities for employment in the industry. “We are at the infancy of the infrastructure.
“If you think back to the earliest days of motoring, when you had to get paraffin from chemists to fuel your car − that’s almost where we’re at. But we have some of the best minds in the world in this country, the likes of ESB Networks and ESB International, are some of the most highly-skilled and highly-credited individuals when it comes to building out an electric infrastructure.
“I have spoken to people at senior levels in ESB, and the research and development, the projects and the pipeline with them is absolutely incredible. Mind-boggling stuff, futuristic stuff. And not just on the e-mobility side, but on the buildings, derivatives, sustainability, efficiency, the amount of work is potentially there in the industry for 80,000 people. For electrical contracting alone, we need 10,000 people just to keep up with this cycle, for the electrical installs and infrastructure.”
That does smack somewhat of ‘jam tomorrow’, however, and given that many promises around EV charging have been broken in the past, it may not be enough to convince sceptical buyers now.
According to Fabian Sperka, vehicles policy manager at European eco think tank Transport & Environment: “Charging is perceived as one of the biggest barriers to people switching to electric vehicles, but the picture is improving fast. Now, governments need to go beyond the strict requirements of the EU targets if they are to convince more drivers. More capacity needs to be installed where the actual traffic is, and payments should be made simpler. There also needs to be a clamp-down on broken chargers.”
