The entire county of Louth has absolutely none and Mayo have yet to avail of the government grants to have them installed. Ireland has a real shortage of fast charger or super chargers for electric vehicles. There are over 60,000 Electric, phev or hybrid vehicles, but only 1,900 chargers on 800 sites on the entire island of Ireland. The ESB runs 1,000 of these in the Republic and a further 400 are charge points be other operators. This means we are falling far short of the chargers needed to keep electric vehicles on the road in a meaningful way. This summer there are reports of heated arguments around supermarket charging points and of car journeys taking longer than reasonably expected due to the lack of charging spots, we take a look at the EV chargers and what options owners can avail of.
According to the E.U. Ireland realistically needs 4,700 charges to keep electric vehicles on the move smoothly. At the moment, Ireland only has 0.5 per cent share of the total EU charging points. While the county is served by ESB charging points on the ecars Network and on private networks (and Louth does have 16 of these), there are urgent calls for the Government to make super-fast chargers on public charging networks available for the growing number of motorists who drive electric. In answer to this, the Government has established Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI). A Government office that it is hoped will play an important role in our transition to zero emission vehicles and according to Minister for the Environment, Eamonn Ryan, "Once established, ZEVI will be tasked with developing a single interactive portal for mapping the location and availability of all publicly accessible EV charging points and will offer a central source of information to EV owners.” A very convoluted way of saying that they plan to make super chargers more available. But the timeline on delivery is not yet clear. Finance is now available under ZEVI, for sports clubs to avail of funding to install publicly accessible chargers for members and visitors. Another good reason to go to the gym, perhaps? In the meantime, electric vehicle drivers must consult ecars Network and other companies such as Applegreen, Circle K and EasyGo for places to charge while on the go. This can often mean queueing and/or a wait for other cars to finish. Of course, you pay for the charge, but that cost is and will always be a lot less painful than any prices at the fuel pumps these days.
For most people, a home charger, or if you are lucky enough, an office charger, will provide a convenient and easy answer to smooth electric driving. There is a €600 grant available for electric car owners to help cover the purchase and installation of home charger systems. However, you must meet certain criteria to avail of the grant and it may not be as straight forward as you might first imagine. Check out the eligibility here on the electric vehicle home-charger-grant. The grants have recently been extended to those who do not actually drive electric yet which would make life easier for visitors or for those construction new houses. They now also include the provision for charging points for those living in rented and apartments accommodation. Most homeowners can expect to pay anything from €800 upwards, alongside the grant, to have a home charger installed, depending on the provider and type of charger you choose. Suppliers of EV home chargers will do a free onsite evaluation and a quote before you need to make any commitment.
The lack of chargers could be cited as one of the main reasons for a reluctance for our commercial fleets to go electric. Financially and environmentally, it makes sense to drive electric. Easy charging stations are essential to a busy company. Under the Climate Action Plan 2021, the Government would like to have 945,000 commercial electric vehicles on the road by 2030. It seems like an ambitious plan. To aid this, about €15 million is available for the 2022 reopening of the Electric Small Public Service Vehicle grant, which is designed to enable owners of small public service vehicles, such as taxis, hackneys and limousines, change to electric vehicles. An expansion of the current electric vans grants to include larger panel vans will also be announced later this year.
Demand for super chargers and easy chargers is high and no doubt, once there is a demand, the supply will follow. Most EV drivers already report a high degree of satisfaction with their electric or hybrid vehicle despite the reported woes of charging. Owners find a system that suits them locally and the lack of charging points does not deter the private motorist from driving electric. The upfront costs, even though these are recouped in the first few years, have been cited as the most off-putting to potential electric drivers. At Peter Hanley Motors, we can advise on all aspects of driving electric. From the best vehicle to suit you to the sweetest spots to charge up. From the savings you can make to whether hybrid or Phev would suit you best. Call in and have a conversation with our sales team today.
The last 80% of a charge takes the longest. Forgo the last 20%.
There is a reasonable scientific explanation for this which involves electrons taking the time to find their destination etc., but the bottom line is move off at 80%, unless you really need that full charge . It will save you time and money.
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