Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 July 2019
568. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of vehicle e-charging points installed in Dublin since 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29715/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are currently over 650 standard public charge points and 78 fast chargers as a part of the ESB eCars network. A map showing these charge points, including their status and availability, is available on the ESB's website at www.esb.ie/ecars.
The operation and maintenance of charge points is a matter for ESB eCars and therefore not in the remit of this Department. However, Department officials have contacted ESB eCars and have been advised that it has not installed any new charge points in Dublin since 2016.
It should be noted that there are also a number of location/destination chargers which include chargers provided at hotels, shopping centres, visitor attractions, places of employment, private car parks etc.
Under the first call for applications from the Climate Action Fund, I approved funding of up to €10 million to support ESB eCars to develop a nationwide, state-of-the-art electric vehicle fast charging network. This project successfully completed the assessment stage and the validation stage is now underway. The project includes the installation of 90 high-power chargers each of which will be capable of charging two vehicles simultaneously, upgrading 50 existing standard chargers to fast chargers and replacing over 250 existing standard chargers with next generation high reliability models. This is a multi-annual project and is expected to be fully completed by 2022.
The locations of the chargers have not been finalised. However, a provisional map of the planned network, showing indicative locations, was developed by ESB eCars and has been published on my Department’s website. ESB eCars is currently identifying the most appropriate locations for the chargers to be sited. The sites will be identified using the latest software mapping techniques, taking account of information on current charge point usage, traffic volume, accessibility, amenities and grid capacity at the sites.
To support charging at home, a grant of up to €600 is available rom the SEAI to support the purchase and installation of a home charger for purchasers of new and second-hand electric vehicles.
