Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 June 2022
65. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Transport his views on the recent report on the roll-out of electric vehicles in the State; and the measures that he intends to take to ensure greater provision of charging facilities and greater access to electric vehicles among the general population. [30737/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have noted the recent publication from the Parliamentary Budget Office, An Overview of Ireland’s Electric Vehicle Incentives and a Comparison With International Peers, to which the Deputy referred.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are the most prominent transport mitigation measure in the 2021 Climate Action Plan. Ireland has set an ambitious target of 945,000 EVs on our roads by 2030. This target is challenging but indicates the scale of the transformation that is needed across all sectors if Ireland is to achieve its climate targets in the coming years.
Considerable progress has been made to ensure that conditions and policies are in place to support citizens in making greener vehicle choices. As the Deputy will be aware, a comprehensive suite of measures is available to EV drivers, including
- EV Purchase Grant Scheme of up to €5000 for BEVs
- EV Home Charger Grant of Up to €600 towards the installation cost of a domestic charge point for new and second-hand BEVs or PHEVs.
- Low Motor Tax - BEVs qualify for the lowest tax band of motor tax at €120 per annum, while a PHEV is typically taxed at circa €170 per annum.
- VRT relief of up to €5,000 for BEVs.
- BEVs qualify for a 0% Benefit-in-Kind rate up to €50,000 without mileage conditions.
- BEV and PHEVs qualify for 50% and 25% toll reductions respectively up to a maximum €500 annual threshold for private vehicles and a maximum annual threshold of €1,000 for commercial vehicles
- A grant of up to €10,000 to support the purchase of a BEV in the taxi/hackney/limousine sector with an additional €2,500 available for those choosing to make their vehicle wheelchair accessible. Those scrapping older, more polluting, or high mileage vehicles are now eligible for double the normal grant if they make the switch to electric with up to €20K available for a new BEV, €25K for a new wheelchair accessible BEV and €15K for a new wheelchair accessible PHEV.
- Alternatively Fuelled Heavy-Duty Vehicle (AFHDV) Purchase Grant Scheme - grant levels under the Scheme are calculated as a percentage of the difference in price between a conventionally-fuelled diesel HDV and its alternatively-fuelled equivalent.
These measures have collectively contributed to increased take up of EVs in Ireland in recent years, albeit from a low base in 2017, to over 58,000 by end April 2022.
Notwithstanding this, I am acutely aware that the cost of electric vehicles remains an issue for many consumers and that supply chain issues globally have also proven difficult. These have been exacerbated by international events. For these reasons, our policy measures here are kept under continuous review. In this context, my Department convened the Electric Vehicle Policy Pathway (EVPP) Working Group to produce a roadmap to achieving the 2030 EV target. This Group considered a variety of regulatory, financial, and taxation policies to accelerate EV adoption and recommended that the generous suite of EV supports already in place in Ireland should be retained until at least end-2022. Additional measures to further incentivise EVs and/or disincentivise fossil fuelled vehicles will also be necessary. Cost-effective, targeted policy supports should continue to be developed and strengthened over the coming years.
An Implementation Group has been established to progress the recommendations and consider further potential measures to drive the adoption of the EVs. This Group will report on its progress to Government in Q4 of this year.
The Government is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion and modernisation of the electric vehicle charging network over the coming years. A draft national charging infrastructure strategy for the development of EV charging infrastructure, covering the crucial period out to 2025 was published for consultation in March. The draft strategy sets out the government’s ambition regarding the delivery of a public EV charging network to support up to 194,000 electric cars and vans by the middle of the decade. Responses and submissions received as part of the consultation are currently being considered in the development of the final Strategy for publication.
Preparations are underway to establish Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI). This Office will play an important role in our transition to zero emission vehicles. It will co-ordinate measures to support the uptake of EVs and the rollout of charge point infrastructure.
Home charging is the primary charging method for most Irish EV owners as it’s convenient and cheaper for the consumer as well assists in the overall management of the national grid. Over 80% of charging is expected to happen at home. Government will also deliver a high quality seamless public charging network that will provide for situations or instances where home charging is not possible such as neighbourhood or residential charging, destination charging, and en-route or motorway charging.
As outlined above, a grant is available from the SEAI for those individuals seeking to install a home charger. Work is currently being progressed to expand the EV home charger grant to include shared parking in apartment blocks and similar developments. My Department is working closely with the SEAI and expects a scheme for apartments to open shortly.
€10 million was committed from the Climate Action Fund to support ESB investment in the charging network and this has leveraged a further €10 million investment from ESB, with the infrastructure to be in place by the end of 2022. This intervention alone will result in:
- 90 additional high power chargers, each capable of charging two vehicles
- Seventeen high-power chargers distributed across 14 multi-vehicle hubs have been delivered as part of the programme to date.
- 52 additional fast chargers, which may replace existing standard chargers - This work is completed at 36 locations and delivery of new, faster and higher capacity technology is awaited to complete this element of the program, due in August and the upgrade program will resume then. The remaining locations have all been identified and surveyed.
- 264 replacement standard chargers with more modern technology and with each consisting of two charge points - This work is substantially complete. 258 of the chargers have now been successfully replaced.
Further details on the progression of this project including the rollout of charge points in each county can be found at esb.ie/ecars/our-network/network-upgrades.
The Public Charge Point Scheme continues to be available during 2022 to provide local authorities with a grant of up to €5,000 to support the development of on-street public chargers. My Department has reviewed the Scheme and the draft Strategy sets out a number of additional actions to support delivery by local authorities, such as funding capital costs for civil and electrics works, as well as charge point installation, through a new Residential Charging Scheme.
Finally, my Department is developing new grant schemes which will support the installation of destination charge points in locations including hotels, car parks and visitor and tourist attractions, both State-owned and commercial sites. This new initiative will be open for applications from both the public and private sector and help provide another critical link in the overall network for public charging.
