Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 December 2022
201. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Transport if he will consider providing electric vehicle charging grants to businesses for their employees and customers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62533/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion and modernisation of the electric vehicle (EV) 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 next month.
Having an effective and reliable recharging network is essential to enabling drivers to choose electric. 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.
My Department is developing a new destination charging scheme. Destination charging will provide rapid charging solutions (50-100kW typically) at trip attractor locations and businesses such as leisure centres, parks, hotels and visitor attractions where EV drivers could charge their vehicle for 1-3 hours before returning home. There is private sector interest in this area of the EV charging infrastructure market, and in Ireland we have already seen the provision of rapid charging top-up infrastructure in car parks and in trip generating locations such as at supermarkets.
The draft Infrastructure Strategy envisages a supporting role for Government in providing initial seed funding to stimulate and encourage more widespread roll out of this charging infrastructure. Government will also have a key role in coordinating the various stakeholders involved in delivering this infrastructure. This new initiative will help provide another critical link in the overall network for public charging.
In addition, I launched the EV Commercial Fleet Trial on 21 July 2022 to afford businesses the opportunity to test an EV free of charge for a minimum period of 3 months. This trial will allow businesses real world experience of having an EV on their fleet and showcase the benefits, savings and the suitability and viability of EVs in a commercial setting.
The trial will run in four blocks of 50 businesses. The first 50 businesses have had their premises surveyed for installation of charge points with installations for the first block scheduled to be complete by early December 2022. The first 10 participating vehicles were placed with businesses at the end of November with the remaining 40 vehicles scheduled to be placed with businesses in January 2023. To ensure as positive an experience as possible, ZEVI in conjunction with SEAI have made the decision to install charge points or ensure an operational charging strategy is in place for each business prior to delivery of trial EV.
The participating businesses span a host of different industries and are made up of large industry, public sector and SMEs.
