Electric Vehicle Charge Points Launched In Ireland

Ireland's Energy Minister Eamon Ryan and ESB Chief Executive, Padraig McManus, have launched the country's first Electric Vehicle charge points.

The charge points were unveiled in Dublin city center and mark the beginning of a nationwide infrastructure that is thought will revolutionize transport in Ireland.

Charge points will eventually be installed in homes, on-street and along motorways throughout Ireland so electric cars can be powered at a wide range of accessible venues.

Speaking at the launch, Minister Ryan described the development as, "a genuine first for Ireland".

"Just over a year ago, the Government announced its intention that 10% of the Irish motoring fleet will be electric by 2020.

"We have seen great progress since then. Ireland will be among the first in the world with this kind of nationwide infrastructure.

"It is bold, ambitious and will show Ireland as a global leader in the green economy.

"We will continue to press ahead with our plans to reach, if not exceed, our targets and change the face of Irish motoring."

Padraig McManus said ESB plans to build 3500 charge points by the end of 2011 - a total of 2000 domestic units and a further 1500 on-street charge points. Up to 30 fast chargers will also be installed by end of next year, he added.

"ESB's corporate strategy of the decarbonization of its electricity generation by 2035 will allow for the development of a decarbonized national transport system.

"We are working closely with Government, the Commission for Energy Regulation and key players to create the right conditions as Ireland is an ideal model in terms of scale for this development," he said.

Under the plans to install the 1500 On Street Charge Points by 2011, the majority will be located in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.

The remaining charge points will be located throughout the Republic and at least one will be built for every town with a population of more than 1,500.

The 30 fast chargers to be built by 2011 will be located along all major inter urban routes, 60km apart.

Nine of these will be installed by the end of 2010 and twice that number will be built next year.

At the current time, Dublin has four on-street charge points.

By the end of June, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown will have two with three in Cork, two in Limerick, two in Galway, two in Waterford and one in Portlaoise.

The remainder of on street-charge points installed in 2011 will be commensurate with the supply of electric cars to the market.

According to Minister Ryan, electric cars are significantly more efficient and cheaper to run and maintain than conventional fossil fuelled cars.

It is estimated that running an electric car costs 3 cents per mile as opposed 15 cent per mile for a conventional car. The environmental benefits are enormous as all electric vehicles have zero CO2 emissions.

Payment methods for charging include home charging through domestic electricity suppliers while public on-street charging is free until end of 2010.

Payment systems will eventually be developed to ensure all electricity suppliers can compete through a common physical charging infrastructure