It must be easier for drivers to find EV charge points - senator

Given the rise in popularity of electric vehicles, available charging points must be made easy to find.

Senator Robbie Gallagher made the comments in light of the latest figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) which show 18,458 electric vehicles were registered in the first seven months of 2023, compared to 11,175 in the first seven months of 2022. Of the 27,148 new cars registered last month, 4,161 were electric.

“People need to know where people can charge their EVs and easy and accessible ways to access the location of charging points need to be developed both for those who have already made the change to electric and to encourage more people to use EVs," said the Fianna Fáil senator. "All publicly available EV charging facilities need to be located on a website or app, with real time information on their availability and charging capacity.

"Information on charging facilities that are out of action for whatever reason should also be available to all. Road signage also needs to be adapted accordingly. These steps need to be taken so that people can have confidence ,” he said.

He noted that "one of the biggest obstacles" to people purchasing EVs is the fear of not having an available public charging point nearby or knowing where to go.

"In July 2022, Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI) was launched as a dedicated office charged with supporting consumers, the public sector and businesses to continue to make the switch to zero emission vehicles. The pace of installation of EV charging points needs to be picked up. And locations such as car parks and possibly lamp-posts need to be considered as well as service stations," he said.