Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 13 July 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy: Discussion

Dr. Aoife O'Grady:

I obviously think it is the right target and I think it is achievable. Where we are at the moment is we have seen a change over the past three or four years from about 8% of vehicles being sold with a plug, to 15% last year and 22% this year. That is indicating a step change every year. The number of EVs being sold every year continues to increase significantly. There are headwinds coming our way that we did not anticipate in 2021 in the form of the global supply chain shortages. We know from contacts within industry that the number of EVs available on the market this year is much less than the industry anticipated this time last year. We can see it ourselves. Several people who have ordered an EV, including myself, are waiting for one. The supply chain shortages started with Covid and the container shortages and then there were the shutdowns in China leading to low factory production. Now we have the war in Ukraine adding additional layers in. At the moment we are not quite sure when those shortages are going to be relieved and when we might get back to business as usual in the supply of EVs to the market. When that supply returns, given that we are seeing increased demand all the time for EVs, it will be a question of when we get our supply chains back to normal. The quicker that happens, the more easily we will be able to deliver those targets.

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