Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government published in June this year commits to publishing an electric vehicles strategy which will ensure charging infrastructure stays ahead of demand. Preliminary work has already been undertaken to inform the electric vehicle, EV, charging infrastructure strategy with the completion, in June this year, of an updated needs analysis for fast chargers. This analysis had regard to the 2019 climate action plan projection of having 75,000 EVs on the road by 2022.

The needs analysis took into account a range of considerations including the importance of ensuring adequate charging infrastructure along the main commuting routes; the location of charging infrastructure in areas of high traffic volume along primary routes; the concentration of traffic in certain areas; and the importance of placing EV infrastructure across rural and urban areas.

The analysis estimated that there will be a sufficient number of fast chargers in place to meet the needs of 75,000 EVs by 2022. However, it is critical that we continue to monitor this capacity as the roll-out of charging infrastructure continues nationwide so as to ensure we stay ahead of demand.

My Department is also working closely with local government, including the Local Government Management Agency and the County and City Management Association, to ensure we can address the key issues that arise for transport and land use planning at both local and regional level.

Additional work on the strategy is currently being planned to address key strategic considerations, including regulatory and legislative requirements, the need for geospatial analyses, the financing of infrastructure and managing future electricity demand.

It is my intention to publish the strategy as early as possible in Quarter 1 2021.

Once completed, the strategy will provide a key framework for ensuring we continue to have sufficient infrastructure in place to keep ahead of demand, while also ensuring that appropriate planning and development guidelines are followed in providing the necessary capacity.

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