Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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371. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to price increases for electric car owners to avail of ESB charging points; if he has liaised with ESB on this; his views on whether this will dissuade persons from making the switch to electric vehicles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19947/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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My Department has been advised by ESB eCars that upcoming changes to their pricing system will take effect on Thursday 5th May.  These changes are driven by the unprecedented and ongoing increases in energy costs over the past 12 months.

ESB’s charging network is exposed to price changes in the wholesale energy market. Despite significant price increases in the wholesale market over the last 12 months, ESB has not increased its prices since it introduced pay for use on the public charging network in October 2019. Up until then the public charging network was free to use for the previous 10 years.  

From 5th May there will be an increase on transactions across all their payment plans when you charge your electric vehicle (EV) using the ESB public charging network in Ireland. Charging in Northern Ireland will continue to be free to use in the short term while ESB eCars continue their comprehensive network upgrade programme.

80% of all EV charging is done at home. For a sample return journey from Galway to Dublin (400km) most EV owners, if charging at home, would only require a small top up charge of 60km from ESB eCars fast chargers. Even with 100% charging from a fast charger, ESB eCars estimated that using a PAYG plan the cost would be €26.67. This compares to a diesel car cost of €37.34 for the same trip. 

As can be seen from the example above, the overall fuel cost of travelling with an EV remains much lower when compared with an ICE equivalent, and even more so when home charging is the main charging source. As such, while an increase in price, this is not expected to impact unduly on the transition to electric vehicles.