Dublin leads the charge

Extensive rollout of EV infrastructure begins as Dublin leads the charge

Drivers of electric vehicles (EVs) in Dublin who are unable to charge their cars at home will soon gain access to hundreds of additional public charging locations thanks to a joint undertaking from the County’s four local authorities.

Over the next two years, some 200 chargers will be brought into operation around key destinations in the region. This collaborative effort will help pave the way for smoother infrastructure development, better resource allocation, and greater convenience for EV owners who may not have access to charging facilities at their home across the whole of County Dublin. It will also offer easy access for those travelling to Dublin from other parts of the country.

A market leader in EV charging and solar panel solutions, Irish company ePower was selected to undertake the rollout following a competitive Europe-wide tender process. For this, the 200 chargers will be placed at 50 locations, including local authority-owned car parks in Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown. Other locations will include the likes of community centres, libraries and sports clubs.

While Dublin has the most charging points for EV owners in the country, the majority of these are privately installed and there is a lack of public charging points available. With people still interested in EV ownership, particularly as prices for the vehicles reduce and the technology advances, that means there is likely to be a large upscaling of ownership over the next few years when it is expected that some 138,000 EVs will be registered in the Dublin region. Around a quarter of those EVs will rely on public charging.

To cater for that growth, the Dublin EV Strategy developed by the four councils has targeted some 1,650 charge points being deployed at highly frequented destinations. The initial rollout of these will include the likes of Bremore Castle, Howth Harbour, Bushy Park, Tallaght Stadium and St Anne's Park, as well as a number of libraries and leisure centres. The rollout at these types of locations will play a critical role along with the deployment of neighbourhood and en-route charging points for different vehicle types.

The unique project marks the first-time local authorities in Ireland have cooperated in this way on widespread charging infrastructure rollout. It is being supported by Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI), an initiative which works to support people and organisations to make the switch to EVs. The Government wants to see at least 845,000 EVs on the road by 2030., an ambition which comes after the European Union adopted a law to make all new cars and vans sold in Europe zero-emission from 2035.

Fast chargers like those being rolled out in Dublin are typically installed along motorways to facilitate quick charging for vehicles travelling longer distances. Their installation in and around the city and across the county, is designed to make the EV charging process simpler and encourage driving electric.

CEO of ePower, John O’Keeffe, says this first of it’s kind rollout is a huge recognition of the importance of infrastructure for EV drivers as we move towards zero carbon transport. “It’s our mission to make charging easy and accessible for everyone. That is especially important for those living in apartments townhouses and terraces, as they don’t always have access to home charging. A programme like this really breaks down barriers in choosing to drive EV. The four Dublin Local Authorities have recognised that, and showed the vision and support required to help people choose more environmentally friendly personal transport. We are so looking forward to working closely with the four Dublin Local Authorities to deliver this ambitious project.”

While the full list of locations where these chargers will be installed is being finalised, work is underway with ESB networks to secure the required power supplies to potential local authority sites. It is envisaged that the first sites will become operational in the first quarter 2025.

Details on the locations will be updated on the website of each local authority, as well on the ePower app. In the initial rollout across the 50 sites, 90% of the chargers will be offering 100kW speeds. All fast chargers will conveniently support tap and go contactless payment via debit or credit cards.