The Irish government has announced a €21 million (£18m) grant programme to install new electric vehicle (EV) recharging infrastructure on the Republic’s motorways and dual carriageways.
The scheme will support the installation of high-power recharging pools with 1200kW power output every 60 kilometres.
At least four 150kW recharging points are proposed for each pool.
Irish transport minister Eamon Ryan said the grant aims to stimulate the private sector to provide new recharging pools by the end of 2025.
The scheme targets publicly available facilities within 3km driving distance of the Republic’s motorway/dual-carriageway network, such as service area operators, hotels, retail outlets.
The minister said additional schemes will be rolled out over the coming year, which will target other parts of the road network alongside recharging at destinations and in neighbourhoods.
“This will help ensure that we have pools of high-speed chargers at dependable distances along our road network,” said Mr Ryan.
“It will give assurance to EV drivers that they will have accessible and rapid charging facilities on their journeys, driving even further EV adoption and helping to reduce our emissions.
“Ireland is perhaps more suited to EVs than many countries because more of us live in houses where we have space to charge at home.
“This gives us a huge advantage and signs on it, with over 110,000 EVs on the road already.
“This scheme will back this advantage up, providing more reliability once we hit the road and ensuring reliability for those who may not be able to charge at home.”
