There is a long road ahead before Ireland has a proper public charging network for electric vehicles, according to ePower.
The company, based in Little Island, Cork, installs EV chargers in homes, businesses and public buildings across the country.
According to CSO figures, there was a 46% jump in new electric car sales so far this year, and ePower is seeing a corresponding demand for domestic charging points.
Demand for EV charging points in homes "has gone through the roof" according to CEO of ePower, John O'Keeffe.
However, even though there is a growing demand for public charging points, the infrastructure is not there.
"I think we are in a good place domestically and with a lot of our commercial B2B charging fleet, but we've a very long way to go on the public charging network," Mr O'Keeffe said. "We're behind our European neighbours and if we want 940,000 EVs on the road, then the guideline is we need 90,000 chargers to look after those in the public sphere. We've only 3,000 today, so we've a long, long way to go."
ePower raised €2 million in new funding in September. The oversubscribed investment round will be used for the company's expansion plans. "We plan to roll out tens of thousands of chargers over the next three years so we're going to be investing in the public space dramatically in the next 18 to 24 months," he said.
There is a grant of €600 available to install domestic chargers but it will reduce to €300 from January. Mr O'Keeffe recommends applying for the €600 grant now, if you are thinking of getting an EV between January and the end of June next year.
He said grants are a good inducement to making the switch to EVs. "Only 4% of the national fleet is electric so I think any encouragement we can give to people to buy an EV and install a charger, should be encouraged."
