The Northern and Western Regional Assembly has called for a concerted focus on the provision of publicly available electric vehicle charge points, to drive the transition to carbon neutral motoring.
The State's Climate Action Plan envisages a total of 945,000 electric vehicles on Irish roads by 2030.
But the NWRA says a lack of charging points in rural areas means this goal is in serious doubt.
The Assembly, which brings together local authorities across the west and border area, says the Government should ensure every town and village in the country has at least two such facilities installed.
It has published a county by county breakdown of available EV charge points: Dublin has the most with a total of 639, followed by Antrim and Cork, with 240 and 239 respectively.
In contrast, Leitrim has just eight public EV rechargers, with Longford and Monaghan also near the bottom of the list.
In regional terms, the study found the north and west had the lowest concentration of points per square kilometre.
The NWRA has called for an enhanced focus on the provision of fast, high-powered chargers.
It says this is needed to reduce 'range anxiety’ - the term used to describe potential power supply difficulties for EV owners planning longer journeys.
It has also suggested the introduction of ‘regionally-targeted grants’ for EV buyers, so those in rural areas would receive higher purchase assistance payments than their urban counterparts.
The Assembly says a survey of over 500 people in the region, conducted on its behalf by Ireland Thinks, found 79% were "very unlikely" to purchase an electric vehicle in the next year.
Respondents cited concerns about the availability of chargers and the maximum grants available for new cars, among their reasons for sticking with more traditional, carbon emitting vehicles.
