Greater ambition needed in targets for public EV charging in Mayo
GOVERNMENT targets for public EV charging stations in towns and neighbourhoods are not ambitious enough to encourage people to make the switch to electric cars, according to Energy Efficiency Ireland.
The draft Regional and Local EV Charging Network plan calls for 5,005kW output worth of EV chargers to be installed in residential areas, public and private car parks, and other public spaces in Mayo by 2025.
The plan also sets a larger goal of having 16,271kW output of total public EV charging stations in Mayo by 2030.
This comes to 36.47kW of public EV charging capacity per 1,000 by 2025, and 118.57kW per 1,000 people by 2030.
The draft plan targets EV charging stations for what are called Destination and Neighbourhood areas.
Destination locations would comprise privately owned car parks at businesses such as restaurants and hotels, along with public parking either on street or at public facilities.
These Destination locations would have a mixture of slow, fast, and ultra-fast DC and AC charging stations for people running errands in town or engaged in activities.
Whether AC chargers or faster DC charging stations are installed would depend on how long people are expected to park at specific locations.
The second big pillar of the planning is for Neighbourhood EV charging, which targets residential neighbourhoods where there is little to no off street parking which would allow for private charge points.
The EV chargers installed in these locations are to be slow and medium speed AC chargers ideal for long-stay and overnight charging, rather than a quick boost from a high-speed DC charger.
Under this plan, a large town would have just 1,400kW worth of EV charging stations installed in 2025, while a medium sized town would only have 1,000kW combined capacity of EV chargers.
For larger towns, this would mean just six faster DC chargers and 10 normal power AC chargers, or 20 AC chargers. Medium sized towns would only be able to avail of the same mix of fast and slow chargers, or 16 AC chargers.
Targets for smaller towns and villages will be set even lower than that, with no more than five EV chargers total across the town.
Commenting on the draft plan, Michael Malone, Chief Editor of EnergyEfficiency.ie said that this plan does not go far enough for people who aren’t able to install an EV charger at their own home.
He said: “2030 is too far out for having enough public EV charging stations to support towns, villages, and cities. People living without driveways are basically being told that they have to wait another five or six years before it becomes attractive for them to have an electric car.
“This kind of timeframe is completely at odds with the government’s goal of having 30% of Ireland’s entire vehicle fleet converted to electric vehicles by 2030. We need more EV charging stations delivered quicker to make it feasible for people, particularly those living in towns and cities, to get an electric car.
“Ireland needs to become more ambitious in its targets for public EV charging stations and needs to work to see those targets implemented faster if we want to reverse the trend of declining numbers of people buying electric cars.”
The regional and local EV charging network is meant to be implemented in concert with the rollout of high speed EV charging stations along the national road network, which would allow people to charge.
For more information read the full article at https://energyefficiency.ie/.