We need forecourts and car parks with 20 electric car  charging points, says Eamon Ryan

Environment minister Eamon Ryan has conceded that Ireland is far behind where it should be when it comes to charging infrastructure.

Mass ramping up of electric charging sites, which could see 20 points in service forecourts, shopping centres and car parks, needs a major push from government and industry ahead of a surge in new e-cars over the next five years.

That's according to transport and environment minister Eamon Ryan, who conceded that Ireland is far behind where it should be when it comes to charging infrastructure.

He told an Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) event on Irish energy policy and the transition to net-zero emissions that "we will have act fast, because these cars are coming at scale, and will need powering".

Mr Ryan also insisted that mass private ownership of vehicles like in Ireland would prove unnecessary, and that shared ownership would catch on through lowered costs and environmental benefits.

"The transport system will not work if we think we are just going to change from the combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles," said Mr Ryan.

One of the key things that we need to get right is the public charging infrastructure. 

"For most people, particularly in rural Ireland, it will be charged at home and that will be fine. But there will be some people who will need charging infrastructure into urban motorways, who will need charging infrastructure in their local area, particularly if they can’t put a charger at the side of their home."

Ireland was one of the first countries to have a charging infrastructure that "really put us up ahead of the pack" but "we have fallen behind from where we need to be" in 2020, Mr Ryan said.

"We need to accelerate the rollout of public charging infrastructure, and I think we have to do that ahead of the really large volumes of cars coming in two or three or four years’ time. I mean really scaling and delivering.

"The difficulty is that petrol stations, and other potential sites for charging infrastructure, they are saying they don’t yet have the demand. I met them recently, the industry, and said we are going to have to invest. 

"I said we are going to have to invest ahead of demand, we are going to invest at scale, so that when you go into an interurban motorway along the network, there’s 10, 12, 15, 20 charging points, not just two or three," he added.

That is difficult because you have to get the electricity to that point and that is a challenge, he said.

In the urban areas, if we don’t have it in our petrol stations and so on, we will have to look at supermarkets and car parks or other potential locations, and we will have act fast because these cars are coming at scale and will need powering.

There are currently around 1,100 public charge points available nationwide, according to the ESB.

One of the solutions to mass transport was the so-called 'e-mobility', according to the minister.

E-mobility describes all-encompassing vehicles and methods to get around.

Mr Ryan said: "One of the solutions here is towards e-mobility. 

"Electric bikes are going to have a huge part in this transition, e-scooters and car-sharing of EVs. 

"We should use this opportunity of change to make it more efficient and better value because most of our cars are parked for 95% of the time. 

"If we had access to a shared car and pay a fraction of what we are currently paying, what’s not to like about that?" he said.