Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has announced the opening of a new office in the department, along with a collection of grants and initiatives, dedicated to encouraging people to make the switch to electric vehicles
The Zero Emission Vehicle Ireland (ZEVI) office has been tasked with overseeing the transition from fossil fuel dependent vehicles to more environmentally friendly electric ones.
Minister Ryan announced the introduction of new grants and initiatives designed to make it easier for people to afford the transition to EVs.
These include grants that will facilitate the installation of chargers at apartments, an expansion of the house charging grant, a trial scheme to encourage commercial fleets to convert to EVs and a new smart charger register.
The full details or the Department of Transport announcement can be found here.
“We have to transform the way we get around our country so that we do not rely on expensive, carbon emitting and polluting fossil fuels. One of the ways we can help decarbonise our transport sector is by accelerating the uptake of electric vehicles, both passenger cars and the commercial fleet,” said Minister Ryan at the launch today.
“This new Office will be at the heart of this transformation, charged with supporting consumers, the public sector and businesses to continue to make the switch to electric vehicles and to lead on the delivery of our ambitious target under the Climate Action Plan 2021 to have 945,000 electric vehicles in the Irish fleet by 2030,” he continued.
Electric vehicles have become more and more popular among Irish drivers in the last couple of years. 21% of all new cars licensed in the first five months of this year were electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, which is almost double the number registered during the same period in 2021, according to the CSO.
However, while the number of electric vehicles on Irish roads has increased, waiting lists for EVs have gotten longer due to the disruption to supply chains caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
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