Councillor sparks debate over EV charging points

Motorists can pay a whopping €40 to €70 more for a full charge at public EV charging stations than when charging at home, last weeks meeting of Meath County Council heard.

The need for one single mobile app, which can be used for charging electric vehicles at public charging stations, was outlined at the meeting .

Cllr Alan Tobin proposed the council write to the Minister for Energy, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) to consult with all public Electric vehicle (EV) charging providers to develop one single mobile application.

He said this would ensure that the public can easily charge their vehicle without having to download separate apps but more crucially would encourage more transparency, choice and competition in the EV charging market.

"For anyone driving an EV for the first time the most daunting task is to try to use the public chargers. I've had one for the last three years and the first time I went to use a public charger, I didn't realise I had to download an app, I didn't realise that I had to put in my bank details, that I had to tap up my phone to get it to work.

Some will work with a tap from a credit or debit card, but a lot of them won't"he said.

Cllr Tobin pointed out that there is a huge charge on people who want to use a public charger and that a lot of people, living in apartments or with communal parking, aren't able to charge at home.

"It I charge at home the cost for 70kw is €3.85 at the moment.

If I go on a public charger it will cost me anything between €42.70 and €51.80 depending on the speed of the charger. There is no competition in the market, because you need a separate app for each of these organisations to use their particular charger.

"A lot of them had public money put into them to ensure the infrastructure was put in. One opened in Roscommon and between TII and Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland, €200,000 put into the unit in grants. The highest charge on that unit is 74 cent per kilowatt, where I pay 38c at home.

"Why is it that there isn't competition in this market. Why do we have to have different apps. If we could use one app, run by SEAI, and you had all your details in it, you pull it up, be able to see there are five chargers in Ashbourne, five companies, their prices and you can pick the cheapest one. That would introduce competition into the market and bring down prices.

When you go to an EV charger you don't see the price like you do at a petrol station," he said.