10 mins read
Recent figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show business and leasing EV registrations up 19.2% between 2024 and 2025. The public charging network is catching up, but is it developing fast enough and in the right places for businesses and fleet operators to make the switch with confidence?
1. Where we are now
Ireland’s rollout of electric car chargers has nearly doubled since late 2022 and the total number of publicly accessible chargers is now around 3,237 nationwide. Over 204,000 EVs are on the road, well ahead of the government’s 2025 target. The number of new electric cars sold continues to grow rapidly, accounting for around 21% of new car sales in the first two months of 2026, a 36.5% increase on the same period last year.
Much of the expansion has been concentrated along Ireland’s main road network. About 370 high-power DC chargers rated at 150kW or above have been installed at motorway service areas and major sites, including Kill on the N7, Portlaoise, Athlone, Newbridge, Blanchardstown and Mahon Point in Cork. Several commercial companies are plugging the gaps in the high-speed charger network and generally on the main inter‑urban corridors, the infrastructure story is already a good one.
Despite the progress, though, variations in coverage, particularly in regional towns, are evident. A 2025 infrastructure review by the Irish EV Association described the network as showing strong growth in connectors and rapid charging sites but still very much a work in progress as a significant number of planned locations have yet to go live. For fleet operators whose vehicles operate nationwide, those disparities can be a daily challenge.
2. Where we need to be
Under the EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation, known as AFIR, Ireland must deliver public charging power in proportion to its EV fleet: 1.3 kW per battery‑electric vehicle and 0.8 kW per plug‑in hybrid. What that actually means is that based on current fleet projections roughly 214,000 kW of public charging capacity nationally is needed by the middle of the decade, rising to 712,000 kW over 700 megawatts by 2030. On the national road network specifically, AFIR requires at least 400 kW of charging capacity every 60 kilometres along TEN‑T core routes in both directions for cars and vans by 2025, stepping up to 600 kW by 2027.
The question for fleet managers is not whether the network will grow, it will, but how quickly and in which locations.
3. How we get there
The road ahead is clearly mapped out by the Light Duty Vehicle (LDV) grant schemes, administered by ZEVI and delivered by TII. The three programmes LDV1 for motorways, LDV2 for national primary roads and LDV3 for national secondary roads together cover more than 3,000 kilometres of national roads and will add 160 high‑power charging hubs and just under 500 high‑powered charge points to the network. €9.9 million in ZEVI grants has been committed for the latest Phase 3 scheme.
Behind those government schemes, it is still commercial operators doing the heavy lifting. IEVA’s 2025 figures indicate that EZO, ePower, ESB eCars, Circle K and Applegreen Electric, between them delivered most of the new CCS units added last year, with Weev also adding to its network, and Tesla and Ionity maintaining their presence at key motorway locations. Circle K’s partnership with Ionity has added 350 kW hubs at Kill(North and South), Athlone, Gorey, Cashel and City North, while Applegreen Electric is rolling out new high‑power sites and upgrades across the motorway and primary‑road network, many of them supported by the national grant schemes.
Investment in charging points along national roads is particularly important for fleets that operate beyond the motorway network. There are 90 new en‑route hubs with 192 chargers planned for national primary and secondary roads. The Phase 3 list of successful applicants covers forecourts, supermarkets and service stations on strategic routes, including the N2, N24, N26, N51, N56, N59, N60, N62, N63, N70, N71, N72, N80, N84, N85, N86 and N87.
The challenges remain but at regional and local level, the 2026–2028 EV Infrastructure Strategy outlines a model that moves from “business‑led”, where chargers appear only where they are commercially attractive, to “plan‑led”, where local authorities in conjunction with private operators, will fill the gaps at the less commercially viable sites. Early results are already appearing: in Limerick, 12 locations are currently underway as part of a wider plan to deliver 30 chargers across 15 sites in the county. 200 charge points are planned across 50 locations in Dublin, and pilots are running in 15 other councils ahead of full regional rollout in 2026.
The view from the fleet
So what does all of this mean for a fleet manager putting together a transition plan today?
In the near term, public charging is a usable daily tool on most motorways and key national routes, and is improving meaningfully in cities and larger towns. Queues at peak times and occasional reliability issues at busy sites haven’t gone away, and there are also still gaps in the charger network. But this is now a network you can plan around.
Increasing the number of public chargers is a key challenge but over the next two to three years, the funded schemes outlined above will translate into real infrastructure on real roads. The continued rollout of the charging network across the country is clear with named sites, committed capital and delivery timelines. For fleets, the bottom line is simple: the public charging network is rapidly evolving into something that can be relied on and planned around. Improvements in the supply will make it easier to keep electric cars and vans moving and take unnecessary unpredictability out of transitioning to a zero-emission fleet.
EV infrastructure in Ireland: the numbers that matter:
| Public chargers nationwide | 3,237 | Up from 1,700 in Sept 2022 — nearly doubled |
| EVs on Irish roads | 204,000+ | 2025 CAP target (195k) already surpassed |
| High-power DC chargers (150kW+) | ~370 | On the national road network (motorways & key sites) |
| EV share of new car sales | ~21% | First two months of 2026 |
| Year-on-year EV sales growth | 36.5% | Jan–Feb 2026 vs 2025 |
Sources: National Road Network EV Charging Plan; Regional and Local EV Charging Network Plan; Ireland EV Infrastructure Strategy 2026–2028; Irish EV Association Infrastructure Review 2025; ZEVI–TII LDV Grant Scheme announcements.