CITY dwellers with no space to charge an electric car or only an occasional need to drive one are to have use of a network of ‘community mobility charging hubs’. T he first hub officially opened in Dublin today but there are plans to replicate the facility in cities and towns all across the country. The hub is a cluster of charging and mobility services on the grounds of Dublin City Council’s local area office in Finglas.
It has four rapid EV charging points, a base for a car-share scheme and eight pay-per-use electric bikes. A joint public-private effort, it is on a State-owned site in the heart of the community beside the council offices, opposite the local garda station, easily accessible and well-lit for night users. The bike service is provided by ESB and Bleeper Bikes, the EV chargers are run by EasyGo and the car share space is operated by GoCar, Enterprise and Yuko which will always offer an EV at the hub.
Read More Politicians charge electric cars at Leinster House for less than half the price public are paying Government will advise households to use appliances outside peak hours as attempts to conserve energy ramped up VRT hikes, congestion charges and cheap EV loans recommended by climate watchdog to slash emissions Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said the idea was to offer people climate-friendly and cost-effective transport options in their local neighbourhood. “This is way we’re going to go right across the country, particularly in areas where people don’t have a space to charge their car in front of their home. That’s a real issue for people in our cities,” he said.
He said he hoped locating a car-share base there would also help demonstrate that car ownership was not always essential. Daily Digest Newsletter Get ahead of the day with the morning headlines at 7. 30am and Fionnán Sheahan’s exclusive take on the day’s news every afternoon, with our free daily newsletter.
Enter email address This field is required Sign Up “Sharing mobility brings down the cost for people. When you buy a car, it’s not the vehicle itself you want, it’s the service it provides. “If you can access that service without owning the car, that’s a huge win in terms of costs.
” Mr Ryan was speaking after a meeting with the chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council which issued its annual report, warning that much greater action was needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Among the council’s recommendations were for low-cost loans to buy EVs. There are grants for EV purchases but they are to be phased out over the next few years.
Mr Ryan said low-interest loans for purchase would be considered. State-backed, low-interest loans for home retrofitting projects are currently being developed and he said once that scheme was assessed, he would look to see how it could be expanded to cover EV purchases. Read More Politicians charge electric cars at Leinster House for less than half the price public are paying Government will advise households to use appliances outside peak hours as attempts to conserve energy ramped up VRT hikes, congestion charges and cheap EV loans recommended by climate watchdog to slash emissions.
From: independent
URL: https://www.independent.ie/news/environment/community-charging-hubs-to-help-drive-switch-to-evs-ebikes-and-car-sharing-41966513.html