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Electric vehicle charging points to be rolled out at sport, retail and tourism hotspots

The government also plans to make a fast charger available every 60km on motorways under a new strategy.

LAST UPDATE | 19 Jan 2023

SPORTS CLUBS ARE to be helped install electric vehicle charging points as part of a new strategy to vastly expand charging infrastructure around the country over the next three years.

The new Electric Vehicles Charging Infrastructure Strategy 2022-2025, which received the green light from Cabinet yesterday, is trying to facilitate drivers in switching their vehicles from petrol or diesel to electric.

Alongside sports clubs, other targeted destinations for public chargers include locations such as retail centres and tourism hotspots. 

Meanwhile, on motorways, the government plans to make a fast 50kW+ charger available every 60km, while charging points near homes and apartments are also to increase.

Under the strategy, €100 million is to be set aside for spending on public EV charging infrastructure. €15 million from the Shared Island Fund has been allocated to the new Shared Island Sports Club Scheme, which clubs can apply to for funding from 30 January. 

Last year, The Journal reported that only 33 electric vehicle charge points were approved under a scheme announced three years ago with a view to developing up to 200 charge points annually, which opposition members dubbed “ridiculously low”. 

The new strategy, which received Cabinet approval yesterday, was formally launched today by Minister for Climate and Transport Eamon Ryan.

Speaking at the launch, the minister said Ireland hasn’t invested enough in electric vehicles in the last ten years and is “below where we should be” relative to similar countries.

Referencing an existing charging point scheme with local authorities, he said “it wasn’t happening, so we are changing that” by “providing a 75% grant approach instead and starting to work with local authorities in much more detail”.

On concerns about pressure on the energy grid, the minister said: “We can cope absolutely. We’re very good at integrating renewable energy supply.”

Additionally, further transport plans include the development of ‘mobility hubs’ for electric car and bicycle sharing within communities.

“That capability to really promote car sharing is a part of the direction where we’re going,” the minister said.

He said Ireland “can’t afford to take up all the space in our urban areas with parking cars 95% of the time” and that promoting sharing “brings huge efficiencies” and “huge environmental benefits”.

“Car sharing is going to be part of the future here.”

Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland earlier today, the minister said increased uptake of electric vehicles is a positive for the climate and for users.

“We’re seeing a real increase in the purchase and use of electric vehicles. That’s good for the country, it means we import less fossil fuels. It’s good for climate. They’re better cars, they’re more economic,” he said.

“One of the concerns people have is making sure we have charging infrastructure. Most of its going to be done at home – 80% of charging is done at home and that’s a good thing, because that tends to be in the middle of the night, it’s much cheaper and helps to balance our electricity system.

“But we also need a public charging system. We have 1,700 public chargers and also a large number of other private operators but we need to go further.” 

The minister said that in the case of housing areas where people cannot charge a vehicle in a driveway, local authorities will look at using street lamps and other mechanisms for neighbourhood charging.

“We’ve started on the apartments and setting the rules that new apartments have to have the charging infrastructure, but we need that neighbourhood [charging] because as I said, a lot of the charging, we want done late at night, but also further,” he said.

“From the week after next sports clubs will be able to apply to put a charger in. That makes such sense. People want to watch a match, charge as you’re there, and then drive home. But also into community centers, into tourism locations, into destination charging points.

“Also developing as I said every 60 kilometers in the motor network a multi-charge high speed. There you might be having something where you could charge the car in something like 15, 20 minutes.

“One other development – which we’ve just started, we put the first one in Finglas last year – is a community E-car sharing facility, so the local authority puts in the capability for a charging system which car sharing clubs can use.

“That’s a huge advantage. You can have access to a car without having to buy a car. It’s those sort of practical measures that we’re providing €100 million for to be spent the next three years.”

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    Mute David Corrigan
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    Jan 19th 2023, 10:13 AM

    Has he addressed the electrical capacity side of things? He closed down a couple of power generation plants but I have heard nothing about replacement alternatives.

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    Mute sean o'dhubhghaill
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    Jan 19th 2023, 10:18 AM

    @David Corrigan: Have you not seen the wind turbines?

    44
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    Mute David Corrigan
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    Jan 19th 2023, 10:22 AM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: Have they increased the amount of wind turbines to replace and match the capacity lost due to the closures of the power plant?

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    Mute Jack Cass
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    Jan 19th 2023, 10:30 AM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: So, what’s your point? Wind turbines, as most experts agree, are inefficient.

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    Mute mark daly
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    Jan 19th 2023, 10:51 AM

    @Jack Cass: Wind turbines have an efficiency of around 57 percent. Natural gas power plants are around 55 percent. Plus wind turbine power generation in Ireland is around 4200 megawatts per year. That’s the point I guess.

    40
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    Mute Alan Wallace
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    Jan 19th 2023, 11:15 AM

    @Jack Cass: we got a third of our energy from wind turbines last year.

    30
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    Mute David Jordan
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    Jan 19th 2023, 11:22 AM

    @mark daly: I was wondering where this claim came from, how can anyone fall far such a stupid claim? Energy companies aren’t going to build windfarms if they don’t make a profit.

    The claim that Wind Turbines are inefficient i.e. take more energy to build than they generate over their lifetime, was published by the University of Facebook, the esteemed establishment of higher learning. So it must be true lol.

    >A Facebook post casts wind as a losing proposition.

    >”A windmill [sic] could spin until it falls apart and never generate as much energy as was invested in building it,” a Sept. 16 version of the post says. This qualifies as a zombie claim. In 2019, we found an earlier version False, but it walks again.

    Viral post repeated dubunked claims that turbines require more energy to build than they are generate, by cherry picking some misquotes and repeating some misinformation from earlier nonsense ramblings.

    https://eu.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/13/wind-turbine-never-generate-much-energy-cost-build/8423146002/

    38
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    Mute Gavin Tobin
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    Jan 19th 2023, 1:46 PM

    @David Corrigan: We need nuclear!

    25
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    Mute Joe_X
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    Jan 19th 2023, 6:36 PM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: Except how many wind turbines did it take to replace the non renewable stations he shut down? Also, just to remind people, the stations he shut down were the only ones that burned the only indigenous fuel easily available in the country….Turf, in the middle of a fuel crisis. Why didn’t he shut down a few of the oil or gas burning stations that we need to import the fuel for? Then to add injury to insult, he upped the carbon tax in the middle of a cost of living crisis. Fair enough, shut down the turf stations but have the replacements in place first, which he hadn’t, and if anything, they should be the last fossil fuel burning power stations to go in the country

    16
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    Mute William Bayle
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    Jan 19th 2023, 6:45 PM

    @David Corrigan: they increased the size of them alright. Some projects are 185 m high would dwarf any building in Dublin
    When it comes to regulations minister seating on his hands for over a decade now

    3
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    Mute Roger Bond
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    Jan 19th 2023, 11:34 AM

    The price per KW at these charging points needs to be looked at.
    If you don’t have off street parking for charging then an EV is not cost effective.

    136
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    Mute Fintan Stack
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    Jan 19th 2023, 11:53 AM

    Why is there no apparent issue for electricity supply for EVs yet there’s continuous statements about insufficient supply for our homes. Also the huge carbon footprint left by the manufacturing of EVs and the impracticalities that come with them are never discussed. Not to mention the future ramped up costs to run an EV (which are absorbed and hidden now).

    131
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    Mute Nicholas McMurry
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    Jan 19th 2023, 12:24 PM

    @Fintan Stack: Petrol cars are manufactured producing on average 5.6 tonnes of CO2. Electric cars are manufactured using on average 8.8 tonnes (autoexpress.co.uk). This difference of 2.2 tonnes is less than the average emissions of a petrol car for one year. The emissions will be lower for an electric car within two years of purchase. Hopefully though with the development of greener materials and techniques, emissions will reduce for all this manufacturing over time. Working on carbon emissions in manufacturing should be a global priority.

    53
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    Mute Gavin Tobin
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    Jan 19th 2023, 2:06 PM

    @Fintan Stack: Most EVs charged using cheaper night rate electricity when there is amble supply.

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    Mute Fintan Stack
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    Jan 19th 2023, 10:50 PM

    @Gavin Tobin: EVs wont last. They have too many flaws.

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    Mute Gavin Tobin
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    Jan 19th 2023, 11:50 PM

    @Fintan Stack: give us your top 10 flaws so… from experience please, not hearsay

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    Mute Geoff Bateman
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    Jan 19th 2023, 10:54 AM

    Seeing is believing with this Shower

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    Mute Mike Hooper
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    Jan 19th 2023, 12:13 PM

    About time but seriously he also needs to look at the cost of charging the vehicle.My taffiff has gone up by 50% since December 29th and I only have a Hybrid vehicle .It costs me up to 7 euro to get 50KM drive on electricity before it goes to petrol mode.Wheres the incentive to buy one of these when its probably the same price on petrol equivalent.The ESB are an absolute rip off and have been allowed to get away with it .The price went up since I got my car and if I had known this I woukd not have purchased the car.An absolute dizgrace !!!

    104
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    Mute Conor Flood
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    Jan 19th 2023, 12:36 PM

    The retired , independently wealthy and monied classes will be thrilled . The rest of us will be sticking with affordable options

    72
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    Mute Gavin Tobin
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    Jan 19th 2023, 1:27 PM

    @Conor Flood: TCO for an EV is much lower for an ICE driven average mileage. Better resale value too.

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    Mute Alan Biddulph
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    Jan 19th 2023, 1:36 PM

    @Conor Flood: Conor I was spending €250 a month on petrol for my old 2.0 turbo petrol car, that 250 a month went towards buying a cheap EV on loan. I’m not wealthy in the least.

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    Mute Ignorant Carbon
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    Jan 19th 2023, 2:08 PM

    @Conor Flood: You would be surprised, my brother-in-law just switched to an EV from a similar sized (small) diesel hatch. He is getting the car for free based on what he’s saving on fuel… 220km round trip on his commute is perfect for charging at home and no need to charge until you get home again.

    13
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    Mute SkylineSi
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    Jan 19th 2023, 11:06 AM

    Multiple maintained Fast chargers should be as common as normal fuel stations. They should be everywhere

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    Mute Keth Warsaw
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    Jan 19th 2023, 11:53 AM

    Banks and banks of them, right? Not being sarcastic, but each area type will need to cater for twenty or more cars at a time. None of this ‘one and two’ cars.

    57
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    Mute Paul Whelan
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    Jan 19th 2023, 1:13 PM

    50kWh Chargers every 60km? Is this a sick joke? Most countries are installing 350 and 500kWh chargers and we are installing very slow 50kWh chargers, what a complete waste of tax payers money. My car, and many other modern EVs can charge at over 200kWh, so why the insistence on ancient out-of-date technology. It just doesn’t make sense.

    61
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    Mute Gavin Tobin
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    Jan 19th 2023, 1:29 PM

    @Paul Whelan: Must be for the Leaf Brigade…Chadamo as a public charger connector should have a phase out announced. Let Nissan offer a retrofit CCS for their customers.

    14
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    Mute Dave Hammond
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    Jan 19th 2023, 2:10 PM

    @Paul Whelan: that’s likely down to costs and the budgets , there is obviously a judgement to be made between having a much smaller number of the highest powered fast charging stations you mentioned to fitted around the island versus a more frequent availability which are still fast chargers which can be put into more locations / we are way behind the required number of charging stations but remember the manufacturers Tesla etc and more recently Mercedes are also planning further roll outs of their own charging stations and they are likely to be the highest powered fast chargers you mentioned , there is a balance act required to be fair deciding power versus how many public chargers and how frequent and spread out they can be

    3
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    Mute artur fil
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    Jan 19th 2023, 11:50 AM

    Electric cars as ecological solution of transport problem. There is probably only one country in Europe that electricity is produced from water turbines and is used to charge the batteries of electric cars. This completes the energy cycle and works well with government support and subsidies. In contrast, in the rest of Europe, energy is still produced traditionally and has nothing to do with something known as green energy. Just marketing. While the use of electric cars reduces pollution in the places of their use, the extraction of minerals for the production of batteries is not ecological anymore. People discover the electric car as something new, only it was made over 100 years ago.

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    Mute Nicholas McMurry
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    Jan 19th 2023, 12:17 PM

    @artur fil: Over 40% of our electricity is now renewable and this is increasing. And other European countries are similar. Carbon emissions per kilometer for an electric car are lower than petrol and decreasing. Agreed with regard to batteries. There are numerous forms of energy storage currently in research and development. Hopefully some of these can be cheap and efficient without requiring heavy metals.

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    Mute Michael O'Byrne
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    Jan 19th 2023, 1:19 PM

    Suggest if you can read yesterdays Telegraph, business section, headed “how energy crisis tan ev’s off the road”. Ev cars are not worth it if you have not got a charger at home and even then one has to debate the extra cost. Last week in an id3 a trip of 130km cost 26kw. Pay as you go on slow Esb chargers at the moment cost 56.3 per kw. And I pay 22.91 on night rate. That trip would have cost £14.64 from public charger, night rate charger at home £5.96 and @5 litres of petrol €8. The Esb put charges up twice last year each time in excess of 50%. Our domestic charge didn’t go up near that. The average ev car consumption is circa 17-20 kw per 100 km. not a bargain depending where you charge.
    No journalist promoting EV CARS has ever went into the economics of the purchase.

    44
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    Mute motojack
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    Jan 19th 2023, 8:11 PM

    @Michael O’Byrne: why are you jumping from pounds to euros

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    Mute James Reardon
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    Jan 19th 2023, 10:25 AM

    Why didn’t he sign us up for RePowerEu?

    42
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    Mute trebloc01
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    Jan 19th 2023, 12:35 PM

    What about us many miles from those places

    15
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    Mute Gavin Tobin
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    Jan 19th 2023, 2:07 PM

    @trebloc01: have you electricity at home? Got a 3 pin socket?

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    Mute Dave Hammond
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    Jan 19th 2023, 2:19 PM

    @Gavin Tobin: I hope nobody thinks charging with a 3 pin plug is a sensible option / the smallest vw electric id3 would take 24/ 36 hours of charging time to fully charge using a 3 pin plug

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    Mute Gavin Tobin
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    Jan 19th 2023, 2:46 PM

    @Dave Hammond: plenty of people surviving on granny chargers and if you are doing average Irish commute they are more than sufficient to top up overnight every night until you can install a 16A or 32A dedicated charger.

    For example a Tesla Model 3 can add 11km/h from a 3 pin socket using night rate hours exclusively you could add 99km from 11pm to 8am.

    On average according To CSO an Irish person lives 15km from work.

    9
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    Mute motojack
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    Jan 19th 2023, 8:15 PM

    @Dave Hammond: I know a few people who do it. You dont have to top up the car 100% to drive 20k down the road…

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    Mute Craic_a_tower
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    Jan 19th 2023, 12:10 PM

    In the US Wyoming is banning EVs sales so they don’t have to put in the infrastructure. It is also to protect the local oil industry. You can’t get much more foolish than that

    26
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    Mute Paul Whelan
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    Jan 19th 2023, 1:18 PM

    @Craic_a_tower: “The state of Wyoming has announced that from 2035, the sale of new electric vehicles (EVs) will be banned to protect its oil and gas industry.”
    It has nothing to do with installing infrastructure. It will never be passed, it was only a silly suggestion from a GOP member, not put into law.

    16
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    Mute Gavin Tobin
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    Jan 19th 2023, 1:28 PM

    @Craic_a_tower: a GOP stunt by fossils lol

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    Mute Craic_a_tower
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    Jan 19th 2023, 1:33 PM

    @Paul Whelan: I suggest you actually read an article rather than the headline. They stated that is was to not have to provide the infrastructure as part of the reasons

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    Mute Fergal Canton
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    Jan 19th 2023, 2:21 PM

    All schools should have charging for the public servants that work there and to model behaviour for the young. How will they learn?

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    Mute Ignorant Carbon
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    Jan 19th 2023, 2:26 PM

    @Fergal Canton: Kids will grow up with EVs being the norm and IC engines being old/classic cars.

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    Mute Declan Moran
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    Jan 19th 2023, 5:47 PM

    Ah lord, Eamo on the news now going “go in for a coffee and a muffin and when you come out you’ll be 80% charged”. That’s great. Just bloody ridiculous.

    14
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    Mute Type17
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    Jan 19th 2023, 7:50 PM

    @Declan Moran: Not with 50kW chargers, you won’t be, Eamonn – especially not when you’ve had to queue to even get to use the (occupied) charger, because there’s only space for one or two cars at a time.

    12
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