ESB ecars was established in 2010 to roll out the public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs) across Ireland and to support the introduction and demand for electric vehicles nationally.
We operate and maintains a growing network of 1,600 public charge points across the island of Ireland. These are available for electric vehicles and are found nationwide in locations such as motorway services, on-street, shopping centres, carparks etc.
There are currently three types of chargers on the ESB public charging network, AC (standard 22kW) and DC (Fast/Rapid 50kW - 100kW) and high power (150kW+).
In Ireland, we recently completed a €20 million programme to expand and enhance the charging network across Ireland which was part funded by the Irish Government’s Climate Action Fund, to help meet the expected growth of electric vehicles in the coming years. More information of that project is in our press release.
In Northern Ireland, we are currently undertaking a £3.27 million programme of work funded by the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) to expand and transform the public charging experience for current and future EV drivers in Northern Ireland.
In Great Britain, we operate as ESB Energy with chargers in Birmingham, London, Coventry and several Ultra-Rapid hubs across the country. For more information, visit esbenergy.co.uk/EV
Funding Supports
The Climate Action Fund is one of four funds established by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan 2018-2027 as part of Project Ireland 2040. The fund supports initiatives that contribute to the achievement of Ireland's climate and energy targets in a cost-effective manner.
ESB qualified for €10m in funding from the Climate Action Fund with ESB matching it with a further €10m. This funding was used to undertake a comprehensive programme to expand and enhance the public charging network across Ireland and to help meet the expected growth of electric vehicles in the coming years.
Levelling Up Fund
The Levelling Up Fund is a £4.8 billion British Government fund to support infrastructure project such as town centre and high street regeneration, local transport projects and cultural and heritage assets to improve everyday life across the UK.
ESB was awarded Stg£3.27 million from the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) to expand and enhance the EV charging network which will transform the public charging experience for current and future EV drivers in Northern Ireland.
The Levelling Up Fund investment, further supported by ESB’s own capital investment, will replace all existing fast (22kW) and rapid (50kW) EV chargers across Northern Ireland. The legacy infrastructure will be replaced with the fastest, most reliable and advanced technology available.
This project will double the existing number of rapid chargers and will also see the introduction of high power (200kW) charging for the first time in Northern Ireland through the delivery of five high power charging (200kW) hubs in strategic locations.