AQW 9144/22-27

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 19/03/2024
Answered On Date: 05/04/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure for his assessment of whether the growth of electric vehicle charge points is keeping pace with the growth in the number of electric vehicles.

Answer:

The North has currently around 1.27 million vehicles registered with circa 50,000 new registrations per year. Of these, there are currently in the region of 20,450 EVs registered. The proportion of new cars registered here using alternative fuels has risen to a high of 41% of all new cars sold in quarter one of 2023/24. Whilst most charging of electric vehicles is carried out at home charge points, there are now 549 publicly available charge points available to EV drivers. This represents a 63% increase in publicly available charge points since August 2021. There have been 80 new chargers installed in the past two months alone, which is a rise of 17%.

The provision and operation of those publicly accessible EV Charge Points is a commercially led operation in the North. Responsibility for the maintenance and installation of any commercially operated charge point rests solely with the Charge Point Operator. Current providers operating here include BP Pulse, Easygo, ESB, Maxol and Weev. The market is also open to other commercial operators who would wish to provide charging infrastructure.

In this commercially led market, my officials continue to provide advice to Charge Point Operators on operational matters such as procedural arrangements for planning and installation requirements.

Local Councils have been able to avail of funding for the installation of charge points under the Office for Zero Emissions Vehicles ‘On Street Residential Charge Point Scheme’, which my Department has match funded. Derry City and Strabane District Council made an application under this scheme in 2021-22, on behalf of nine Local Councils and are currently preparing a tender for charge point operators to provide 127 charge points across those Council areas.