The benefits of switching to an Electric Vehicle

Electric Vehicles play a central role in our Climate Action Plan, in decarbonisation of our transport sector, and in eliminating emissions from our private car fleet. Electrification of the vehicle fleet offers a pathway to zero tailpipe emissions, with several co-benefits such as improved air quality, reduced noise pollution, and less fossil fuel dependence. The Climate Action Plan target is for 945,000 EVs on the road by 2030, with 845,000 of these to be private passenger cars. There are currently over 45,000 EVs registered on Irish roads so the pace of uptake must increase over the coming years to achieve our fleet electrification targets.

A national EV charging infrastructure strategy is in development which will seek to prioritise the delivery of fast and rapid charge point infrastructure over the next five years. The new strategy will reinforce and build on the fact that charging at home is the most convenient and cheapest way to recharge in Ireland. Targeting the installation of smart home chargers will remain a priority in moving towards more energy efficient and sustainable ways to charge. The strategy will also recognise the need for a seamless public charging network that will provide for situations or instances where home charging is not possible such as on-street and residential charging, destination charging, and workplace charging. The Government is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion and modernisation of the electric vehicle charging network over the coming years.

• Charging can be mainly done at home - 80% of EVs are charged at home as it is the most convenient and most cost effective and most single-trip journeys are under 80kms.
• EVs are more than 70% cheaper to run than diesel or petrol cars.
• Budget 2022 has seen a significant funding increase in supporting the switch to electric vehicles and improving the associated recharging infrastructure.

The Department provides a wide range of supports to incentivise the purchase of EVs. These include:

• Up to €5,000 towards purchase of new battery electric vehicles (BEVs). A grant eligibility price cap of €60,000 applies.
• Up to €600 to install a home charger unit for new and second-hand BEVs or PHEVs.
• VRT relief of up to €5,000 for BEVs.
• BEVs qualify for the lowest tax band of motor tax at €120 per annum, while a PHEV is typically taxed at circa €170 per annum.
• Tolling reductions of 50% for battery electric vehicles and 25% for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
• BEVs qualify for a 0% Benefit-in-Kind rate up to €50,000 without mileage conditions. This will be extended out to 2025 with a tapering effect on the vehicle value. This measure will take effect from 2023. For BIK purposes, the original market value of an electric vehicle will be reduced by €35,000 for 2023; €20,000 for 2024; and €10,000 for 2025.

Grants are accessed via the dealer but information about which vehicles are eligible and where dealers are located is available from the SEAI. You can read more information about electric vehicles and grants.

Before you buy, use this calculator to compare petrol/ diesel cars to electric cars.