A senior official with Mayo County Council wants to make Mayo the most EV friendly county in Ireland after it was announced that high speed chargers will be installed at Croagh Patrick and in Ballycastle.
Director of Services, Tom Gilligan made the comments at the Roads and Transportation Strategic Policy Committee meeting after it was announced that Mayo County Council received funding to install charging ports for Electric Vehicles (EVs) at Croagh Patrick and in Ballycastle.
"The ultimate aim here is to make Mayo the most EV friendly county in the country," he said.
"It will be good for people to have that option as regards Electric Vehicles and they will be able to charge in Ballycastle and avail of the services and facilities there. From a tourism point of view in relation to walks and Downpatrick Head it is a very good location," he said.
The meeting heard two EV charging scheme hub pilot schemes were submitted and approved with one hub in Ballycastle and the other at Croagh Patrick car park in Murrisk.
The Ballycastle hub will consist of a total of six charging spaces consisting of two 150kW fast chargers and four 22kWh chargers while the Murrisk hub will consist of two 100kW chargers and four 22kW chargers.
Conrad Harley, Head of Roads in Mayo County Council explained that the council received €248,900 to carry out the civil works at the two locations while tenders will be advertised for an operator to install the chargers and take over the scheme.
The meeting was told that it had been proposed to locate the north Mayo chargers at Downpatrick Head but installing the infrastructure would prove too expensive so it was decided to go with Ballycastle instead.
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Mr Harley informed the SPC members that a consultant has been appointed for five local authorities in the west of Ireland to develop an EV strategy and this includes Mayo County Council.
"They are at the initial stages which includes data collection and analysis which will feed into what works will be proposed coming out of a wider regional strategy and where we will need to go.
"They are looking at maps and where people will want to go versus where electric vehicle chargers are located. They will match the two together so there is an adequate network of EV chargers where people need them rather than an adequate network of chargers in places where they don't necessarily use them," he said.
Mr Gilligan added that while more EV chargers are a positive thing the council had to look at the long-term impact of their location and how they will affect income from rates on businesses such as filling stations.
"We will have to look at the long term impact of EVs and how they will impact the local economy going forward. I have raised it before at national level," he said.
Cllr Richard Finn agreed saying that if they are located in filling stations they will be accessible to everyone and they may be the route to go down in the future.