EV Q&A: Why can't I have a swing-out arm for kerbside charging in Dublin?

Irish Times

2 days ago

Q: Is it going to be possible to have an
EV
in Dublin without a driveway?
Dublin City Council
don't seem to be following the White Paper from the Greens and also don't allow kerb charge or the swinging charger. I don't think it's going to be feasible for people living in the
inner city
who need a car to use an EV
.
–
Kenneth T
A:
This is an ongoing issue, and a source of deep frustration for anyone living in a busy city centre, or who lives in a terraced house without access to a driveway or garage.
We've been trying a number of times to contact Dublin City Council for comment on your question for the past couple of weeks, but we've heard nothing back.
In the past Dublin City Council has commented, telling this newspaper in 2024 that: 'such structures require planning permission as it is a permanent structure to the front of a house'.
READ MORE
Consent from the council's environment and transportation department is also required 'for extending on to the public footpath' but due to the 'high risk to public liability' the council 'will not give consent for structures like these to reach across the public footpath'.
The previous Minister for Transport,
Eamon Ryan
, also said he felt such charging arms would 'take from the character of our streets'. Well, yes, but so too would letting rising sea levels swamp those streets, eh Eamon?
[
EV Q&A: Should I buy an out-of-warranty, used electric car?
Opens in new window
]
The Netherlands have had a generally positive experience with such charging cable arms. They're designed to easily swing out over the pavement with a clearance of up to 2.3 metres, so they don't cause any obstruction to anyone walking past.
In general, they seem to be a much better solution than running a cable across the pavement at foot level, using a cable cover. Those are rightly considered a trip hazard, and can be difficult for wheelchair users to navigate.
As for pop-up charging sockets that live in the kerbstones themselves? Don't hold your breath – we are a country that still seems to get easily snookered by simple stuff like lamp-post charging (see
last week's column
) so the idea of such useful devices becoming widespread seems unlikely.
As for invoking the White Paper issued by the Green Party, I'd be careful of what you wish for.
The White Paper made no direct mention of such city-centre charging solutions, merely that it wants to 'ensure that all people of Ireland whether rural or urban have access to safe, sustainable means of travel that does not disadvantage them personally based on location'.
Yeah, that might encompass making sure that everyone can get a charge easily, but the Green Party is unenthusiastic about electric cars in general, preferring a set of policies that 'reduces the total use of our roads, the distance travelled by reducing journey lengths, particularly by encouraging the development and retention of local facilities and reduce the number of journeys made by unsustainable modes of transport, particularly by car, commercial vehicles, heavy goods vehicles'.
[
EV Q&A: Why do electric cars still have old-fashioned 12-volt batteries?
Opens in new window
]
While the White Paper does make mention of incentives for electric vehicles and improving the roll-out of necessary infrastructure, it also points out that: 'particulate matter from braking is a major source of environmental and health damage' and espouses the need to 'encourage the development of standards and methods within two years at EU and national level to reduce the impact of these emissions'.
Basically, the Greens would rather you walked or cycled everywhere, or got a bus or train if your destination is further away. That's a noble idea, but possibly more achievable in a country with (a) less rain and (b) if we hadn't spent the 1970s and 1980s essentially dismantling most of our public transport infrastructure.
So what's to be done? Well, I reckon you can forget the idea of a charging arm for the moment. No council in Ireland is going to allow them, not least because we live in a highly litigious society, and it will only take one person bonking their head on one to unleash a torrent of lawsuits.
If you live in a terraced house, and only have on-street parking, and still want to run an electric car (or a plug-in hybrid), well ... good luck to you. You're stuck using whatever public chargers you can find, and running up charging bills, which will be more expensive than running a petrol or diesel car. As ever, we love to see a bit of joined-up thinking ...