Westmeath County Council concern over planned EV strategy

Councillors in the Mullingar–Kinnegad area have pushed back against elements of the draft regional EV Charging Infrastructure Strategy, warning that rural towns are being overlooked and that the plan appears too commercially driven.

The strategy, presented by consultants from SYSTRA and KPMG at the June meeting of Westmeath County Council, outlines how the Midlands region will meet its 2025 and 2030 EV charging targets. It proposes a mix of neighbourhood, destination, and charge-and-go infrastructure, based on projected EV uptake and grid capacity.

However, councillors criticised the absence of key towns like Delvin, Kinnegad and Castlepollard from the plan’s initial focus.

“Rural towns and villages should not be overlooked and should be given consideration for at least one charging point,” said Cllr David Jones.

“Clonmellon could have over 20,000 vehicles in the week and Delvin alone has up to 45,000 vehicles in the week, as we've two national roads going through the town and we've tourist facilities there. We have a lot of people using electric cars.

“I won't be agreeing to this plan unless rural towns and villages are given somewhat of a priority. Just because the populations are low doesn't mean the charging points won't be used.”

Cllr Denis Leonard echoed the concern, stating that “more than 50% of us in this county do not live in Mullingar, Athlone, or an urban area; we live in rural parts of the county”.

“That needs to be looked after as well when you're looking at infrastructure because we depend on the car more.”

Cllr Alfie Devine said the strategy appeared to favour profitability over community needs.

“It looks like somebody has drawn a line through the county and all the EV charging points are on the south,” he said. “The people who live rurally are the ones we need to be targeting more. It looks like it’s all for profit.”

Councillors also expressed scepticism about EVs as a long-term solution.

“I think that there's huge challenges facing the EV sector that we're not even aware of in terms of materials to make batteries alone,” said Cllr Andrew Duncan, noting the shortages of materials such as lithium and cobalt.

“They're critically short of those materials. I honestly think that we can go ahead and spend fortunes on infrastructure that may very well look nstupid and redundant in years to come.”

The consultants defended the plan, saying that rural and tourism areas are accounted for and that further consultation will take place during the site selection phase.

“Please rest assured the rural villages are not in any way ignored,” said SYSTRA’s Peter Weldon.

“We’re modelling settlements greater than a thousand people in order to optimise the spread of EV charging throughout the region so larger settlements are more likely to require a larger amount of charging because of the geographic layout of larger settlements.

“But just to flag that there is a very significant chunk of the target that we have within the strategy that's allocated to rural locations, so they're most definitely not being ignored and they are definitely considered within the overall strategy.”

KPMG’s Ciarán Collins said private operators will be more interested in higher-demand areas, but the council could bundle high- and low-demand sites together to attract investment.

The proposed concession model would see charge point operators lease land and operate chargers in return for long-term revenue.

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