A €600 grant for electric car owners to cover the purchase and installation of home charger systems comes into effect from New Year’s Day.

The Government grant is one of a range of measures introduced during the last budget to encourage the purchase of electric cars.

The “Electric Vehicle Home Charger Grant”, which is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), applies to new and second-hand electric vehicles.

It will allow drivers to claim up a maximum of €600 towards the cost of installing a car charging port in their home. This is to encourage electric car users to charge their vehicles overnight when system demand and consumer cost are lowest.

Funding to support the installation of additional public charging points will also be increased. There are currently 900 such points in Ireland.

There are over 3,500 electric vehicles in Ireland. “However, ongoing technological developments, increasing battery range and falling costs will help to increase take-up among Irish drivers,” the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment said.

Other provisions introduced in the last budget include the continuation of the Electric Vehicle Purchase Grant (of up to €5,000), the continuation of VRT relief (of up to €5,000) and a zero per cent benefit in kind rate.

The Government will also fund a series of road shows and public demonstrations to encourage uptake of electric cars in 2018. This is to support the Government’s goals of ensuring by 2030, all new passenger cars are zero emission vehicles.

“It is important that the public is aware of the benefits of electric cars so for this reason the government is funding a Public Engagement Programme this year which will include the opportunity for test driving road shows nationwide; public sector and commercial fleet trials; and supports for electric vehicle use in car sharing trials,” said Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten.