Electricity supplier ESB and Elektromotive will install over 1,500 charge points across Ireland before the end of 2011 to ready the country for electric cars.

Behind the EV infrastructure project is a broader plan to transform Irish transport – the Government wants at least 10% of all cars on Irish roads to be EVs by 2020.

The first three of 10 Elektrobay EV units were connected to the grid in Dublin this week.

The Elektrobay was first introduced in Westminster, London, in 2006, and currently 135 units are installed across the UK capital. A further 165 Elektrobay charging stations operate in cities and shopping centres around the UK.