DUN LAOGHAIRE RATHDOWN County Council (DLR) is to become the first local authority in Ireland to allow electric vehicle owners use street lamps to get a charge.

It is understood the plan, which will be trialled in south Dublin, is seen as ideal for people living in homes that are not suitable for charging points – such as terraced houses without front gardens or driveways where cables would have to stretch across footpaths.

Pilot projects around Europe have seen charge points put into lamp posts on the side of the road. One will be set up on Crofton Road in Dun Laoghaire, close to the town’s train station.

“If this trial works it will radically change access to public charging infrastructure for electric vehicle owners in this country which will drive up sales,” said Minister Naughten.

The installation of the point is expected to be completed within two months, with DLR ensuring it has a good metered electric supply, a defined parking spot and that doesn’t interfere with the footpath.

Dublin City Council is also currently exploring the possibility of installing some lamp post chargers in the Docklands area during the summer.

Naughten’s department is also trying to resolve difficulties around placing electric charge points in some apartment blocks where parking is a distance from electricity supplies.

There is around 5,500 electrical vehicles on Ireland’s roads. The Ireland 2040 plan says that by 2030 the government aims to have the number of electric vehicles on the roads at half a million – around a quarter of all cars on our roads.

However, the plan goes one step beyond that and proposes that no non-zero emission vehicles will be sold in Ireland after 2030.

After that, no NCT certs will be issued for non-zero emission vehicles after 2045.