E-car 'juice points' launched in Dublin

On-street charging points for electric cars are to be rolled out in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford by the end of next year.

The ESB unveiled the first four kerbside points in Dublin today.

Drivers are being invited to register for the "juice point" service, after which they will be able to charge their electric cars at any of these points. Charging will take about an hour and a half and can also be done at home.

The Government hopes to have 10% of all cars powered by electricity by 2020.

The service will be free until the end of next year. From then, it will cost around €2.50 to charge a car to travel around 160 kilometres.

Managing Director of ESB E-cars Paul Mullvaney said the potential for cost-saving would entice people to go electric.

"It will be considerably cheaper than (using) petrol to drive your car," he said.