The announcement was made at the final signing of an agreement between the Government, the ESB and Renault-Nissan to move forward the provision of an infrastructure and actual electric cars in Ireland.
The Government's target is to have 10 percent of Ireland's vehicles electrically powered by 2020.
Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan signed the agreement today on behalf of the Government. He said Irish motorists who bought EVs would be 'doing the right thing'.
Padraic McManus, CE of the ESB, said the agreement was another important milestone on the road to developing an emissions free transport system and he reiterated his organisation's commitment to doing its part.
Two electric cars from Renault and Nissan were on display at the event in the Royal Hospital complex in Kilmainham, Dublin.
The Renault Fluence EV will be on sale in Ireland some time in 2012, though a number of units will be available towards the end of 2011 for pilot trials.
No prices were announced today, but Pierre Loin promised that the cars would be 'of similar' cost to ordinary cars of an equivalent size.
There remained some confusion, though, as to how the pricing would be arrived at. It was revealed that one model under consideration would sell the car but lease the battery, perhaps combined with electricity on a fixed-distance basis. On such a system, Renault-Nissan says the cars would be 'competitive to a diesel' car.
The manufacturers present promised also that the cars would have safety standards up to the same levels as equivalent petrol/diesel cars.
There was a suggestion that battery technology improvements would significantly improve the range of EVs in the medium future. But the carmakers say that the 100m/160km range of current cars is more than adequate for most daily use.
