{"id":18413,"date":"2026-06-23T12:12:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T11:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/?p=18413"},"modified":"2026-06-23T12:12:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T11:12:26","slug":"government-must-investigate-if-price-gouging-is-taking-place-at-ev-charging-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/government-must-investigate-if-price-gouging-is-taking-place-at-ev-charging-points\/","title":{"rendered":"Government must investigate if price gouging is taking place at EV charging points"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Government must investigate if price gouging is taking place at public electric vehicle charging points, according to Social Democrats environment and energy spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore.<\/p>\n<p>Deputy Whitmore said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElectric vehicles are an attractive prospect for drivers for two reasons: they\u2019re more environmentally friendly than cars which run on petrol or diesel, and they\u2019re cheaper to run than their fossil fuel counterparts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the former remains true, the latter, shockingly, is now a thing of the past. The cost of charging an EV at public charging points is now just as high as filling a car with petrol or diesel, removing one of the key incentives encouraging drivers to go electric.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an extraordinary development. The price of electricity at charging points on the Ionity public network has skyrocketed, far exceeding the cost of electricity in Irish households, which is already the most expensive in Europe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis development is especially concerning for those who live in terraced houses or properties subject to stricter planning permission when applying to install an EV charging point. These drivers will be forced to pay over-the-odds at public charging points.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese prices are outrageous, especially at a time when households are being fleeced from all angles, from supermarket checkouts to gas and electricity bills.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Government must investigate if there is price gouging in the EV charging market. EVs must be economically viable to adopt and run, and cheaper than petrol and diesel, if people are going to switch to them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>June 23rd, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Government must investigate if price gouging is taking place at public electric vehicle charging points, according to Social Democrats environment and energy spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore said: \u201cElectric vehicles are an attractive prospect for drivers for two reasons: they\u2019re more environmentally friendly than cars which run on petrol or diesel, and they\u2019re cheaper [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[539,727,268,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-environment","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Government must investigate if price gouging is taking place at EV charging points - Social Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-must-investigate-if-price-gouging-is-taking-place-at-ev-charging-points\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government must investigate if price gouging is taking place at EV charging points - Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Government must investigate if price gouging is taking place at public electric vehicle charging points, according to Social Democrats environment and energy spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. 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