Electric car users will soon have to pay to use the ESB public charging network.

The company said it will announce details of the new charges sometime in September.

The ESB runs nearly 1,100 charging points all around the island of Ireland.

There are 70 'fast chargers' in the Republic and about 17 in the North. The ESB said fast charge points can charge a car to around 80% in about 25 minutes.

The standard chargers take anywhere from one to eight hours to fully charge a vehicle. The charging time depends on the model of the car.

The charging points are currently available for free; however, the company is likely to introduce charges for the fast points next month.

Charges for the standard points are expected to be rolled out in 2020.

The ESB said customers will be given around a month's notice before the charges are brought in.

The company said the vast majority of charging is carried out in the home and insisted electric cars will still be "significantly cheaper" to run than petrol or diesel models.

It comes after the Government set a target of having nearly one million electric cars on the road by 2030.

The Climate Action Plan calls for a ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars by the same date.