10% of FCPs down

steelboots

Looking at ESBs map of charging points it looks like approx 10% of them are down. FCP down are listed below, I sent an e-mail complaining and asking why so may are down and why they are so slow to get back up and running. Its no wonder EV sales are down if this is the future of charging points
Noting in the budget will help EV sales increase either..... Its time we had a proper government who took green (and financially beneficial) initiatives seriously..

1) Commons Road, Cork City, County Cork
2) Portlaois
3) Carlow
4) Newcastlwwest
5) Knocktopher, County Kilkenny
6) Templeville Road, Dublin 6, County Dublin
7) Lusk, County Dublin

Mancomb Seepgood

steelboots wrote: »

Looking at ESBs map of charging points it looks like approx 10% of them are down. FCP down are listed below, I sent an e-mail complaining and asking why so may are down and why they are so slow to get back up and running. Its no wonder EV sales are down if this is the future of charging points
Noting in the budget will help EV sales increase either..... Its time we had a proper government who took green (and financially beneficial) initiatives seriously..

1) Commons Road, Cork City, County Cork
2) Portlaois
3) Carlow
4) Newcastlwwest
5) Knocktopher, County Kilkenny
6) Templeville Road, Dublin 6, County Dublin
7) Lusk, County Dublin

Pretty difficult now to drive from Dublin to Waterford given the points that are out. It isn't difficult to see a time approaching when parts of the country may become unreachable by an EV which depends on Chademo or CCS. The new Zoe is starting to look appealing.

80sDiesel

Mancomb Seepgood wrote: »

steelboots wrote: »

Looking at ESBs map of charging points it looks like approx 10% of them are down. FCP down are listed below, I sent an e-mail complaining and asking why so may are down and why they are so slow to get back up and running. Its no wonder EV sales are down if this is the future of charging points
Noting in the budget will help EV sales increase either..... Its time we had a proper government who took green (and financially beneficial) initiatives seriously..

1) Commons Road, Cork City, County Cork
2) Portlaois
3) Carlow
4) Newcastlwwest
5) Knocktopher, County Kilkenny
6) Templeville Road, Dublin 6, County Dublin
7) Lusk, County Dublin

Pretty difficult now to drive from Dublin to Waterford given the points that are out. It isn't difficult to see a time approaching when parts of the country may become unreachable by an EV which depends on Chademo or CCS. The new Zoe is starting to look appealing.

( novice here ) How is the Zoe different ?

Mancomb Seepgood

80sDiesel wrote: »

( novice here ) How is the Zoe different ?

It can charge at a full 22kw from a standard (slow) charge point. That's a lot faster than a Leaf - the current model Zoe can charge to full in an hour at any standard charge point.

Regardless, we need a network of fast chargers that can be relied on. And we don't have that at the moment.

cros13

There are eleven CCS rapids down. That's a quarter of the total CCS sites.

Half the rapids in Ulster are down and it's currently not possible to reach Limerick, Cork, Kilkenny, Waterford or Belfast on the rapid charging network with a >30kWH CCS EV.

steelboots

cros13 wrote: »

There are eleven CCS rapids down. That's a quarter of the total CCS sites.

Half the rapids in Ulster are down and it's currently not possible to reach Limerick, Cork, Kilkenny, Waterford or Belfast on the rapid charging network with a >30kWH CCS EV.

Have to go Carlow and back from limerick and will have to take the ICE, seriously pee'd off

BoatMad

You forgot , to add Dublin airport to that list

What would be useful would be to collate over say a three month period what chargers failed.

peposhi

Newcastle West is down too...

Satriale

Tralee Nissan too, for most of 2016.

Sabre Man

Satriale wrote: »

Tralee Nissan too, for most of 2016.

Wouldn't that be Nissan's responsibility?

Satriale

Sabre Man wrote: »

Wouldn't that be Nissan's responsibility?

I'd have thought so.
Nissan say its part of the Esb network but as its located on their site they are working with them to repair it soon as possible.
ESB say its nothing to do with them.


Either way its an essential part of the network that has been down for most of the year.

Ronan Raver77

Posts like this are really throwing me off the idea of buying an EV :eek: Range should be better in a year or so (for my needs) but the network needs expansion and more engineers to fix problems promptly.

jerryg

I've emailed the ESB about Urlingford and Portlaoise which are ones I would use if they were available,but surely Nissan BMW Renault et al have some responsibility to put pressure on the ESB!
Are the representative groups any good?

KCross

I bet eCars are using it as a stick to beat the CER with.
"You guys shot down our charging plan and now we dont have the resources to fix the issues. Give us charging for charging and we'll fix them!"

They simply have no incentive to fix them. Until the government provide funding it will stay that way and the budget didnt seem to add anything to the EV party other than extending the existing VRT relief. We are a good few years away from an EV tipping point yet.

Mancomb Seepgood

Naas is marked as down on the map now, I don't remember that happening before, it's been pretty reliable. It seems pointless to approach the ESB, at this stage it requires government intervention.

peposhi

Newlands Cross is down too... We're getting... there lol

BoatMad

Mancomb Seepgood wrote: »

Naas is marked as down on the map now, I don't remember that happening before, it's been pretty reliable. It seems pointless to approach the ESB, at this stage it requires government intervention.

Either there is a serious budget issue in ECars or they are playing a rather risky political game of chicken , I dont know

I will find out though

BoatMad

jerryg wrote: »

I've emailed the ESB about Urlingford and Portlaoise which are ones I would use if they were available,but surely Nissan BMW Renault et al have some responsibility to put pressure on the ESB!
Are the representative groups any good?

there is communication back and forth to ecars, but they site budget issues and they know as we know that this issue needs to be solved at Gov level

They really feel the carpet was pulled out from under them by the CER even if in my view the whole plan was unworkable

cros13

I just limped up the N7 on the standard chargepoints. With the loss of Naas and Portlaoise, there are no CCS rapids on the N7 from Roscrea to Dublin.

Who's up for "running out" at the exits of ESBs employee car parks this evening just before 17:00? See how they like it.

Mancomb Seepgood

According to someone in the Facebook group, Naas is working again for Chademo (not sure about CCS). It's still marked as out on the map though.

cros13

Mancomb Seepgood wrote: »

According to someone in the Facebook group, Naas is working again for Chademo (not sure about CCS). It's still marked as out on the map though.

I stopped there this morning at around 10:00 and it threw up an error.

TBi

I'll be heading through Cashel in 2 weeks time. I hope the CCS there will be still up and running. I can fall back to the ICE but was hoping to try one long trek in the i3.

appfry

A friend who owns a Nissan Leaf was giving me a lift from the North to Dublin one evening last week.
The first charger we stopped at wasnt working. We barely made it to the next one in Lusk M1. The car was in "turtle mode" when we arrived.
So she plugged in the charger and it didnt work again.
She said normally she would just plug into the slow charger and wait for an hour or so and it would get us either home or at least to another fast charger.
Well she was disgusted to find out that the normal chargers have been ripped out by ESB and there was no option to charge slowly if the fast charger was broken.
She ended up getting a tow truck home because there was no way to charge the car.
That little episode put me right off ever buying an electric car.

steelboots

Response from ESB regarding my complaint about so many chargers being down and the delay in getting back up:

Thank you for your email and we do appreciate your concerns.

Our engineering team are actively working on resolving these issues. This has required us to work closely with a number of manufacturers including a site visit from one of these manufacturers to Ireland. In the meantime, you can be assured that we are continuing to work on restoring as many of these charge points to operation as soon as we can. We will update the map as soon as these issues are resolved.

If you have any further queries, do not hesitate to ask.

Kind Regards,
The ESB ecars Team

www.esb.ie/ecars | www.facebook.com/ESBecars |www.ESBecarsblog.ie | 1890 372 387 | 01 258 3799

DrPhilG

Lifford FCP also down.

Satriale

At this stage i wouldn't recommend anybody that needs anything beyond their home range to buy an EV, in fact i'd discourage it and have done.
Trust in your own network at home. All you'll get from the ESB is hollow apologies.

BoatMad

appfry wrote: »

A friend who owns a Nissan Leaf was giving me a lift from the North to Dublin one evening last week.
The first charger we stopped at wasnt working. We barely made it to the next one in Lusk M1. The car was in "turtle mode" when we arrived.
So she plugged in the charger and it didnt work again.
She said normally she would just plug into the slow charger and wait for an hour or so and it would get us either home or at least to another fast charger.
Well she was disgusted to find out that the normal chargers have been ripped out by ESB and there was no option to charge slowly if the fast charger was broken.
She ended up getting a tow truck home because there was no way to charge the car.
That little episode put me right off ever buying an electric car.

Did she check the app or the map before she went instead of blindly driving to charge points

TBi

BoatMad wrote: »

Did she check the app or the map before she went instead of blindly driving to charge points

I don't need to check a map to see what petrol stations are working, i shouldn't need to check a map to see what charge points are working. Let's make sure we place the blame squarely where it lies, with the ESB.

BoatMad

TBi wrote: »

I don't need to check a map to see what petrol stations are working, i shouldn't need to check a map to see what charge points are working. Let's make sure we place the blame squarely where it lies, with the ESB.

That's fine in theory. The nature of the current limited public network combined with the restricted range of current EVs means that at present you have to " plan " any long distance journey. . That's means understanding the route , the availability of chargers and the state of those chargers. It also might include knowledge of the topology , weather and temperature.

The upside is you get a far better driving experience and you presently pay zero for the fuel ( try that in your ice )

Shane732

BoatMad wrote: »

That's fine in theory. The nature of the current limited public network combined with the restricted range of current EVs means that at present you have to " plan " any long distance journey. . That's means understanding the route , the availability of chargers and the state of those chargers. It also might include knowledge of the topology , weather and temperature.

The upside is you get a far better driving experience and you presently pay zero for the fuel ( try that in your ice )

I'm sorry I don't understand - "The upside is you get a far better driving experience"

Money aside, do you actually think the experience of driving an EV is better than a petrol engine car?

Shane732

Shane732 wrote: »

I'm sorry I don't understand - "The upside is you get a far better driving experience"

Money aside, do you actually think the experience of driving an EV is better than a petrol engine car?

I do anyway.

Satriale

There is absolutely no way you could use the Ecars map as an accurate snapshot of the network health at any given time.

BoatMad

Shane732 wrote: »

I'm sorry I don't understand - "The upside is you get a far better driving experience"

Money aside, do you actually think the experience of driving an EV is better than a petrol engine car?

Way better driving experience , faster instant acceleration , little noise , one pedal driving , less wear on brakes and way lower servicing costs.

Better road holding and handling due to very low centre of gravity as well ancillary advantages are that cabin climate control an be maintained with engine off ( very handy for long chats with the GF ! ) , or started remotely in the mornings. Great to get into a fully warmed up car on those cold mornings.

DrPhilG

BoatMad wrote: »

Did she check the app or the map before she went instead of blindly driving to charge points

The map/app is pointless. It's never up to date or accurate. Pure shot in the dark using it.

I recently checked the map before a trip to Portrush, chargers were showing as unable to connect. Esb assured me that this meant there was a communication issue but the chargers would be working. Arrived in Portrush, both SCPs down.

A number of times I have checked the app and been told chargers are working, only to find that they are not.

Checking plugshare, Facebook etc is more reliable as you can see and hear from actual users, but if users haven't checked its pot luck.

The app is frequently inaccurate. Call the esb to ask directly and they are just as clueless.

BoatMad

DrPhilG wrote: »

The map is pointless. It's never up to date or accurate. Pure shot in the dark using it.

I recently checked the map before a trip to Portrush, chargers were showing as unable to connect. Esb assured me that this meant there was a communication issue but the chargers would be working. Arrived in Portrush, both SCPs down.

A number of times I have checked the app and been told chargers are working, only to find that they are not.

Checking plugshare, Facebook etc is more reliable as you can see and hear from actual users, but if users haven't checked its pot luck.

The app is frequently inaccurate. Call the esb to ask directly and they are just as clueless.

The app is a help it clearly indicates chargers that are marked down are in fact down . Yes where a fault is reported the map is not updated until the fault is confirmed and that is an issue. ( the app needs a third status, unconfirmed fault ?

Plugshare is utterly useless. Far too few people using it.

For any key strategic fast chargers I ring ecars and ask when the last good charge was logged. I've found that a reliable way to confirm the status of the charger.

Note that the call centre is not the esb. It's a third party conpany ( and they will tell u that )

Again ask about usage data , not just is the charge point up.

For example I went Gorey Athlone via Lucan rather then Carlow / portlsoise because the ecars app clearly flagged the Carlow and portlsoise fcps as out of order

Ps Facebook can be very unreliable , people have flagged issues that often don't relate to chademo or have trouble with the connector and post of FB that the charged is down. I've changed successfully at several marked on FB as faulty. The other issue is that FB often reports faulty chargers but rarely reports them back up.

The app remains far more useful then plugshare or FB

DrPhilG

We will agree to disagree.

I stood in Portrush on the phone to ecars while they told me that one of the SCPs was working and had been in use that morning. Even as I stood beside it and let them hear the beep it made as it failed they still insisted it was working. The reported usage they had was me plugging in, charging for 10 seconds then crashing.

Plugshare is of course limited to how many people use it, but I would take the word of a user who reported a failure in the last few days over the word of ecars who may be telling me it was used this morning.

BoatMad

DrPhilG wrote: »

We will agree to disagree.

I stood in Portrush on the phone to ecars while they told me that one of the SCPs was working and had been in use that morning. Even as I stood beside it and let them hear the beep it made as it failed they still insisted it was working. The reported usage they had was me plugging in, charging for 10 seconds then crashing.

Plugshare is of course limited to how many people use it, but I would take the word of a user who reported a failure in the last few days over the word of ecars who may be telling me it was used this morning.

I was more specifically referring to the FCPS, as I believe very few of the SCPS have real time monitoring. I personally find little use for SCPSs other then the one on my house wall.

equally , I had one mechanical issue with a FCP, That ecars couldn't detect , thats fair enough .


Like you I dont accept that the current state of the FCP network is acceptable , and that the app could be drastically improved

cros13

Shane732 wrote: »

Money aside, do you actually think the experience of driving an EV is better than a petrol engine car?

Vastly, as much as double the torque per horsepower and instant response.
With many EVs, particularly the higher end ones you have the combination of precise power delivery and regen braking on the one pedal which allows one pedal driving.

You'll find a lot of the early i3 owners for example, including myself, were previously owners of various M3s & M5s. Many of the i8 buyers have bought the i3 as well.

In my own case, I have more fun driving my i3 around Dublin than I had with my E90 M3 in Germany.

I've also test driven a Tesla Model S P90DL which is a next level experience again. The accelerator on that thing is more like a pedal for giving every occupant of the car including the driver a panic attack. I was mildly surprised I hadn't left indents in the steering wheel with the grip I had on it.

DrPhilG

Fully agree on the driving experience.

I've been driving my dad's diesel Dacia recently as he's off the road after a heart attack. It's bloody horrible to drive compared to the Leaf.

I had to drive the diesel yesterday, absolutely dreadful thing altogether. Painful experience, put your foot down, no power for what seems like an eternity. NO, no way I'm ever going back to any ICE as my main car.....50,350 kms later, no way, the network isn't perfect and electrics aren't for everyone yet and I expect not many will change to EV until at least until range reached 300 kms minimum, and 320-280 km range electrics should be available to order this time next year or early 2018, public charging will be rare.

TBi

Shane732 wrote: »

I'm sorry I don't understand - "The upside is you get a far better driving experience"

Money aside, do you actually think the experience of driving an EV is better than a petrol engine car?

Yes

BoatMad wrote: »

That's fine in theory. The nature of the current limited public network combined with the restricted range of current EVs means that at present you have to " plan " any long distance journey. . That's means understanding the route , the availability of chargers and the state of those chargers. It also might include knowledge of the topology , weather and temperature.

The upside is you get a far better driving experience and you presently pay zero for the fuel ( try that in your ice )

You are right but we shouldn't need to. I didn't like how you put the blame back on the girl when clearly it is ESB's fault that she had the issue.

tubos

BoatMad wrote: »

You forgot , to add Dublin airport to that list

What would be useful would be to collate over say a three month period what chargers failed.

Dublin Airport has been down for months now it seems.

BoatMad

You are right but we shouldn't need to. I didn't like how you put the blame back on the girl when clearly it is ESB's fault that she had the issue.

its not a question of assigning blame, The fact remains , you cannot just drive around ireland in an EV without doing specific planing. If she doesnt do that or isn't aware that she needs to do it, that a proportion of blame lies with her. even in an near utopia, there will always be requirements for people to " think " before acting

The EV situation in Ireland is in the early adopter phrase, its not suitable for people that want to ignore the drawbacks

cros13

Naas is back up and the ECars app is now showing whether a rapid is occupied or not

cros13

cros13 wrote: »

Naas is back up and the ECars app is now showing whether a rapid is occupied or not

:eek: I don't believe it !

Not showing this on the App for me, maybe there is an update ?

appfry

BoatMad wrote: »

That's fine in theory. The nature of the current limited public network combined with the restricted range of current EVs means that at present you have to " plan " any long distance journey. . That's means understanding the route , the availability of chargers and the state of those chargers. It also might include knowledge of the topology , weather and temperature.

The upside is you get a far better driving experience and you presently pay zero for the fuel ( try that in your ice )

Sounds like looking after a horse, not a car.

stesaurus

cros13 wrote: »

Naas is back up and the ECars app is now showing whether a rapid is occupied or not

Is this the little black car like symbol?

pwurple

Shane732 wrote: »

I'm sorry I don't understand - "The upside is you get a far better driving experience"

Money aside, do you actually think the experience of driving an EV is better than a petrol engine car?

Yes. It's better for me anyway.

I test drove a porsche last week... petrol just feels like old technology to me now. Rickety.

cros13

s.welstead wrote: »

Is this the little black car like symbol?

yup!

Naas is still down for CCS.... working for chademo.

got stuck there for an hour and a half last night to charge enough on the AC to reach home.

cros13

cros13 wrote: »

yup!

Naas is still down for CCS.... working for chademo.

got stuck there for an hour and a half last night to charge enough on the AC to reach home.

And what about the ICE ? could that not power you the rest of the way ?