Charger Anxiety

TBi

I haven't really had much range anxiety since i bought the car, however i definitely have charger anxiety these days. Not sure whether the charger i need will be working or free (the app isn't always correct).

Went on a road trip Mallow to Waterford this weekend.

Via Cork City. Chargers at Copley street were thankfully absent of the fully charged PHEV's and the fully charged EV's who use these points as free parking all day while they work...

Stopped off at Youghal on the way for lunch. Needed to charge here or Dungarvan but had planned to get lunch at Youghal. App showed both plugs operational with one taken. Arrived and both charging points taken, one car charging, one car plugged in but plug was not in operation. Out of curiosity i tugged at the plug that was not in operation. It popped out, the charger reset and now it was fully operational. Thankfully was able to park awkwardly next to charger and charge. I know it's not polite to unplug someone but they weren't charging anyway...

Next stop was Waterford, i didn't "need" to charge but stopped at the fast CCS charger on the outskirts of Waterford to make the next day easier. Plugged in and car charged for 30 seconds before charge stopped. Called ESB and they couldn't get it going. Again the app showed (and still shows) this as fully operational. Limped off to accommodation...

Next day i needed to plug in for an hour or two so stopped off at the train station in Waterford. Parking spots in a very awkward place, very small and very hard to park at. Thankfully didn't scratch the car on way in or out.

Next stop was at Dunmore East. Charger location was good but i didn't realise there were two charging spots as only one location was marked out on the floor. So technically i'd blocked the second charging spot and there were ICE cars blocking anyone from parking behind me.

Next day was Tramore. Charger showed free and working. Got there and it was in an endless bootloop. I did manage to plug in but then it wouldn't release my cable or charge. Another fun day.

On the way back we charged at Dungarvan as there were more spots than Youghal and thankfully this went smoothly. Although only one of the connections was working and this was not highlighted in the app.

I'll be very reluctant to take the car on another long spin after this much hassle with the chargers. This and all the fully charged PHEV's taking up precious charging spots in Cork city centre have made it harder for me to recommend an electric car.

ELM327

Short and sweet:
Charging for charging will solve all of those problems. Combined with fines for overstay and proper clamping/FCPN for ICE cars/not charging cars parked in the bays.

Mope

I am somewhat feeling uncomfortable traveling from Lusk to Monaghan (and it's fairly short trip). Cannot see any FCP around, only one on M1 motorway shortly before Dundalk.
Worst case is I would use Type 2 around Monaghan, but how can I guarantee they are up and running? I cannot

I think we all need to encourage people to use PlugShare as it has Community behind it. Comments, Check-Ins and etc. You can in a matter of seconds see if CP you are planning to visit is or was operational.

But is it really rude to unplug NOT charging car? I don't think so.

Orebro

I've got to say this "Drive4Zero" thing that was well publicized in Cork City has turned out to be a complete farce. One would have thought if they were going to do a scheme like this they would have at least put in a good lash of charging facilities, but they are very scant.

If you also look at the charging map, there are no charging facilities at all between Cork and Macroom - a very large population centre like Ballincollig has nothing? You'd be very slow to head to West Cork in the likes of a Leaf too as there are only a few SCP dotted around the place and one FCP in Bandon - certainly not enough to chance it in case one of them were faulty.

P.S. If you are depending on using the FCP in Macroom, make sure you don't time it on the same day as the Mart - you're more likely to see a Landcruiser with cow trailer on the EV spaces.

TBi

Orebro wrote: »

I've got to say this "Drive4Zero" thing that was well publicized in Cork City has turned out to be a complete farce. One would have thought if they were going to do a scheme like this they would have at least put in a good lash of charging facilities, but they are very scant.

My wife works somewhere that was pushing this "Drive4Zero" scheme and even has charging on site for workers... but you can only access the car park with the charger if you are in senior management so it spends all day empty...

Access would have been useful during some of the colder months.

Balmed Out

Is Drive4Zero still going? and are there any perks to having an EV in the Cork area beyond the norm? I know at one stage the toll was free and parking free while charging or something like that.

KCross

Balmed Out wrote: »

Is Drive4Zero still going? and are there any perks to having an EV in the Cork area beyond the norm? I know at one stage the toll was free and parking free while charging or something like that.

From what I can see its largely dead now. The website is static.

One of the biggest perks was the free parking at the Q-Parks. They did away with that on 1 Mar although you still have free charging in there. The drive4zero website hasnt even been updated to tell people that perk is gone so thats why I think its a dead initiative.

Orebro

Balmed Out wrote: »

Is Drive4Zero still going? and are there any perks to having an EV in the Cork area beyond the norm? I know at one stage the toll was free and parking free while charging or something like that.

Dead as a doornail. Lots of noise made about it at the time in local media, getting Simon Coveney to front it etc (think he was driving an Outlander PHEV at the time). As far as I can see the free parking in the City is about it, but there are so few charging spots even thats pretty useless. And like another poster said, you're just as likely to see a PHEV in the spaces too.

I'm hoping Leaf II has around 300 Kms real range, it would be great to have as much independence from the charging network as possible.

If we could only have the Ampera-E. up to 385 Kms reported, and 200 HP would be really nice.

I'd like a larger EV but there won't be any by the time my lease is up in January, if even the new Leaf will be available by then remains to be seen. I could end up keeping my Leaf for another year "IF" I can renegotiate the balloon.

Mope

dropped my parents to airport and wanted to top up for few minutes at McDonald's FCP... Sure - blue Leaf charging at middle bay leaving me no choice as to leave... Such an awkward charge door positioning and FCP itself too.
Not blaming Leaf by all means

KCross

Mope wrote: »

dropped my parents to airport and wanted to top up for few minutes at McDonald's FCP... Sure - blue Leaf charging at middle bay leaving me no choice as to leave... Such an awkward charge door positioning and FCP itself too.
Not blaming Leaf by all means

I presume the only reason they put the connection there is because the Ioniq platform also has an ICE equivalent and it was easier to just reuse that flap.

They should really have it at the front. There are few enough CCS chargers in the country as it is and to have these issues just makes it even more frustrating.

The Black Oil

Which one were you at in Tramore, OP? Tesco, or the one near the bus area?

BoatMad

ELM327 wrote: »

Short and sweet:
Charging for charging will solve all of those problems. Combined with fines for overstay and proper clamping/FCPN for ICE cars/not charging cars parked in the bays.

actually little will be solved by a pricing regime as usage grows.

BoatMad

TBi wrote: »

I haven't really had much range anxiety since i bought the car, however i definitely have charger anxiety these days. Not sure whether the charger i need will be working or free (the app isn't always correct).

Went on a road trip Mallow to Waterford this weekend.

Via Cork City. Chargers at Copley street were thankfully absent of the fully charged PHEV's and the fully charged EV's who use these points as free parking all day while they work...

Stopped off at Youghal on the way for lunch. Needed to charge here or Dungarvan but had planned to get lunch at Youghal. App showed both plugs operational with one taken. Arrived and both charging points taken, one car charging, one car plugged in but plug was not in operation. Out of curiosity i tugged at the plug that was not in operation. It popped out, the charger reset and now it was fully operational. Thankfully was able to park awkwardly next to charger and charge. I know it's not polite to unplug someone but they weren't charging anyway...

Next stop was Waterford, i didn't "need" to charge but stopped at the fast CCS charger on the outskirts of Waterford to make the next day easier. Plugged in and car charged for 30 seconds before charge stopped. Called ESB and they couldn't get it going. Again the app showed (and still shows) this as fully operational. Limped off to accommodation...

Next day i needed to plug in for an hour or two so stopped off at the train station in Waterford. Parking spots in a very awkward place, very small and very hard to park at. Thankfully didn't scratch the car on way in or out.

Next stop was at Dunmore East. Charger location was good but i didn't realise there were two charging spots as only one location was marked out on the floor. So technically i'd blocked the second charging spot and there were ICE cars blocking anyone from parking behind me.

Next day was Tramore. Charger showed free and working. Got there and it was in an endless bootloop. I did manage to plug in but then it wouldn't release my cable or charge. Another fun day.

On the way back we charged at Dungarvan as there were more spots than Youghal and thankfully this went smoothly. Although only one of the connections was working and this was not highlighted in the app.

I'll be very reluctant to take the car on another long spin after this much hassle with the chargers. This and all the fully charged PHEV's taking up precious charging spots in Cork city centre have made it harder for me to recommend an electric car.

more a function of deciding to get a CCS based car actually , as had you a Chademo, you have alternative fast charging in Dungarvan and Waterford

anyway this is a 120 Km aprox journey , surely you only needed to charge overnight in the waterford area . didi you not leave home with a fully charged car

Mope

Guys you read more news and know more in general. Why do we have so many SCP around everywhere if only Zoe (if Im not mistaken) can benefit from 22kW - 42kW stations to charge quick and continue journey? What was the idea? How much does it cost to replace SCP to FCP?

We need more FCP! Not that much, few there and there. West part of Ireland has almost none, same up North. Planning longer trips is a pain if you have kids in the car and waiting for up to 2hrs to top up circa 100KM of range is not an option

TBi

The Black Oil wrote: »

Which one were you at in Tramore, OP? Tesco, or the one near the bus area?

The one on the promenade.

TBi

BoatMad wrote: »

more a function of deciding to get a CCS based car actually , as had you a Chademo, you have alternative fast charging in Dungarvan and Waterford

anyway this is a 120 Km aprox journey , surely you only needed to charge overnight in the waterford area . didi you not leave home with a fully charged car

More a function of the ccs in Waterford being broken... we'd planned a long stay in youghal for lunch. We could have made dungarvan but that wasn't the plan. No chademo in youghal.

We left home with full charge. Into cork to run errands, then 120km from there to Waterford with 80km in the tank.

unkel

Mope wrote: »

Guys you read more news and know more in general. Why do we have so many SCP around everywhere if only Zoe (if Im not mistaken) can benefit from 22kW - 42kW stations to charge quick and continue journey? What was the idea? How much does it cost to replace SCP to FCP?

We need more FCP! Not that much, few there and there. West part of Ireland has almost none, same up North. Planning longer trips is a pain if you have kids in the car and waiting for up to 2hrs to top up circa 100KM of range is not an option

Exactly. We only need a few (very) fast charging points on main roads / motorways every 30-40km or so, but multiple charge points per station, not just the one :rolleyes: Imagine having a petrol station with just one pump. That's a bit 1920.

Charge up in 5-10 minutes and be good for another 300+ km. Just like today with petrol / diesel. That is what 2020 should look like.

Not getting a cable out of your car, hooking it up to your car and to a charger and then waiting for at least 2 hours to get a significant charge to bring you places. It really was very short sighted to install all those SCP everywhere with very few FCP...

I heard the German top brands are supposed to be installing a lot of charge points in Ireland this year , and 350 Kw at that and more than one on site, how this will go down with the ESB is anyone's guess. They will be CCS only and I hope not restricted to any particular brand of car manufacturer either.

I hope it's true.

grogi

Deleted User wrote: »

I heard the German top brands are supposed to be installing a lot of charge points in Ireland this year , and 350 Kw at that and more than one on site, how this will go down with the ESB is anyone's guess. They will be CCS only and I hope not restricted to any particular brand of car manufacturer either.

I hope it's true.

It does not make sense to install anything new but CCS. It is an agreed European standard - why should anything else be installed?

And for the same reason, if the new Leaf will come without CCS, it will be a flop, at least in Europe.

I meant restricted as in you have to buy a particular brand of car to be "allowed" to use the chargers, but since you brought it up, I'd imagine there are far more ChaDeMo cars on the road at present and it would be unfair to exclude ChaDeMo owners until the manufacturers no longer sell ChaDeMo equipped electrics at the very least.

DrPhilG

Apologies if this is a completely daft question, but would it be possible later in the life of the car to change the charger from Chademo to CCS?

For example if the new Leaf does come with Chademo only and then 5 years down the line CCS becomes the dominant force, would Nissan be able to cost effectively change the socket on older cars?

grogi

DrPhilG wrote: »

Apologies if this is a completely daft question, but would it be possible later in the life of the car to change the charger from Chademo to CCS?

For example if the new Leaf does come with Chademo only and then 5 years down the line CCS becomes the dominant force, would Nissan be able to cost effectively change the socket on older cars?

Everything is possible. The question is how much would it cost.

Change like that would require upgrade in many components of the car, it is more complex than changing the whole battery pack. I don't think it will be massively entertained.

bk

grogi wrote: »

It does not make sense to install anything new but CCS. It is an agreed European standard - why should anything else be installed?

And for the same reason, if the new Leaf will come without CCS, it will be a flop, at least in Europe.

Well it doesn't make sense for any newly installed FCP to not be multi-standard. It really costs very little extra compared to a single standard charger.

Most of the internal equipment would be shared and either way the vast majority of the cost of installing FCP's are the labour costs and surrounding electrical work.

Of course if the manufacturers are installing these for themselves, then they may well only support their own standard to exclude competitors (e.g. Tesla Superchargers).

grogi

bk wrote: »

Well it doesn't make sense for any newly installed FCP to not be multi-standard. It really costs very little extra compared to a single standard charger.

Most of the internal equipment would be shared and either way the vast majority of the cost of installing FCP's are the labour costs and surrounding electrical work.

Of course if the manufacturers are installing these for themselves, then they may well only support their own standard to exclude competitors (e.g. Tesla Superchargers).

Yes and no... Upgrading the ChaDeMo infrastructure will reduce the pressure of the current ChaDeMo manufacturers from switching to CCS. That will make the unification more and more difficult in future.

I would have no issues with putting multi-standard chargers on the condition that type approval requires CCS for new models.

bk

Good point grogi, I hadn't thought of that, I agree completely.

Perhaps the EU should simply require all new electric cars sold in Europe from date x to use CCS.

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

Apologies if this is a completely daft question, but would it be possible later in the life of the car to change the charger from Chademo to CCS?

For example if the new Leaf does come with Chademo only and then 5 years down the line CCS becomes the dominant force, would Nissan be able to cost effectively change the socket on older cars?

Absolutely no problem if you're willing to part with the money and be able to find someone with the skills necessary to complete the task.

You could even install a 20 Kw AC charger to make use of all those under utilised and under appreciated 22 KW AC points we have in Ireland, again , money and finding someone capable......

22 Kw AC chargers alone would take a massive burden off the DC network !

The Black Oil

Perhaps in view of this and other threads, there's scope for collating all feedback and sending it to the ESB re CP issues.

Mope

Two approaches can be done really. Either everyone who is affected sends an email so there is a volume of emails in their Inbox or one coming from "Community"

Which one is better?

bk

Mope wrote: »

Two approaches can be done really. Either everyone who is affected sends an email so there is a volume of emails in their Inbox or one coming from "Community"

Which one is better?

In my experience, with IrelandOffLine with regards to Broadband, you want both.

A well thought out, detailed, submission from a pressure group is important and but then also lots of more general emails from the public to make it clear that a lot of people actually care about this and that the pressure group isn't just one lone loony.

Calahonda52

bk wrote: »

In my experience, with IrelandOffLine with regards to Broadband, you want both.

A well thought out, detailed, submission from a pressure group is important and but then also lots of more general emails from the public to make it clear that a lot of people actually care about this and that the pressure group isn't just one lone loony.

Are we talking complaints about certain CPs or more general infrastructure issues, or what?

I have just had a quick read through this thread and maybe one could take the view that CA in this thread is perhaps driven by unrealistic range expectations that were not sufficiently tailored to the fact that it is an EV.

zilog_jones

I think a big problem with SCPs right now is that it's not very clear if the spaces are for parking or strictly only for charging, and people are taking advantage of this vagueness - especially in Cork city where EV street parking is free. I think this needs to be made clearer, and there should be strict enforcement for people parking while not charging, or a time limit should be defined (e.g. 2 hours like normal street parking). Charging points at train stations are less clear, as there may be the expectation they can be used by commuters (i.e. parking for 8+ hours).

I think SCPs make sense for destination charging in town centres, but obviously they're not a substitute for good intercity FCP infrastructure. I think it was discussed before that the ESB were misled by car manufacturers that more EVs would have high-power AC chargers - hence the large amount of 22kW AC chargers.

KCross

The biggest issue you have with a submission is that there are multiple bodies involved so one submission to eCars followed by multiple emails from users won't help at all for some of the issues.

Ex:

ICE'ing, lack of proper markings on the bays and enforcement.... to my knowledge that is a local council issue and is completely out of the hands of eCars other than them asking the council nicely to do it. So that particular concern or submission should go to each council.

Lack of FCP's in some areas... you can submit all you like to eCars on that, they won't lift a finger until they get a decision from the CER to say they do or do not own the network. If CER give them the network then you can expect charging for charging to come in before they start installing new chargers as their primary concern is to commercialise the network. If the CER don't give them the network then the issue will be how is it funded going forward which will have to be part of the CER decision. So, imo, any submissions in this area need to hold off until you have a clear view of what the CER decision is which is expected by the end of June 2017.

Charger reliability.... that can be submitted to eCars now. They have current responsibility for that and are likely to have it for a while regardless of what the CER decide.

The minister.... a submission should be made to him about all of the above. He will ignore a lot of it and cite "not my remit" but it is still worth doing to keep it in his mind.

Mope

I think you are dead right here, KCross.

Do you guys have this issue that on some FCPs it takes two attempts to get successful connection?

Last 3 charges I had all had this. 1st attempt fails. 2nd all good.

cros13

Deleted User wrote: »

I meant restricted as in you have to buy a particular brand of car to be "allowed" to use the chargers, but since you brought it up, I'd imagine there are far more ChaDeMo cars on the road at present and it would be unfair to exclude ChaDeMo owners until the manufacturers no longer sell ChaDeMo equipped electrics at the very least.

Only in the UK & Ireland. And that's changing fast. CCS is far more popular in Norway and Germany for example.

DrPhilG wrote: »

Apologies if this is a completely daft question, but would it be possible later in the life of the car to change the charger from Chademo to CCS?

For example if the new Leaf does come with Chademo only and then 5 years down the line CCS becomes the dominant force, would Nissan be able to cost effectively change the socket on older cars?

It is possible to make an adapter for a CCS charger to charge a Chademo vehicle.
An adapter the other way around is much more difficult as the adapter would need a battery to (at least initially) negotiate with both sides.... and that battery would probably have to be charged separately (i.e. it would not recharge parasitically from the car or charger).

So chademo cars shouldn't have a problem in the future with using CCS chargers and CCS cars now have no hope of ever being able to use chademo without an extensive refit.

unkel

bk wrote: »

Perhaps the EU should simply require all new electric cars sold in Europe from date x to use CCS.

That has been the plan since about 2013, that all new EVs for sale in the EU from 01/01/2018 must have CCS. This is not yet in place though unfortunately. And going forward we can't just dismantle CHAdeMO chargers, that would be absurd & grossly unfair to CHAdeMO users.

grogi wrote: »

Everything is possible. The question is how much would it cost.

I guess so. Tesla sell an adapter to let their cars use CHAdeMO chargers. $450 though iirc. I can't see why a CHAdeMO car can't have a CCS adapter, but maybe that's more difficult / costly / impossible.

Cros13 - you might know?

cros13

unkel wrote: »

Cros13 - you might know?

Posted the answer above you.

BoatMad

bk wrote: »

In my experience, with IrelandOffLine with regards to Broadband, you want both.

A well thought out, detailed, submission from a pressure group is important and but then also lots of more general emails from the public to make it clear that a lot of people actually care about this and that the pressure group isn't just one lone loony.

as a committee member of the IEVOA, let me tell you we are banging at the door of every state body involved in EV and EV policy.

The primary problem is the lack of an effective state policy and with the current Gov , this unlikely to change . We will keep trying , I recently met Minister Naughton at the SEAI show and impressed on him again that policy needs to be set that encourages EVs etc. He has promised a meeting

The "only" way to encourage Irish people to EV is to make Diesel unattractive, the only way to do this is to increase the tax on Diesel Fuel and diesel cars, not going to happen.

The only way Irish people will convert to EV is when there are the same choice in vehicles and a minimum of 300+ kms range and when manufacturers ramp down Diesel production.

The issue of charging for apartment owners needs to be addressed and for people with no driveway. My Brother can't install a charge point in his apartment parking space because there is absolutely no solution to billing him for electricity and the management company won;t entertain a separate meter that someone will have to read.

The majority of Irish people don't care about pollution as evident by their car choice and solid fuel burning.

BoatMad

Deleted User wrote: »

The "only" way to encourage Irish people to EV is to make Diesel unattractive, the only way to do this is to increase the tax on Diesel Fuel and diesel cars, not going to happen.

The only way Irish people will convert to EV is when there are the same choice in vehicles and a minimum of 300+ kms range and when manufacturers ramp down Diesel production.

The issue of charging for apartment owners needs to be addressed and for people with no driveway. My Brother can't install a charge point in his apartment parking space because there is absolutely no solution to billing him for electricity and the management company won;t entertain a separate meter that someone will have to read.

The majority of Irish people don't care about pollution as evident by their car choice and solid fuel burning.

we all agree here, the issue is that "voters vote" and these changes will come slowly

( for example the upgrade grants from the SEAI for fossil fuel upgrades, is to be withdrawn )

In the old Estate I lived until recently, the Co.Council installed Oil heating for every remaining Council house and 99% of them use Coal, now what the Council should have done was to block off the Chimneys.

Unreal, despite Oil being much cheaper than Solid fuels people have themselves convinced from the local pub gossip that solid fuel is cheaper.

That really shows the mindset of Irish people. The clouds of coal smoke over estates , people don't even bat an eye lit.

BoatMad

Deleted User wrote: »

In the old Estate I lived until recently, the Co.Council installed Oil heating for every remaining Council house and 99% of them use Coal, now what the Council should have done was to block off the Chimneys.

people like open fires , live with it

Unreal, despite Oil being much cheaper than Solid fuels people have themselves convinced from the local pub gossip that solid fuel is cheaper.

I fell, cut and split my own timber , its considerably cheaper then oil

That really shows the mindset of Irish people. The clouds of coal smoke over estates , people don't even bat an eye lit.

smokeless countrywide is due soon enough

goz83

Deleted User wrote: »

the management company won;t entertain a separate meter that someone will have to read.

They ever heard of prepay power?

goz83

goz83 wrote: »

They ever heard of prepay power?

How would that work ? who would admin it ?

BoatMad

BoatMad wrote: »

people like open fires , live with it

There are far better ways to heat homes , perhaps wood pellet stoves might be the only thing I'd consider to use.

BoatMad wrote: »

I fell, cut and split my own timber , its considerably cheaper then oil

Good if you own a lot of trees and land and replant, but still emitting pollution. Bad if you just fell mature hardwood trees.

BoatMad wrote: »

smokeless countrywide is due soon enough

Won't be enforced unless it becomes illegal to sell it and you'll still be able to support BNM's filthy fuels and burn Turf. All emitting dangerous emissions. I see coal fires in Carlow Town despite being banned.

bk

BoatMad wrote: »

as a committee member of the IEVOA, let me tell you we are banging at the door of every state body involved in EV and EV policy.

I feel your pain! More then a decade banging on about broadband!!

However keep your head up, it does eventually sink into their brains, just slowly. We now finally are well on our way to sorting the broadband issues. And hopefully EV's will follow shortly.

I would expect that once the CER make their decision then the ESB will get the finger out, they realise the potential goldmine that is there in the not so distant future.

The real issue is for People who don't have home charging and is not currently possible such as my Brother in his Apartment, the cabling and installation is not an issue it's the billing for electricity is not possible without Admin and the management company isn't going to get involved in this. My Brother's lease is up soon and while I could convince him to get the Ioniq he will probably go back from Diesel to petrol after years of trying to convince him he doesn't need a Diesel for about 12 Kms a day. Really , he probably doesn't need a car......but anyway he will get another but can't get an EV and he won't use Public chargers as his only means of charging.

The other issue is the actual installation of some kind of billing system would be expensive and the management company will not pay for this.

A similar issue for those who have no designated parking etc.

This is a real issue. There was supposed to be funding for to set up trials to find out how to overcome the issue of Apartment charging etc but the funding never arrived, so I have very little faith in the Government, they can't/won't deal with the horrendous traffic congestion on the M7/N7//M50 and in Dublin in general, they failed for decades to address a proper public transport system.

We're going to get fined a lot of money and this could be far better spent on both micro generation and a proper F.I.T and sorting out these charging issues.

My guess is that the Government will pull the Grant and VRT relief by 2020 when more people start buying EV to help pay for public sector pay "demands"

Between this and property prices rocketing and a potential housing boom on the horizon I have little hope for the country in general......

Broadband in the country areas is still disastrous and Eir's one cabinet per village idea is a disaster, I see where I live, about 1 K from the Village, the fibre cabinet is about 1 K from the Village and the speeds will be well down by the time the fibre reaches the Village. It just makes Eir and the Government look good by having XXXX amount of Towns and Villages connected to Fibre......

I can't even get it here and have to use Three 4G which isn't that bad at all.

BoatMad

I would expect that once the CER make their decision then the ESB will get the finger out, they realise the potential goldmine that is there in the not so distant future.

I doubt it , as there will be a lot of competitors entering the market if its a " goldmine" and equally the ESB could " inherit " many chargers that are in uneconomic locations , I predict calls from the esb for PSO levies in the future

Also I doing expect that the ESB is getting the chargers if that was the case the decision would have been announced months ago.

I suspect the chargers will remain in the RAB

also remember a reports exists that says the existing network is good for 20,000 EVs !!!!!, why expand !!!!!

The other issue is the actual installation of some kind of billing system would be expensive and the management company will not pay for this.

not to mention illegal without an electricity supply license

My guess is that the Government will pull the Grant and VRT relief by 2020 when more people start buying EV to help pay for public sector pay "demands"

doing 500-600 cars this year, well be along way from 10,000 by 2020 which is the new target, so I expect incentives to continue. otherwise people will dump EVs

There was supposed to be funding for to set up trials to find out how to overcome the issue of Apartment charging etc but the funding never arrived, so I have very little faith in the Government,

what trials ?, Ive never heard of a serious suggestion , why would you need trails , the issues are well understood ( BY THE WAY have you heard of the EV connected apartments in the docklands , I was told they get free night rate for life )

Between this and property prices rocketing and a potential housing boom on the horizon I have little hope for the country in general......

OMG, im not getting out of bed tomorrow, its allll soooooo depressing

Broadband in the country areas is still disastrous and Eir's one cabinet per village idea is a disaster, I see where I live, about 1 K from the Village, the fibre cabinet is about 1 K from the Village and the speeds will be well down by the time the fibre reaches the Village. It just makes Eir and the Government look good by having XXXX amount of Towns and Villages connected to Fibre..

its getting there Mad_lad, wellington bridge has 200 megs !