ESB eCars

Kramer

obi604 wrote: »

Yeah. True. Would probably take me 3 years to ye this much.

I just want a pay as you go without the bloody top up of 20 Euro.

Therein lies the problem for ECars & EV charging, in general.

Most people will rarely need public, paid for, charging. Of their "16,000" customers, few will make them any money, yet demand expensive & continued investment in 150kW chargers, hubs etc. (not naming any names, but regulars here will know those who continuously give the ESB a hard time ).

It's a chicken & egg situation now, more chargers & more infrastructure needed, yet little to no utilisation & profit to justify the investment.

I'll bang an email off to Eamon.............get his input :pac:.

slave1

I’ll go for the PAYG option, go up towards Sligo Mayo a bit and even in a Tesla I’d need a comfort 10 minute stop to make it home with reserve in case of diversions etc

zg3409

cruisey1987 wrote: »

Wasn't much of a hassle for me, the only issue was when it said "please hold the line for all other queries" it just booted me back to the start.

Same happened to me. It says wait for other queries, then goes back to start. I pressed 2 to get to a real person who could not help me after hours.

Black_Knight

Ooooo, Clifden showing up in some capacity.

https://myaccount.esbecars.com/findCharger?53.4888620,-10.0195640,11z,C7L7F,1879st

DC is marked as offline at the moment, but AC22kW is showing live. Big improvement for the west if Ballina, Westport and Clifden are getting 50kW. Now if only ESB could keep them reliably online.

eagerv

Was in Waterford earlier and dropped into the Applegreen Garage beside Whitfield Hospital for a charge.


Started Ecars CCS charger with my EasyGo fob (Recently received, sent to me without any payment details). All went well, but no details of any charge history in app.



My last charge at this charge point was last month, used my VW We Charge card. Also no details of any debit from my VW account.



Any one familiar with this Garage? Must say owner was very friendly, came over each time for a chat...

Kramer

eagerv wrote: »

Was in Waterford earlier and dropped into the Applegreen Garage beside Whitfield Hospital for a charge.


Started Ecars CCS charger with my EasyGo fob (Recently received, sent to me without any payment details).

I'm not familiar with that charger - how much per kWh do Easygo charge for it? Is it indicated on the app?

eagerv

Kramer wrote: »

I'm not familiar with that charger - how much per kWh do Easygo charge for it? Is it indicated on the app?

No pricing details for that charger on my EasyGo app. Just blank..

Black_Knight

eagerv wrote: »

Was in Waterford earlier and dropped into the Applegreen Garage beside Whitfield Hospital for a charge.


Started Ecars CCS charger with my EasyGo fob (Recently received, sent to me without any payment details). All went well, but no details of any charge history in app.



My last charge at this charge point was last month, used my VW We Charge card. Also no details of any debit from my VW account.



Any one familiar with this Garage? Must say owner was very friendly, came over each time for a chat...

I'm only familiar with it because it's almost always broken (just checked now and the AC43 is offline), and there was some controversy between the garage owner and ecars for a while (think the garage owner bolted a picnic bench down in front of the unit once, stacked loads of pallets there another time).

Kramer

Black_Knight wrote: »

there was some controversy between the garage owner and ecars for a while (think the garage owner bolted a picnic bench down in front of the unit once, stacked loads of pallets there another time).

Oh dear, that guy? I thought they had or were to move that charger out of his private property, for those reasons?

Kramer

eagerv wrote: »

No pricing details for that charger on my EasyGo app. Just blank..

€0.79/kWh so................hope you didn't take too much juice...............big bill coming for you :P.

Black_Knight

Kramer wrote: »

Oh dear, that guy? I thought they had or were to move that charger out of his private property, for those reasons?

I know little to nothing of what happened. All I know is it's availability, and that someone was complaining on FB last year that 1. it had a bench in front of it, and 2. palets were in front of it. Then mumblings of how there was some grief between the shop owner and Ecars. I could never tell if people were being serious or sarcastic when they said the owner is a gent, and loves to talk EVs (considering the treatment of the charge point).

eagerv

Kramer wrote: »

€0.79/kWh so................hope you didn't take too much juice...............big bill coming for you :P.

Haha, only about 20 minutes so about 16kWh? No details on app.

Kramer

Black_Knight wrote: »

I know little to nothing of what happened.

Any regular Waterford EV owners here who could clarify what was happening I wonder? I had also read different takes on that charger............be nice to know if it's a banker, for when I'm next down that way.

JohnC.

I’ve only been by that charger 3 times. Used it once and there was a Leaf in it both other times so carried on. I’d seen photos of the bench, but it still allowed room for one car. It was really just blocking one of the spaces.

AndyBoBandy

Here she is from Plugshare.....





Definitely something odd going on...

Black_Knight

Kramer wrote: »

Any regular Waterford EV owners here who could clarify what was happening I wonder? I had also read different takes on that charger............be nice to know if it's a banker, for when I'm next down that way.

There's a new DC unit in waterford city as a backup. Bolton street.

fricatus

Kramer wrote: »

Any regular Waterford EV owners here who could clarify what was happening I wonder? I had also read different takes on that charger............be nice to know if it's a banker, for when I'm next down that way.

I don't really know, and now that we're paying to use the chargers, I don't really go by there any more. I always found the owner to be friendly, but a bit in-your-face. If someone is charging there, they don't necessarily want a conversation, and the proper etiquette IMO is a friendly hello and leave it at that.

He also one time pretty much ordered me to stay with my car because an EV had (according to him) gone on fire and caused a dangerous situation in the previous couple of days. I don't appreciate being bossed about like that, for no proper reason (how many charging fires have there really been in Ireland?), but I like to be nice at the same time. I know some people who'd have gone for a walk then, just to p155 him off. Anyway, there was no evidence of any fire, so maybe he had been watching something on the internet from China in 2012 or something, and had mixed it up with reality. I'm happier not to be using that location any more TBH.

Black_Knight wrote: »

There's a new DC unit in waterford city as a backup. Bolton street.

Yes, that's correct. Odd choice of location I think. Being in the city centre, it's not really convenient for people whose destination is not the city itself. Plus, it's a car park with diagonal spaces, which is just a mess in terms of maneuverability. It also gets properly congested there at busy times. I've driven into that car park and back out more than once.

As well as that, if you arrive and you're not familiar with the area, it's not immediately apparent which way you should go for conveniences like a coffee or a bathroom break. That's nitpicking though, because you are only a few minutes' walk from the park, which has a little café, plus a petrol station nearby, and also near the Tower Hotel, which is ideal for a coffee and a wee.

Kramer

fricatus wrote: »

I don't really know, and now that we're paying to use the chargers, I don't really go by there any more.

Did I read once of a firearm supposedly/allegedly being brandished or am I conflating it with another site?

Ridiculous that public chargers, that we, taxpayers paid for, are being blocked like that .

kanuseeme

Its best to avoid him/the charger if you can, he is unpredictable and very strange.

The other charger is not in the best position in Waterford, its in a car park and all of the roads leading to it can be like car parks during the day, not so bad after 7 pm.

the_amazing_raisin

I wonder what the dispute is? Maybe the guy wants money for renting the space or something, or did he have trouble with an EV driver?

fricatus

cruisey1987 wrote: »

I wonder what the dispute is? Maybe the guy wants money for renting the space or something, or did he have trouble with an EV driver?

Just for clarity, I think that photo is from a few years back. Still though, the guy did tell me one time that he was going to get rid of the charger, as it was more hassle than it was worth. I'd love to know what prompted this action.

AndyBoBandy

fricatus wrote: »

Just for clarity, I think that photo is from a few years back. Still though, the guy did tell me one time that he was going to get rid of the charger, as it was more hassle than it was worth. I'd love to know what prompted this action.

Perhaps he expected all the EV drivers to be in his shop spending loads of money on refreshments while waiting for the cars to charge??? Whereas in reality maybe 1 in every 10 cars probably came in for a coffee??

Irishjg

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Perhaps he expected all the EV drivers to be in his shop spending loads of money on refreshments while waiting for the cars to charge??? Whereas in reality maybe 1 in every 10 cars probably came in for a coffee??

He proudly told me one day as I was charging there that Ecars had paid him 26k to put the charger there. Followed up by advising me I was driving a peadophiles car. I’ve not been back since.

obi604

Irishjg wrote: »

He proudly told me one day as I was charging there that Ecars had paid him 26k to put the charger there. Followed up by advising me I was driving a peadophiles car. I’ve not been back since.

Sorry, who is this lad you are talking about?

Black_Knight

obi604 wrote: »

Sorry, who is this lad you are talking about?

Waterford fcp at mace/applegreen beside the Audi garage. Seems there's 2 sides to the owner.

Irishjg

Irishjg wrote: »

He proudly told me one day as I was charging there that Ecars had paid him 26k to put the charger there. Followed up by advising me I was driving a peadophiles car. I’ve not been back since.

You're f1cking joking ? that really is outrageous I can only imagine your disgust at that.

What's this lads problem ?

He could be annoyed at EV drivers in general, probably came into his shop giving out about cars being abandoned or stuff like that, not coming in spending big bucks or even spending anything and when charging was free they probably were leaving the car there for long periods, the same People all the time not going into the shop and I can understand his frustration and he was probably frustrated by the ESB when he was b1tching to them and they fobbed him off probably.

When the Government announce every garage has to install chargers and more than 1 his head will explode lol. But that probably won't happen for some time yet.

Silent Running

Black_Knight wrote: »

Waterford fcp at mace/applegreen beside the Audi garage. Seems there's 2 sides to the owner.

My recollection is that he was giving out about EVs speeding through his garage to get to the charger. There might be some justification to this as the unit is set behind the building and you need to go through a busy, tight area to get to it.

He seems to have lost the plot and made up a story about a black Audi being attached to the charger all day and when he approached the driver he had a gun pointed at him. This story wasn't backed up by charger usage stats and there was anecdotal evidence of the charger being seen unoccupied during the day he said it happened.

I've spoken to him a few times and he seems reasonably alright. He said he put the picnic table there so EV drivers could sit outside and have a snack on a nice day.

Who knows what his real story is though.

AndyBoBandy

Silent Running wrote: »

He said he put the picnic table there so EV drivers could sit outside and have a snack on a nice day.

Thats BS. Why would he then put the picnic table in the spot where the EV needs to park in order to charge??? (not a dig at you, but at his reason for installing the bench where he did)

Without knowing the guy, it sounds like he was expecting it to be a cashcow for his shop, with EV's travelling from far and wide to charge at his Fast Charge Point (Perhaps ESB sold him this myth?), and when it didn't turn out like this, he perhaps went back to ESB asking where all this promised custom was, and demanded more money as it was currently unviable for him... Free charging most certainly didn't help either with cars probably left there for hours on end....

eagerv

I would imagine that with a hospital next door with expensive parking, that many (ICE and EV) see this garage as a handy parking place.

Black_Knight

101 fast charging sites now! Not sure whether to be satisfied or disappointed in that?