New phev question on charge points

baz69

Hi all,just bought a new Niro phev,now here's my silly question,iam going to Galway and westport and would like to charge it enroute ,so can I just rock up to any charge point and pay ,or are there ones for fully electric only ,are there different chargers or ones I can't use ,seems to be two main ones ,will be using them so don't mind signing up just not sure who to use ,esb and easygo, and advice much appreciated.

Gumbo

baz69 wrote: »

Hi all,just bought a new Niro phev,now here's my silly question,iam going to Galway and westport and would like to charge it enroute ,so can I just rock up to any charge point and pay ,or are there ones for fully electric only ,are there different chargers or ones I can't use ,seems to be two main ones ,will be using them so don't mind signing up just not sure who to use ,esb and easygo, and advice much appreciated.

You’ve got to weigh up the time V Cost for charging a PHEV, especially on a motorway run.

It may take you 1 hour to charge on a public charge point and cost €3. That €3 worth of petrol may get you to your destination faster and in less than the time to charge.

*do the sims using your particular PHEV with regards to charging speed and battery size.

Black_Knight

baz69 wrote: »

Hi all,just bought a new Niro phev,now here's my silly question,iam going to Galway and westport and would like to charge it enroute ,so can I just rock up to any charge point and pay ,or are there ones for fully electric only ,are there different chargers or ones I can't use ,seems to be two main ones ,will be using them so don't mind signing up just not sure who to use ,esb and easygo, and advice much appreciated.

Esb ecars and easygo are the 2 existing pay for charge point operators you can use. Some easy go points are free (Lidl for example), but others and esb charge for use. They charge a nice bit more than anything you can pay if you charge at home. They use a type 2 connector, and you must supply the cable yourself (should of come with the car). The fast chargers on the motorway services are not for phevs*

As gumbo says, do the math and see if it's worth it to ever charge off them or is petrol just cheaper.

In a phev no one will recommend you charge enroute. It'll take far too long to gain far too little (1hr to gain 50km or less). Phevs are designed to be charged at home and then use that electric juice for your commute for example. Longer drives like Galway to Westport are for your petrol engine. If you wanted to charge en route you should of bought a full electric (and wouldn't of had to charge at all).

*Phev cars can use far chargers which have a AC 43kW plug attached, but they won't be any faster to charge but will cost additional. Some phevs can fast charge, but they're rare. Think the outlander is the only one

kanuseeme

Well wear baz.

It will take you 2 hours 15 minutes to charge your car at a rapid or slow charger, its limited by the on board charger.

Ecars has the largest network in this country, easygo have charge points dotted around the country, both would make sense to apply for.

Ecars have a triple head unit which is meant for rapid charging of cars, you could use the type 2 head and charge your car, but you might deny some fully electric car from getting a charge as some units are crap and will only charge one car at a time or if its a capable unit you might deny a faster AC charging car like a zoe or a tesla from getting more out of it.

Or you can look at it from the restaurant window and see no one using it. Up to you.

Those units will cost you around 30 cent a kWh and you will need 7 kWh for a full charge, now those particular units have a time limit of 45 minutes after which you will get a "fine" of 5 euro.
I do not know if the penalty applies to the AC type 2 . Some one correct me please.

Now its cost V charging time, that is up to you. your car will do around 5l/100km so its pretty good, if your stopping anyway you might as well get some electricity, no point buying a phev if your not going to charge it, but to stop only for a charge and wait 2 hours and only save 1 euro does not seem worth it to me.

5l/100km = 50 km for 3.12 euro in petrol .... Electric 7 kWh x 30 cent - 2.10 euro = 50 km or so depends how you drive it.

You don't have to stop at a service station you could stop at a town or a hotel, plug in to a charging point get something to eat that you might enjoy rather than a Mac Donalds or Super Mac's at a service station.
At the slow chargers you need your own cable and will cost around 23 cent a kWh or free at a hotel.

Black_Knight

There is no overstay fee on the slow AC chargers

Pappajohn

Register with both Ecars and EasyGo and start a charge with either their charge card (Ecars) or fob (EasyGo). You can also commence/stop charging with either of their apps.

As previously advised stay away from Rapid chargers,typically seen on main routes between cities. Only consider the slow charge points, usually 22kW, mostly seen in towns. That is if you happen to be stopping there anyway for at least an hour for perhaps a meal and its location is convenient. Your car will take on board somewhat less than 3.5kW in that hour, good for approx 20Kms of addittional EV range.

It really does not make sense either financial, if paid for charging, or timewise, even if free, to stop specificallly on a long journey for the sole purpose of just charging the PHEV. But of course its not always about the savings. If that topup gets you an extra 20kms of emmision free motoring, especially through towns, - and thats how you should be using it btw,- then I say go for it and the car will also drive better & more economical having the two sources of power to draw on.

Just be conscious that some BEV owner might need that charge point to continue his/her journey - well that's me. In some towns the county councils have installed EasyGo charge points next to public parks or swimming pools so these are the ones I use if I decide to charge. They tend to be used by locals only, not that often and not passing traffic in need of a charge

Pappajohn

Black_Knight wrote: »

There is no overstay fee on the slow AC chargers

I think kanuseeme may have been referring to the AC 43kW side of those triple head chargers.

Is that still the case ? - no overstay fee. (Not that I would use one)

How about the new Rapids that give out...2kW AC single phase. Surely there can't be an overstay charge on AC side here, that is when fess come in on those new Rapids.

Who is the intended user of these - PHEVs :-)

baz69

Some great information here ,thanks to everyone for their input.

Black_Knight

Pappajohn wrote: »

I think kanuseeme may have been referring to the AC 43kW side of those triple head chargers.

Is that still the case ? - no overstay fee. (Not that I would use one)

How about the new Rapids that give out...2kW AC single phase. Surely there can't be an overstay charge on AC side here, that is when fess come in on those new Rapids.

Who is the intended user of these - PHEVs :-)

Ah. My bad. AC43 kW have an over stay.

I believe the 2kW/6kW ones on the DC units have no overstay. They're at the reduced rate too.

baz69

Just back from the west and very pleased,took onboard the advice given by the more knowledgeable on here,left Kildare with full charge (55k) went to Galway found a e car charger for 50 min no cost,then went to westport found esb charger ,one car there so used second one while went for a meal across the road just under an hour 80% charge no cost then castlebar on way home co council car park had one so went for coffee 54%charge no cost ,home today total mileage 575 kilometres avg 3.9 L/100k so advice taken no point in stopping to charge just for the sake of it better to wait till going for lunch or coffee or overnight stay just a matter of spend little time finding a charge point near where you are going to eat etc,thanks for advice.

JPA

You're saying no cost? If they were ecars then there is a cost per kWh.

Black_Knight

Good job. Charging while you're busying yourself is smart, busying yourself just because you're charging... not so much.

As above, you sure there was no cost on the eCars charge points? They do have fees. How did you initiate the charge if that's the case?

graememk

Black_Knight wrote: »

Good job. Charging while you're busying yourself is smart, busying yourself just because you're charging... not so much.

As above, you sure there was no cost on the eCars charge points? They do have fees. How did you initiate the charge if that's the case?

I think he found a free charge point, not a esb one as then used the esb one later on?

Black_Knight

graememk wrote: »

I think he found a free charge point, not a esb one as then used the esb one later on?

then went to westport found esb charger ,one car there so used second one while went for a meal across the road just under an hour 80% charge no cost

Doesn't read that way to me.

baz69

Signed up to easygo put 10euro on just to try ,deffo Esb one in Westport and one in castlebar was ecars in the co council office car park again when I unplugged and checked it said my balance was still 10euro ,unless iam doing something wrong and I've misread something somewhere .

baz69

So just checked on my phone app under past sessions ,the westport one is esb ecars and says 4.0kwh free of charge ,doesn't list the one in castlebar don't know why had no charge going in and 54% when leaving but no re ord on phone app.

Black_Knight

Cool. I wondered did easy go work with the esb site chargers. It doesn't with the fast chargers, but didn't get a chance to check the slow ones. I'm sure they'll start pricing for those soon enough though.

Gumbo

So the trick here is to start the ESB eCar 22kw chargers with your easygo card?

Pappajohn

Although I have not tried it myself, that would appear to be the case.

I have noticed that in EasyGo app the map will display many Esb 22kW charge points that do not have the "Charge" option even when not occupied. They appear on the map as a black circle without a number. Perhaps the fob can still commence a charge on those.

I could be wrong but it seems that the same ones are not consistantly unavailable. I also get the impression too that the "Charge" option can becomes active when an Ecars user plugs in to one side.


For the pittance i'd save in my phev i'm not going to get too excited about it, but for those with big battery EV's, especially with 11/22kW chargers on board and have the time to kill, the savings at least for now could be real.