Driving to Ireland from France with our EV

Kepallino_fr

Hello there!
My name is Sergio, resident in France and owner of a (great) Hyundai Ioniq electric 2019.

We (family of 4, 2 small kids) will be driving from France, docking with the ferry to Cork this summer end of July.
We will transfer directly to Tuam Co. Galway and stay there 1 week at mother in law's house. We will then move to connemara in a house in rural area not far away from Roundstone) and spend there another week or so.

I need to plan in advance, where will we stop for charging.
In particular:
-what are the charging facilities between Cork and Galway
-what are the charging facilities around rounds tone, if any, around Roundstone
-Can I plug the car at mother in law's house and if yes, what are the limits and what type of adapter to buy and where (I have my on board charger cable with shuko type of plug /non Irish standard )
If no, is it custom in Ireland to declare private charging boxes to help other fellows EV owners in case of need?

I use Chargemap and ABRP (a better route planner) and have chargemap and KiwhiPass (easytrip) memberships.

I am open to all questions in the case my request is not concrete enough.

Any help and clarification will be gold to me.

Thank you for your time and consideration

Sergio

ClosedAccountFuzzy

Just bear in mind that Irish domestic sockets can only supply 13 amps. (Up to about 2900W) Schuko / French sockets can supply 16amps (up to about 3600W).

If you are using any kind of adaptor, ensure that it is robust with a 13amp fuse in it.

Cheap tourist adaptors are totally unsuitable for this and may not comply with standards, or be a fire risk under sustained load.

Many sold online etc don't comply with any known EU or Irish/UK plug standard and while they might fit the socket and be ok with a laptop or a hairdryer for a few minutes, they may melt on a sustained high load and often also don't connect the earth terminals etc etc.

Wiring systems here rely on fuses in every plug for local protection and the house wiring is rated to serve multiple sockets as a bus or ring, so connecting a high load with a non-fused (illegal) adapter can overload the socket and cause melting or even a fire. The circuit breaker in the house may be rated at 20amps or even 32 amps.

If the device draws more than 13 amps the fuse in the plug will blow.

You'd need to confirm exactly what your charger draws. Maximum here is 2990W at 230V, but 2800W would be probably the upper limit based on 220V.

If your charger rating is like >2800W, you just cannot use it with an Irish domestic socket.

Very, very few devices sold on the market in Europe draw more than 2800W, but car chargers may be an exception to that.

Black_Knight

Chargers between Cork and Galway are pretty limited. Cork to Limerick (100km) has no fast chargers (50kW).
Limerick has 1 pretty accessible from the motorway.
Shannon is the next fast charger (50kW) and that too is pretty accessible from the motorway.
Ennis has another 50kW fast charger which is less accessible.
Galway City has a few fast chargers, but really only 2 are of use to you (on your route to Tuam). Carn mor cross and Galway retail Park. Galway retail Park is a big car park, so if you're unlucky someone could be AC charging and block your car from reaching the unit.
Tuam has a single 50kW DC unit.

I have driven Cork to Galway with 1 charge in Shannon, and Galway to Cork with 1 charge in Limerick.

All the above can be accessed via the ESB ecars app, or easygo app. I'm not sure if both can be used by residents from outside of Ireland. Prices are around 30c/kWh. And there is an overstay fee of €5, when DC charging, of 45 minutes.

Tuam to roundstone is about 100km, so leaving Tuam with 100% battery is ideal. There's no charging in roundstone and the nearest fast charger is in Clifden (20km away). Nearest slow charger is Clifden too.

Roundstone to Cork you should stop in Galway, ABS probably Shannon.

Check out plugshare app. It has all the charge points in Ireland.

I've been working on a site to show historical usage of ESB charging locations. It might help you plan your route so you can avoid regularly in use or regularly broken units. I'll be adding to it over the coming weeks

http://test.ecars-stats.com/

Kepallino_fr

Thanks a million for this detailed overview.
I will follow your indications, install plugs hare and visit the site you advice.

Go raibh mile maith agath!
Sergio

Kepallino_fr

@fuzzythinking, thank you, it is clear to me, homecharging will not be an option.

Cheers!
Sergio

Kepallino_fr

Kepallino_fr wrote: »

Hello there!
My name is Sergio, resident in France and owner of a (great) Hyundai Ioniq electric 2019.

We (family of 4, 2 small kids) will be driving from France, docking with the ferry to Cork this summer end of July.
We will transfer directly to Tuam Co. Galway and stay there 1 week at mother in law's house. We will then move to connemara in a house in rural area not far away from Roundstone) and spend there another week or so.

I need to plan in advance, where will we stop for charging.
In particular:
-what are the charging facilities between Cork and Galway
-what are the charging facilities around rounds tone, if any, around Roundstone
-Can I plug the car at mother in law's house and if yes, what are the limits and what type of adapter to buy and where (I have my on board charger cable with shuko type of plug /non Irish standard )
If no, is it custom in Ireland to declare private charging boxes to help other fellows EV owners in case of need?

I use Chargemap and ABRP (a better route planner) and have chargemap and KiwhiPass (easytrip) memberships.

I am open to all questions in the case my request is not concrete enough.

Any help and clarification will be gold to me.

Thank you for your time and consideration

Sergio

Most 3 pin EVSE that comes with EV are 10 amps so using home socket in your in-laws shouldn't be an issue once the adapter you use is rated for the power, I'm sure you should be able to get a good quality adapter before you come over, go to a proper electrical store where you live not a DIY store.

Public charging here is pretty poor and if you can find a 50 Kw DC charger there will only be 1 per location in the South, West, North West and most charging sites around the Island and there can be queues so if you have the option to take ICE car then do, there are a good few 22 Kw AC points but these are a lot busier with PHEV.

ClosedAccountFuzzy

Kepallino_fr wrote: »

@fuzzythinking, thank you, it is clear to me, homecharging will not be an option.

Cheers!
Sergio

It might be an option, just read the specs of your charger carefully i.e. the maximum wattage drawn. It will be printed on the device. Then make sure you've a proper cable for the Ireland / UK sockets (BS1363) sockets.

There are solid converter plugs available, just don't use a flimsy tourist adaptor.

The main thing is that plug that is going into the socket absolutely must be fused. Otherwise, you risk exceeding 13 amps and melting the socket.

Something like this :

https://www.amazon.fr/Electraline-70053-Adaptateur-voyage-Broches/dp/B077K5CV1R

It should have a full French or German type grounded socket on one side (same as a normal French wall socket) and a visible fuse carrier on the Irish side on the front.

Max 13 amps.

A 10 amp charger will work perfectly.

There some extremely badly made adaptors online and even in hardware shops that don't comply with standards and practically jury-rig the socket.

Both the Irish and French systems are extremely safe and capable, when used with the right accessories. You just need to ensure you don't have some fire hazard made-to-no-standard adaptor.

Ireland and France both use standard European 230V 50Hz power. The only technical difference is the plug/socket type.

To convert watts to amps, divide by the voltage.

Eg. 2000 Watts / 230 Volts = 8.69 Amps.

13 Amps x 230 Volts = 2990 Watts

To allow a margin of safety, your maximum is about 2800W. Very few appliances exceed that.

If you do exceed it, your adaptor fuse will simply blow and cut the power. (In the unlikely event it does blow, 13 amp plug fuses are easily available in any hardware shop, and probably most supermarkets etc etc, as every Irish plug contains one)

There's not very much can go wrong as long as you have a proper adaptor (as per above).

n97 mini

You could buy one of these and get it sent to your mother-in-law's house.

https://www.screwfix.ie/p/masterplug-10a-2-3kw-mode-2-type-1-socket-electric-vehicle-charging-cable-5m/872gv

_dof_

n97 mini wrote: »

You could buy one of these and get it sent to your mother-in-law's house.

https://www.screwfix.ie/p/masterplug-10a-2-3kw-mode-2-type-1-socket-electric-vehicle-charging-cable-5m/872gv

Definitely don't buy that one anyway, it's a type 1 plug which wouldn't work in an Ioniq, that's only for the older Nissan Leafs. If you were to buy one, it should be a type 2 plug, like this

Anyway, I'd say it's overkill to buy a new granny charger when a good quality adapter would allow the OP to user their own granny charger.

ClosedAccountFuzzy

If that charger draws <13amps let's say 2800W for sake of a safety margin, it will work no problem with a good quality adaptor.

Buying a second charger, which may be identical other than the Irish plug, would be total overkill.

Just select a quality FUSED adaptor like above and verify the label on the charger which will list the maximum wattage it draws. Every appliance sold in the EU has this information embossed into on the casing or on a label.

The bigger issue might be gaps in charger network between Cork and Limerick.

I'm sure someone can loan a portable EVSE aka Granny lead to a fellow EV driver for a while ? Surely someone between Cork and Galway can loan him their Granny lead ?

ClosedAccountFuzzy

Here's a solution that might be safer :

https://toughleads.co.uk/collections/adaptors/products/ev-adaptors-for-visitors-to-the-uk-from-european-scandinavia

Irish/UK to EU 'Schuko' socket adaptor, that is rated specifically for this purpose.



NB: You should be able to select 10A, 12A etc on your 'granny charger' or EV

If you select 16A it will blow the fuse.

the_amazing_raisin

Kepallino_fr wrote: »

Hello there!
My name is Sergio, resident in France and owner of a (great) Hyundai Ioniq electric 2019.

We (family of 4, 2 small kids) will be driving from France, docking with the ferry to Cork this summer end of July.
We will transfer directly to Tuam Co. Galway and stay there 1 week at mother in law's house. We will then move to connemara in a house in rural area not far away from Roundstone) and spend there another week or so.

I need to plan in advance, where will we stop for charging.
In particular:
-what are the charging facilities between Cork and Galway
-what are the charging facilities around rounds tone, if any, around Roundstone
-Can I plug the car at mother in law's house and if yes, what are the limits and what type of adapter to buy and where (I have my on board charger cable with shuko type of plug /non Irish standard )
If no, is it custom in Ireland to declare private charging boxes to help other fellows EV owners in case of need?

I use Chargemap and ABRP (a better route planner) and have chargemap and KiwhiPass (easytrip) memberships.

I am open to all questions in the case my request is not concrete enough.

Any help and clarification will be gold to me.

Thank you for your time and consideration

Sergio

The majority of chargers here are provided by ESB Ecars. I know that plugsurfing fobs work on then (with a premium) but if you're will to cough up €20 it could be worthwhile to get an ESB car just to avoid any potential issues

Since you're getting the ferry into Cork, I'm guessing that you'll be travelling with Brittany Ferries. I don't think they offer EV charging on board yet so you'll probably want to charge before departure or on arrival. I think there's a 50kW charger near Ringaskiddy if needed

You should be fine using a granny cable as others have mentioned as long as it can take 10A or less. As Mad lad mentioned, you could ask for a loaner here that'll definitely work with Irish sockets

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057599743

If you do use the granny cable, just try to plug in on a circuit that doesn't have a lot of stuff running off of it. Probably best to avoid the kitchen sockets of you can

Other than that, best of luck with the trip and don't hesitate to ask here if you need any help, I'm sure the friendly boardsies here won't leave you stranded

ClosedAccountFuzzy

That applies everywhere with granny cables. I think we are over doing the warnings here and making Irish electrical systems seem very strange, when they really aren’t.

There’s nothing particularly different about Irish vs French wiring, other than the fused 13amp plus vs non fused 16 amp plugs. Limit your charger draw to less than 13 amps (eg 10 or 12 amps) et c'est tout!

If anything, Irish household wiring is more likely to contain higher capacity 20amp radial and 32amp rings. So should have plenty of power availablity.

Irish properties (including apartments) also nearly always have pretty heafty 63 or 80 Amp single phase supplies (occasionally even 100Amps). I know charging on older installations and some apartment supplies on the continent can be challenging, if they're very low capacity.

I had an apartment in Spain, for example, with 20amps for the the entire installation!! You won't encounter that in Ireland.

Continental wiring also often limits radials to 16amps, older wiring even 10amps, at the fuse board, although 20amp is more common now in France in modern installations. Also, things like non-eathed older 10amp sockets are still encountered a quite lot in in France in older buildings, but do not exist here at all.

In general the residential wiring here is very standard, safe and uniform. Just plug in and it'll provide a 13 amp, polarised, earthed, child-proof & usually RCD protected connection.

Kitchens in Ireland may be supplied on multiple 20amp dedicated radials too, to cope with higher predicted loads from appliances, so they often have plenty of ability to provide power.

The worst you’ll do is trip a breaker (pop a fuse in older wiring) in the unlikely event that you do overload a circuit - exactly the same issues as you’ll encounter in France or anywhere else - normal sensible precautions apply: avoid plugging it into the same circuit as the tumble dryer, dishwasher etc, and don’t use extension cords or double-adapters (multiprises) etc etc

Use the fused (very important), heavy duty plug adaptor I posted previously, and you'll have no problems.

Probably the most important thing is don't forget Irish sockets often have an integrated switch. It's very easy to forget to turn them on & wake up to empty batteries!

1) Buy correct adapter.
2) Check you're < 13 Amps.
3) Bonne vacances!

I think we are completely over complicating a very simple thing.

n97 mini

_dof_ wrote: »

Definitely don't buy that one anyway, it's a type 1 plug which wouldn't work in an Ioniq, that's only for the older Nissan Leafs. If you were to buy one, it should be a type 2 plug, like this

Anyway, I'd say it's overkill to buy a new granny charger when a good quality adapter would allow the OP to user their own granny charger.

My bad. Had it bookmarked from when I had a Leaf!

bkehoe

Black_Knight wrote: »

All the above can be accessed via the ESB ecars app, or easygo app. I'm not sure if both can be used by residents from outside of Ireland.

I live in the UK and signed up to ESB on Saturday and had the RFID card delivered here today so no problem at all for non-residents to sign up.

loopymum

It is very easy to sign up on ecars.
I never use my card. Always use the app