Northern Ireland fees apply from April 2023 for eCars

zg3409

Thanks to ESB for meeting with us in Belfast this evening.

Pay to charge confirmed as being turned on in Northern Ireland next month (April 2023). ESB card holders will receive a letter next week with the details.

Same overstay rules as ROI

Up to now all esb ecars chargers were free to use with no overstay fees.

From NIEVOA

celtic_oz

I thought they had to be able to take credit cards at the charge point .. Or maybe they can now ?

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/all-new-rapid-chargepoints-should-offer-card-payment-by-2020

the perfect ten

Good news in my opinion. People who live near public chargers will now use their home chargers more frequently rather than driving to a nearby ESB charger.

eagerv

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120360413#Comment_120360413

True, should be much easier for a run to Belfast, or anywhere up North.

loopymum

Great news.

Anything that is free seems to get hogged all the time

ELM327

Great news

Will be possible to drive to North again now, yay.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120360387#Comment_120360387

Only for new chargers, existing ones seem to be exempt

AndyBoBandy

Brilliant news...

NI is now a slightly* more viable destination now for EV drivers.

*Its still ESB eCars so lets not get carried away

zg3409

Email just sent with pricing etc

zg3409

ESB introduces pay for use in Northern Ireland to support EV network expansion

 

• Pay for use to be introduced for the ESB public EV charging network in Northern Ireland from 26th April 2023 
• Drivers based in Northern Ireland who have previously not signed up can do so by clicking here.
• Existing drivers who registered with a UK address will have their accounts converted from euro to sterling on 20th April 2023  
• Charge seamlessly across the island of Ireland using an ESB charge point access card or the ecar connect mobile app, and pay via a single account  
• Conveniently manage and track your EV charging from your ESB account (Driver website Portal or ecar connect app) 
• ESB is undertaking necessary EV network upgrade work in Northern Ireland as part of a £10m investment programme 

 

21st March

 

Dear EV Driver, 

 

Together with every EV driver, ESB is powering Northern Ireland towards a cleaner, net zero future. To support more EVs on our roads, we’re investing in and making necessary upgrades to the ESB public charging network across Northern Ireland. As part of this process, we’re introducing pay for use from 26th April 2023.

 

Two price plans 

 

There will be two price plans available - Pay As You Go and Membership, the latter designed for drivers who typically use the network more than five times per month.

 

What are the prices (£)? 

 

 

PAYG  

Membership 

Fast Charging <22kW, £/kWh 

49p

46.2p

Rapid Charging >22 - 100kW, £/kWh

57.7p 

54.3p

High Power >= 150kW £/kWh  

67p

63.1p

Monthly Subscription

None 

£4.99

Charge Point Access Card

Free if you top up by £20 upon sign up

£9.20 for additional card

Initial card is Free

£9.20 for additional cards 

 

 

A nominal connection fee of 25p will also be applied for all charging transactions. For instance, if a customer charges up by £10 worth of electricity, the bill will come to £10.25. Local parking fees may also apply. Please refer to local signage at each charger for parking information.

  

To reduce queuing and to ensure chargers are more readily available for all users, an overstay fee of £8 will apply for charging sessions longer than 45 minutes when using rapid (including AC43 connectors) or high power chargers. The overstay fee will also apply for charging sessions longer than 10 hours on 22kW fast chargers and 22kW sockets on rapid chargers.

 

Fleet plans will be launched for Northern Ireland fleet customers in the coming months and contactless payment will be made available on all new rapid and high power chargers (>=150kW). A 1p/kWh supplement will apply to all contactless transactions when it is rolled out.

 

Further communication will be issued in advance of these plans. 

 

Update on network improvements 

ESB operates the largest EV charging network on the island of Ireland consisting of more than 1,350 charge points.  In 2021, ESB replaced 30 fast chargers (22kW) and five rapid chargers (50kW) in Northern Ireland and we are commencing the next phase of the upgrade programme.

 

This work is part of a £10 million investment, £3.27million of which is from the Levelling Up Fund and will: 

• Replace all existing fast (22kW) and rapid (50kW) EV chargers across Northern Ireland. The legacy infrastructure will be replaced with the fastest, most reliable and advanced technology available.  
• Double the existing number of rapid chargers and increase the speed of these chargers two-fold from 50kW to 100kW.  
• See the introduction of high power (200kW) charging through the delivery of five high power charging (200kW) hubs in strategic locations. These high-power charging hubs can charge multiple vehicles simultaneously and can provide an EV with 60 miles of range in as little as six minutes. 

 

Do drivers need to do anything? 

 

If you are an existing driver and have already signed up to use the public charging network with an address in the UK, your account will be updated allowing for all charging activities to be billed in sterling from 20th April. You do not need to do anything.

 

As the network has been free to use, there are a small number of charge point access cards in circulation which are not linked to a customer account with credit or debit card details. If you are currently using an ESB charge point access card not linked to an account, we recommend you sign up by visiting www.esb.ie/ecars/NI.  You can then link your current charge point access card to your new account. If you are unsure, please contact us on the details below and we will be happy to assist you.

 

If you are an existing customer registered in Ireland and plan to travel to Northern Ireland, your charging in Northern Ireland will be billed in euro. Please refer to the charge point map or the ecar connect app to get specific euro pricing for chargers in Northern Ireland.

If you are an existing customer registered in Northern Ireland and plan to travel to Ireland, your charging in Ireland will be billed in sterling. Please refer to the charge point map or the ecar connect app to get specific sterling pricing for chargers in Ireland.

 

Terms and Conditions have been updated for all customers from today 21st March and are available to review here and here. We hereby give 30 days’ notice of these changes to our terms and conditions.

 

Contact Us 

If you have any questions, we are here to help 24/7 via phone or you can contact us via email: 

E: ecars@esb.ie 

T: 0044 345 601 8303 / 00353 1 258 3799 

 

eltoastero

Nothing I hate more than a connection fee, I feel like there's an incentive there for the charger to "randomly" disconnect so you've to start again.

These prices should free the chargers up rightly (locals, who I know, camping at them because free was cheaper than their home rate).

rocketspocket

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120384421#Comment_120384421

There are no high speed chargers in the north so the max charge you can get in 1 charging session is 37.5KW - (50/60)*45 which will cost about 22GBP..

NIMAN

Looks like I'm the only person not happy to see this.

I am in and out of Ni frequently, and loved the fact that I could charge for free. And I was usually always able to find a charger free in Derry, didn't find hogging of them an issue.

zg3409

Signs being put up

celtic_oz

assume easygo will work with these ?

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120438120#Comment_120438120

For more than ecars charge natively

celtic_oz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120438287#Comment_120438287

So yes does work ? Its once in a blue moon so dont care

rocketspocket

@Black_Knight you any early stats on the usage pattern changes in the north now that payment has been introduced?

eltoastero

I'm going up North tonight, I fully expect that the 50kW charger in my home town will be available to use (which it rarely was when it cost nothing to use).

Makes for interesting charging choices now: €0.56c / kWh at the ESB unit (50kW), or €0.75c/kWh at the "180kW" applegreen (Castlebellingham) or take it handy and hit the IONITY (City North) on the way back at €0.71c/kWh

Black_Knight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120523238#Comment_120523238

No full day to compare against, but Sprucefield is regularly a high usage unit. Yesterday it was in use for almost 18 hours of the day, Monday was 17 hours. So far today it's been in use 7 hours.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120523884#Comment_120523884

Is the Maxol station in Kinnegar of any use? I used it around Christmas and while it's a bit off the beaten track, it was very handy having 6 changers to choose from

rocketspocket

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120524030#Comment_120524030

a lot of people deferring back to their home charger no doubt and no plugging in while shopping & anecdotally, i've been checking Sprucefield since 1.30pm today and looks to have been used by 3 customers and with periods of 'free' which is never the case around this time of day.. the Boucher road one seems to be getting more usage from what i've seen

rocketspocket

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120524051#Comment_120524051

that place was a nightmare as it took me about 10minutes to actually get the charge to start as the process was so convoluted. lot to be said to 'tap & charge' but to be fair, quicker next time now that i know how it all hangs together..

THE ALM

Hopefully we will see a lot of these 22kW upgraded as there is a severe lack of high powered charges around the north coast especially, a good few of these have been powered off for a while so would like to think it is in anticipation of being changed.

Longer term I will probably get a charger installed at the mothers property so will be looking out for cheap options.

Have noticed an increased use of the chargers in the last 6 months. I would have been fairly confident of rocking up at a charger and it being available, not anymore.

Black_Knight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120524064#Comment_120524064

I update my graphs with Monday usage (get to see a typical week rather than busy weekends, and spikes in bank holidays too), so it'll be Tuesday before https://ecars-stats.com/graphs.html is updated with the after affects.

rocketspocket

Someone has been connected to the 50KW charger at sprucefield for an hour & 10 minutes - this will mean they'll get a 8GBP overstay charge. Wonder how many people know this is also happening (the app doesn't seem to tell you about overstay fees)

veryangryman

I think anyone who welcomes these charges enjoys being rode with no lube financially. As a previous poster said, I also have seen no problems with hogging, even near the cities there. But still, why waste another opportunity to rip motorists off

eltoastero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120524328#Comment_120524328

Being asked to paying for a fuel...... hardly a rip off. I can't think of a time when petrol or diesel was just given away.

Plenty (more) posters on this thread have commented on chargers being hogged (I know people at home who routinely used the free charger at the shop rather than the charger at home, I fully expect when I see them tonight that their usage plans will have changed drastically).

veryangryman

It was subsidised as an incentive to buy the well-expensive electric car in the first place. The rates for charging a car on public network (currently at the same overall price as petrol) are indeed, a rip off. Yes you can charge at home but guess what the charger costs crazy money negativing your savings for quite sometime. Even with the (soon to be removed) grant, another ripoff.

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120526588#Comment_120526588

The problem is though when nice things are free, a small selection of users abuse that free thing and ruin it for everyone else…

As an EV driver I would barely consider ever going to NI, as I knew the charging situation was an utter scut show…. Now I’d feel a little bit more confident that I’d actually be able to find a charger that’s not blocked by a car that’s been plugged in all day….

eltoastero

Free charging and the grants were to help stimulate demand, there's now plenty of demand now. And the few who took the p1ss and charged public because it was free ruined for the rest of us (I'll happily pay for a reliable /available charging station)

liamog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120526588#Comment_120526588

You are more than welcome to set up your own public charging network, you've clearly identified that the incumbents are milking it so you should have an easy time attracting investment to VAM Charging Inc.

graememk

They still need to hurry up and roll out these "hubs" that they are talking about.

Welcome the paid charging, you couldn't rely on getting a charge at any of the fast chargers as they were so busy, be it because it was free, or just lack of chargers. The one time I did, I had an alert on it, it freed up, and when I got to it it was free, and then 2 other cars arrived for a charge.

There's a lot more electric cars in the north now too.

On the 22kw ones though if it was available and handy I'd charge even if I didn't really need it - because it was free. Now I'll not be charging unless I need it now.

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120524292#Comment_120524292

The ROI app pops up warnings around 40 minutes, should be the same in NI. If you start with an esb card the phone app will still pop.up warning. The rules, cost, parking rules should be displayed at every charger like every petrol station prices. Lots of charging places just jumped prices overnight with no announcement.

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120524328#Comment_120524328

How is being charged for a service a ripping people off. Electricity and the infrastructure to provide charging isn’t free

loopymum

Can the republic of ireland ecars card & app be used to activate & pay for NI chargers?

eltoastero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120545278#Comment_120545278

Yes (just the eCars branded ones, not the say Maxol ones)

veryangryman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120544896#Comment_120544896

The cost of them, the cost of them and the cost of them. Its excessive. Let me know if i need to repeat again.

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120545529#Comment_120545529

you do realise the wholesale price of electricity has shot up

Black_Knight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120523238#Comment_120523238

For a long weekend, that's pretty low. AC usage is the most obvious hit though. Looking like about 50000 less minutes of AC usage since Wednesday/Thursday.

rocketspocket

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120545791#Comment_120545791

Very interesting & stats directly showing the benefits of paying to charge & how it is freeing up the network.

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120545922#Comment_120545922

Just beware in ROI similar happened first few days but then those who topped up on last free charge while it was no fee, then needed to fill up again. Some may have home chargers but in ROI many did not and then scrambled to get a home charger and installers were overloaded. Similarly sales of new EVs are high and in NI there seems to be big incentives for fleet/company car EVs, with civil servants etc getting them. Even if all worked (many are broken months) there is not enough to handle peak demand, probably 5 times the amount needed today and 10 times the amount should be planning.

The faster project has about 20 sites with 50kW+ chargers planned for delivery hopefully before end of year 2023. These "coming soon" sites are listed on plugshare app so hopefully by year 2024 there should be an improvement with possibly ionity and other competitors having sites.

Still no real motorway charging network, and faster project seems to be single chargers.

rocketspocket

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120549853#Comment_120549853

Also worth a mention there is a new hub 'scheduled' for this summer at Dobbies Garden Centre Lisburn (off M1 & about 1 mile from Sprucefield) - noted to be '6 x DC Rapid Charging bays, each greater than 50kW'