The key elements include six high speed charging hubs on motorways capable of charging eight vehicles simultaneously; 16 high speed charging hubs capable of charging four vehicles simultaneously; additional high power chargers at 34 current 50 kW locations; upgrading over 50 22 kW chargers to 50 kW, and replacing up to 264 locations with 528 charge points at the pre-existing pilot grade of 22 kW to next generation high reliability models.
Black_Knight wrote: » Where are the 2 rapids between Limerick and Cork? And the 4 between Limerick and Galway. From what I see there's 0 between Limerick and Cork, and 2 between Limerick and Galway (Shannon and Ennis).
MJohnston wrote: » Made it a year ago so I'm not particularly sure. There's definitely 1 rapid on the N20 right on the edge of Cork. I think "between" is the wrong way to look at it — it's a measure of how many charge points you would encounter along or very near that journey. Limerick to Galway I can see Shannon, Ennis, and a Circle K near Galway Airport. Arguably you could add the rapids in Galway and Limerick themselves. I'm pretty sure I posted the rationale somewhere in this thread back when I created it.
fricatus wrote: » Speaking of intercity routes, I happened to use the DC fast charger in Clonmel recently, the only one between Limerick and Waterford. It couldn't possibly be placed in a worse location - in a car park that's down a rabbet warren of one-way streets - inconvenient to get to, and what's worse, deserted and mildly intimidating even at 6 p.m. on a sunny evening. I'd hate to see it in the dark (were any women involved in the choice of location? No, of course not). Particularly when you consider that Clonmel has a decent ring road, with plenty of petrol stations and even a Tesco along the route. Any of these would be a good location for a fast charger on the N24, so it makes it even more baffling that they went with the town-centre option.
liamog wrote: » The 22kW to DC upgrades are not intended as mid journey hubs, that's what a HPC is for, these are ideally placed as short stay destination chargers.
MJohnston wrote: Limerick to Galway I can see Shannon, Ennis, and a Circle K near Galway Airport. Arguably you could add the rapids in Galway and Limerick themselves.
Black_Knight wrote: Shannon and Limerick arent badly placed. Oranmore is handy when leaving Galway (return leg) going south. Galway city units are a bit off the main road.
eagerv wrote: » They have done the same in New Ross, put in a new triple head in a part of the town where I wouldn't like to leave (or stay with) my car at night. Very tight parking spaces. Also with the town by-passed doesn't make much sense. Had they gone on the quays near the Dunbrody ship it would at least be well lit and feel safer.
liamog wrote: » In one thread we've had a debate saying the future of town based charging is the installation of 50kW DC chargers in locations where there are coffee shops, supermarkets, and fast food. Meanwhile in the thread where an operator is actually doing that people complain it's not suitable. The 22kW to DC upgrades are not intended as mid journey hubs, that's what a HPC is for, these are ideally placed as short stay destination chargers.
Silent Running wrote: » The New Ross one is plain stupid! Look at the photos on Plugshare. The parking spaces are too short and are regularly iced. They'd have been better off putting the new 22kW unit from Tesco there to replace the dodgy AC unit, and put the new DC unit up at Tesco. But that would only have made sense.
McGiver wrote: » Galway Airport, Carnmore, is in the f*cking middle of nowhere, in the middle of a farmland, cows and dung right behind the charger, literally. It's a detour even from the M6 what to speak of the M18 which is your Limerick route. So no, this one doesn't count to the Galway-Limerick numbers... There's only two DC chargers there - Shannon and Ennis. Both are slight detours IMHO. If you knew Galway you'd know that the DC chargers in in Galway City (just 2!) are in the most bogged down roads in the city so you absolutely can't count them either on that Galway-Limerick route.
liamog wrote: » I think there is a very vocal minority who doesn't have a need for the 50kW local chargers, as such they would probable prefer no charger at all instead of the 50kW upgrades. We've covered many times why eCars are doing in place upgrades of a 2x22kW with a 50kW unit, a point which is repeatedly lost on some people, so I'll repeat them. Previous numbers shared in reports show that greater than 50% of the costs for a new charging location are site works and the local grid connection. If the charger is €30,000, and site works €50,000 (rough numbers from RCN study), they could of rolled out 19 new charging locations instead of the 50 new locations for the same money. 50 new DC charging locations represents a large geographic spread of the network, they may not be ideally placed, but it's a big improvement on 2017 where there were only around 65 CCS location in the whole country.
ELM327 wrote: » Banks of local 50kW chargers are needed for sure.
liamog wrote: » Which 31 towns would people prefer didn't get at least a small element of DC charging from the current funding scheme?
Kramer wrote: » Not even a single lowly 50kW DC, between the 2nd & 3rd largest cities.
Kramer wrote: » I think you're the one in the vocal minority here, an apologist for eCars' lack of ambition & delivery :P.
liamog wrote: » It's a 100km route, why is it needed other than to support some very outdated cars? Not at all Kramer, but I don't feel that 2 years of following every delivered charger with the same criticism is productive. There's a schedule of works that include roll out of 50 AC22 to 50kW DC upgrades, upgrade of 34 sites with an additional high power charger, and the roll out of 16 high speed hub locations. I would also prefer that eCars prioritised the hub rollouts, but can at least understand why these take a bit more planning that a simple equipment replacement that goes with the rollout of the Circontrol units.
Black_Knight wrote: » So which 31 towns would I prefer not get DC charging, none. They'd all benefit from it, in the right locations. Their service stations on main artery roadways would also benefit from DC charging, as that's where fast DC charging is most useful - plug in, grab a coffee, use the facilities, and be on your way. In summary, Ecars did the best they could by installing DC units in towns where DC was lacking, but their best isn't near what it should have been.
slave1 wrote: » Of course towns need DC charging, we are entering a phase of PV ownership where it starts to make sense for those who cannot charge at home to DC charge once a week or so, this would easily do all the school runs, shopping trips, popping here and there etc on an ID4. Yes, there are those that will buy the ID4 for this exact purpose.
liamog wrote: » Given the limitation of spending €1.5 million of the allocated funds, do you think 19 sites given a new DC charger in a location would of been a better use than 50 sites given an upgrade? That's really what we're talking about in terms of choice here.
liamog wrote: » As to locations, seems to me these chargers are being placed in locations that are a 5 min walk from town high streets. Not exactly an onerous trek.
fricatus wrote: » You're completely missing the point about these locations here. Try to put yourself in the shoes of a woman travelling alone after dark, or anyone travelling with an elderly relative or small children. There are all sorts of good reasons - to do with convenience and safety - why petrol pumps are in well-lit forecourts right next to the main road, with coffee, snacks and toilets located only footsteps away. DC chargers fulfil exactly the same role for EV drivers and therefore should be in the same sort of location.
liamog wrote: » No, you're missing the point about these locations. The upgrades to provide DC charging in towns is about serving the market of people who will take on board a decent charge whilst going about their business in a town. Why is there now a moral panic because the town centre car park is served by a 50kW DC charger instead of a 22kW AC charger? There's plenty of other investment under the programme in online services and ensuring their is adequate on-route charging infrastructure, providing 50kW in towns will help a lot of people. I'm lucky in that I have two 50kW DC chargers within 5km of the house. They are ideal for when you need a boost due to higher than expected daily usage, instead of having to drive 40km to nearest motorway service station, I can drive to Lucan, rapid charge for 30mins and grab a coffee.
kanuseeme wrote: » No chance, if they do, they would be crazy to depend solely on a charging network to save €1.50 every 100 km they would travel Cost to drive 100km EV compared to a 4.5l/100km diesel car. PAYG Standard*€3.97 Fast*€4.51 High Power*€5.48 **Member Standard*€3.40 Fast*€3.97 High Power*€4.88 ***Diesel Diesel€5.44 *Based on the driving range of a 40kWh Nissan LEAF (WLTP)**The Membership price does not include €4.60 monthly subscription ***AA Roadwatch January 2021 diesel price average
