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.
And then finally you’ll all get to see & use a proper charging network… with actual hubs…..
even with the hassle of using an app, it’ll still be 1,000 times better than eCars….
Only a matter of time before we're all using those SCs.
Nah, I drive a Tesla and I have 16 fast chargers at Castlebellingham (8 on each side of the road) I can use…..
I made my recent observation of the Kona & ID.3 while plugged into a Supercharger with 7 empty stalls beside me!
so there’ll be no busses for me.
Take a Bus!
I am a realist.
I am driving an EV as a tax dodge.
I am from a 3 car household, low range EV, large diesel for long trips, and a fun petrol car for weekends and odd long trip. Recently I have had major issues using public chargers around Dublin, mainly as I was between houses renting with no home charger, no granny option.
If I was from a single EV household with a large family, I would find the whole process of public charging frustrating with no end in sight. It's a massive downside if you need to public charge even once a month. I repeatedly warn those wanting to buy an EV that the cars are great, public charging is a disaster. We need 3 times as many chargers right now.
Realistically the government are not making this as a priority for whatever reason. On the climate change group there is an EV owner, but I can't forsee the step change required.
I am a 3 car household for a reason, one EV. If the sums work we may become a one large battery EV and a second classic car household when it makes financial sense.
Having visited the UK, they have similar issues to ROI, NI is far worse than ROI, and there is some talk that many older sites may not be needed with long range EVs becoming the norm, particularly in ROI where distances between cities is much smaller than UK.
My " venting " on here may educate individual potential EV owners, mostly preaching to converted, but we do need a lobby organisation to at least shine a light on issues and attend meetings with steak holders. I would do this but my free time is zero. I do give feedback on surveys and report issues with chargers. I particularly try to update plugshare app with real world status of chargers based on my experience, others Facebook postings and ESB updates. I have gone out of my way to contact easygo on feedback and potential new sites. Whole easygo are far from perfect, they are potentially the only real competition to esb for the average EV owner. Far more government supports are needed for this whole network to work.
Thanks all for the help, I might be better charging earlier at Ionity City North to avoid the hassle.
Also hoping to pick up a charge at the Belfast Ikea Gridserve which isn't free so more likely to be available I hope.
Should give you some idea of what to expect. Midday for a few hours you've a 30->50% chance of arriving there to a free CCS plug.
Any time I've stopped at Casltebellingham the eCars chargers are usually busy!! last time I was there a Kona was using the CCS & an ID.3 using the AC plug, and in the 20-25 minutes or so I was there didn't see either coming back to their car...
Depending on where you are going up there there are some half decent destination charging options, but the ESB ones are free, so usually busy!!
CastleCourt Shopping Centre have 9 destination chargers (3 are Tesla only), and it's a decent city centre location in Belfast.
there is only 1 but if its available, use it.. once in the north you'll be lucky to get an available 50KW charging station giving the low charger counts and high occupancy due to them being FOC - there are 2 on route to belfast, 1 outside Dromore & 1 at Sprucefield but again, they are normally 3 cars deep for the single stations
Taking a road trip up north over the weekend and planning a charge at Castlebellingham Services (Northbound) any feedback on how busy and reliability of this charger?
skip to 6:17 for John Rogerson's Quay charging
The irony also is if they ever get their act together, after May the lights may be on,but nobody home, any legislation won't apply in this area because half the CPs are on private land,and in the past the owners have refused me use of Ecar CPs.
You paid €95 for 300kWh so you paid 31.6c/kWh on average so assuming that's mainly on the fast network you'd be paying 26.8c/kWh and would have paid about €80 for your 300kWh and €13.80 for your subscription, so there's a saving there but it's so small you'd want to be using the public chargers that much every month
My calcs are based on 100% fast public charging, if you were slow public charging you'd be saving more
No sign has ever appeared n S,Down, traffic wardens and police not interested. I have a letter from an MLA stating that nothing will be done until all 11 councils come together to decide on parking regs for EVs. That letter dated
18 th Dec 2015.
It's interesting that I can't make use of any of the CPs in our hospitals,card won't work. Staff Only.
There is legislation making it illegal for a marked EV charging spot to be incorrectly occupied, mind you I haven’t seen it posted here in a few years
Word soon gets round that there's no legislation,and as I've posted below no sign of any after 7 years.Ice folk don't care and sometimes wilfully block bays,because they can. New technology,same old people.
You have an appreciatively tolerant view.
As someone who lives outside of Dublin but commute/visits there regularly, at present I can not rely on access to charging inside the M50 readily and seeing what has transpired at the Quays drives me bonkers.
Someone giving ESB a next to useless site does not justify putting in 2 high speed chargers there when we have a complete lack of decent accessible high speed charging within the inner city of Dublin.
And as for IEVOA - my view is that we shouldnt need to be reliant upon them at all. If the Government wants to transform the national fleet to EV's away from fossil fuels, then surely prioritising a national co-ordinated policy approach to EV charging infrastructure is warranted. And if the market cant/wont deliver, then the Govt should step up to the mark.
signed, KBW
Probably off topic
But it looks like EcoXpress won't be hogging the chargers as they seem to have gone into liquidation.
They must not have been charging enough.
Similar and confusing situations up in N.I.
All eleven councils need to meet and decide on parking for EVs.
Been waiting 7 years!
Another issue is that in S.Down,around half CPs are on private land,where permission for public use may,and has been refused on occasion.
Historically ,the tender for CPs was changed,and given to a Munich company,all eggs in one basket,they went bust.
Some said mother boards were being taken from some, CPs,to keep others working.
To be fair to esb, they did not pick that site, someone else did, then gave it to them.
Elm327 my comment was not meant as a person attack on you. Just aimed at those keyboard warriors that want change but just vent online. I am sure ESB have their own problems with funding, sites, viability of sites, similarly county council's have issues funding rollouts versus other needs. However they all seem to need guidance as many schoolboy errors seem to keep being made such as wrong sites for rollouts, wrongly placed chargers, no basic signage. I am not sure Irish EV owners association can make much of an impact but giving raw feedback on existing sites would be good. Like sir John rogerson s quay, why no put in AC chargers, site DC chargers somewhere better possibly on council land or at least where the spaces are not crazy busy all day long with ICE looking to park. Even a nearby paid multi storey car park would be a better option with a better chance of charger not being blocked.
That first response is actually pretty funny.
"ESB does not have any control over the parking regulations or road markings for EV parking spaces."
....So they decided it was a good idea to put in not 1, but 2 high powered chargers.
Even with road markings it still won't make a blind bit of notice and ICE vehicles will still continue to park there rendering the chargers useless.
Sent them an email about this. Got 2 replies today.
Thank you for your e-mail.
ESB not have any control over the parking regulations or road markings for EV parking spaces.
Parking would be the responsibility of the Local Authority.
You would have to contact the Local Authority directly.
If you have any further enquiries, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Kind Regards
Shane McCarthy
Dear mf
I am emailing you to provide an update regarding the charge points at Sir John Rodgerson’s Quay.
We have engaged with Dublin City Council who are responsible for the ground markings and expect the markings will be in place in the next few weeks.
The ESB ecars Team
Passed by John Rogerson's Quay there earlier today. Both chargers inaccessible due parked cars. In fairness some of them may have been plug-in hybrids, but no one was hooked up to the units themselves. Really epitomises the ESB rollout in this country.
At least not until the 'Man in a van' picks them up cheap in the fire sale.
"Volunteer or stop moaning"
I did volunteer for years! There is an inertia to change there. Hopefully it's better for the new committee but I have no intention of going back. Happy to remain a paid member
Off topic (not me), volunteer or stop moaning..
Hey folks, we're a bit early but want to get ahead of AGM'22 planning. The AGM will likely happen in April as per usual. Lots more details to come, but we'll have our usual election process for committee members.
The current committee would love to have more diversity in the ranks. So, I'm putting a bit of a call to action for any folks here who would be interested in putting themselves forward to chat. Ping a reply here, DM on the Tweet machine (@ievoasso) or email me (pr@irishevowners.ie). Or if you see a filthy red Tesla M3 around, that's probably me!
A small 9x4 inch sign was placed into the bay area indicating EV charging point,but the 8 foot scaffolding pole it was attached to was cemented into the ground so that the drivers door hits it if you try to get out of the car!
Could be a sketch from The Simpsons!
Joined up thinking of council's is a few test lamp post chargers, one smart city site handed over to esb on John rogerson s quay, and only real big "public' site at pavilions shooping centre in swords all AC supplied by ESB.
I think council's do not have the budget or interest. Fingal has a lot of council EV vans and some EV cars, with non public chargers for them.
I don't think council's want or plan a lot of AC public chargers. Subsidising Dc chargers by council seems to be popular in UK and mainland Europe but they tend to be unreliable and lots of single chargers in non ideal locations.
It needs a step change and green party don't seem interested or committed. ESB are waiting for more free money and no one is pushing the car crash that is public charging. We are doomed, doomed I say
They should not be a problem in future.
We regret to inform you that the Board of EcoXpress Operations Limited met on January 5th, 2022 and decided to place the company into a creditor’s voluntary liquidation, as it can no longer pay its debts as they fall due and does not have a reasonable prospect of survival. We would like to thank all our clients, ecowarriors and staff for their support over the last 12 months. We are currently identifying any undelivered parcels that are within ecoXpress depots, and will use best efforts to get these returned over the coming days. We will ensure everyone is kept fully briefed and informed as we have more information over the coming days and weeks.
