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.
We already probably have one every 60km or so. It would be fine if there were many more chargers per site. Whats needed is that people can just see all of a sudden that they could do with a charge and pull in nice and leisurely at the next charge location and get on and off a high powered charger without a wait.
I 100% agree, the limited(generous) network, geographical distribution, unreliable and expensive rates associated with current Irish EV infrastructure is a sham. No amount of verbal gymnastics will change it. Only proper investment and forward thinking will change it
Well the directive is for a hub every 60km, so we aren't there yet. Can't remember the details but there's a minimum number of chargers and power.
I think it starts at 6 with at least 150kW, and moves up to 300kW in a few years
I agree the current state isn't where it should be, but things are improving steadily
Ive heard the same line since I first bought an EV in 2013. The problem is that as adoption increases the infrastructure isnt keeping up. Its always behind. It needs to be going ahead.
Where on earth did you have to wait 2 hours for a charge on the M1? As someone who drives that route once a week, that's baffling to me
If you don't drive a Tesla and are unwilling to use Ionity then the M1 is one of the few areas that have not seen a significant increase in the availability of chargers thanks to Applegreen's antics. I'd say they'll be a shoe in for funding under the new scheme but it's going to be a while before we see any improvement and it absolutely won't be delivered by eCars
Why would you be unwilling to use Ionity? Even if you were, for some odd reason, I simply don't see the need to wait anywhere along that route for 2 hours. For one thing, both those Applegreens have separate, largely unused AC chargers so if you're waiting that long, you might as well plug into them.
But there's also Circle K Westview with 4x300kW CCS, a bunch of fast chargers around Santry and the airport, Circle K Jonesborough (right at the border) with 2x180kW, and then a tonne of fast chargers once you get into the north.
There's also some eCars 50kW ones at Lissenhall and Dundalk.
Look I don't disagree that the M1 could do with one more large hub between north Drogheda and Dundalk, but I'm just fully puzzled by anyone having to wait 2 hours anywhere along here.
There's a subset of people who won't look past using the eCars app to charge their car. I expect some of the people who claim that charging hasn't improved substantially fall into that camp.
why Would you be unwilling to use IONITY and then complain about having to wait?
Applegreen charge a premium for fuel on the motorway services and plenty of punters are more than happy to pay for that convenience. Hence why Im happy to use Ionity if ESB or Tesla is not a ready option.
If you own a Leaf then the Ionity hub is about as much use as a chocolate hammer
Yeah there's the usual "don't buy a Leaf" argument, but it isn't like the Nissan sales staff were warning customers about the impending doom of the Chademo network
Sure Leafs are going to struggle, but the plight of the Chademo owner doesn't really prove anything generalised about "the terrible state of the charging infrastructure in Ireland" as stated by @SharkMX when they said they had to wait "over 2 hours for a charge on the M1 3 weeks ago"
Maybe. But given a car purchase is often the first or second most expensive purchase many people make, I'm amazed how many folk rely on car sales people.
Its not that hard to google "what do I need to know when buying an ev"
I'm always amazed at the general uselessness of salespeople, I honestly think they'd struggle to answer how many wheels a car has
I think a lot of people make the mistake of thinking car salespersons are car enthusiasts, whereas they're often just in it for the money like most jobs
Also Applegreen Dundalk less than 5mins off the M1 J16 with dual-CCS 180kw.
I think everyone agrees there's a need for more chargers/hubs on the M1 in the Republic, but waiting 2hrs for one seems bizarre.
I would have thought that anyone with an early Leaf would be planning it's replacement since about 2020, or that it would now be their second car for local runaround trips. Surely Leaf owners aren't regular users of the public charging network I would have thought
There's still plenty of Leaf 40 and 62kWh models in sale which are fine for longer journeys if there's a Chademo charger available
That's unfortunately a bit of a big if at times
Nissan really should have been forced to change the Leaf over to CCS years ago
I wonder if we'll ever get a response from @SharkMX…
the poster said “unwilling” to use it. Nothing about been CHADEMO. Although when people are still buying cars with CHADEMO is unknown
New prices, finally getting a decrease
Also new overstay fee, now 50c/min instead of a static fee. That should be a dramatic improvement
Nice. About time. What is the rough reduction? About 20% cheaper is it.
I think it's 10c across the board, although AC chargers still look very expensive
disappointing overcharge fee. Would have been nice to see €5+ 50c/min. You can know seat 1hr 2 minutes for the same price as what was 47 minutes
Out of curiosity. What are Apple green antics? The charging on the M1 puzzled me. Seems to be ok for people coming to Dublin.
But for people heading North away from Dublin you seem to have to leave the M1 the further north you go. Most people will have home charged so won't want to charge until close to the border.
In a ICE AG used to be my pitstop at castle Bellingham. Now there's little point as it's poorly served for CCS.
How long before Applegreen/CircleK follow suit? I won't be holding my breath - there's not enough eCars chargers around to give genuine direct competition.
Dear EV Driver,
Thank you for being a part of an exciting transition to a low carbon, greener future for all. We have been working hard to improve and expand the ESB EV public charging network and the service we provide.
We are writing to let you know that we are decreasing our charging prices across our public charge points in the Republic of Ireland, which will be effective from Friday, 21st June. We are pleased to announce that we are reducing our unit rates across membership and pay as you go while also introducing a contactless payment option on our high-power chargers.
We are lowering our prices following reductions in wholesale energy costs while continuing to upgrade and improve our charging infrastructure across the country. We keep our prices under constant review and are committed to providing value to our customers with competitive prices.
What are the new prices?
Membership Pay As You Go
Standard Chargers (<22kW)
€0.47 /kWh €0.52 /kWh
Fast Chargers (50kW-100kW)
€0.52 /kWh €0.57 /kWh
High Power Chargers (150kW-300kW)
€0.54 /kWh €0.59 /kWh
Monthly Subscription €4.79
There is no change to the membership subscription.
Contactless payments will be available on our high-power chargers from the end of this week. We are continuing to rollout this payment feature on our fast chargers over the coming months.
Changes to overstay fee
Thank you for your valuable feedback. Our recent customer survey found that 76% of respondents support an overstay fee to reduce queuing, so we have listened to your suggestions and have made some changes to the overstay fee to reflect what we have heard.
The existing one-off overstay fee of €8 has been replaced by a more progressive, incremental fee to further encourage drivers to free up charge points for other drivers when finished charging. The new overstay fee structure is 50c/min and kicks in after 45 minutes on fast and high-power chargers and after 10 hours on our standard chargers. This will also come into effect from Friday, 21st June.
To ensure you are notified of when overstay fees would apply, we encourage all drivers to turn on notifications on the ESB ecar connect app. This will mean you will receive push notifications as a reminder about the overstay fee when you start your charge..
The story going around, which seems to match the on ground experience was that Applegreen refused to allow eCars to deploy charging hubs on their sites as part of the upgrade programme. That's why we were left with a single eCars 50kW charger at important locations like the M1 service stations. They did similar to charging operators in the UK at WelcomeBreak sites.
The overstay fee is great, means I don't have to worry about moving after 45 minutes anymore! (if I'm charging the model 3 on a 50kW it takes about 55 minutes)
That new overstay fee is a huge improvement, however I think it's a bit ridiculous to add it in the same way on a slow charger. It seems daft to me that a person who plugs their car in at 9pm is expected to move it at 7am. If they wait till 8:30am to head to work they are looking at a €45 overstay fee.
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