ESB eCars - Thread 2

Just to let folks know, to celebrate World EV day, eCars is discounting all charges on their network by 25% on the 9th September.

Tried using the only 50kW ESB charger in Portrush yesterday - it failed three times in a row, lasting no more than a minute or two each time. Each time I got back into the car after starting the charge, I could hear a constant ticking noise from inside the cabin, which seemed to come from somewhere inside the dash on the passenger side. I gave up and went to a 22kW charger (also ESB) while we went for lunch, which provided enough juice for us to finish the day out and get home comfortably. I reported a fault with the 50kW charger to ESB while sat in the pub, but is there any reason it could have been an issue with the car's on-board charger? Presumably something like that would have prevented the 22kW charger from working - no problem trickle-charging at home either.

Right, I'll have to take it for another rapid charge at some stage in the next couple of weeks just to see does it happen again, before I start heading off on a series of longer trips over the next few months. I normally charge at home but have been able to use rapids before - that said, I've encountered this issue four times now in the 9 or 10 occasions I've used a rapid charger (twice now at ESB, twice at Weev) and have always assumed it was the charger rather than the car. The previous couple of rapid charges went smoothly, so hopefully I'm right about that.

Cheers, I'll have a look next time it's dry outside (which might not be for a couple of days!) - the car did start charging each time, but only up to 37kW as I'd only come a few miles from where it had been parked so there was no warmth in the battery at all. I'll also try to remember to make extra sure that I really have pushed the plug all the way home, in case I didn't do that properly and left it slightly too loose. The first charging attempt probably lasted more like 3 minutes - in fact, that's exactly right according to the email record - but the other two attempts definitely failed after only a minute.

Charged earlier today in blanch and it cut out all of a sudden. Was at 75% so just left it at that stage.

Never got the finished charging email and now my ecars account has been topped up 4 times in the space of a few minutes. kWh amount for the session showing correct and the funds have been added to my ecars account (now at nearly €90).

Don't use them a lot any more since we got the home charger but never had an issue before. They must be having technical problems. Am sure Amy will get the blame!

Electricity is down around Blanchardstown at the moment so could be something to do with that.

That ezo app send every fricken weather warning and I never set up notifications.

Two years of driving EVs and I experienced serious range anxeity for the first time, thanks to EBS chargers at CircleK on N2 outside Monahan.

I was heading to Buncrana and my usual Tesla Model 3 has no problem getting there without any bother about charging etc, but I was driving an e-Golf, and it definitly needs a charge half way up. Circle K Monahan is one of our usual stops over the year even before EVs and when they installed ESB chargers I was delighted for that option. Except when I actually needed it - it wouldn't let me charge - it wouldn't approve the credit card, I rang them and they tried to put it thru online and that also failed somehow (after spending 15-20 minutes on phone, reading out card details etc), and then I had to go looking for a charger further up the route and with patch signal and roaming issues with 48 sim, it was nightmare. Eventually I got to the InstaVolt charger outside McD in Strabane with just 15 kms range left.

And would you believe my luck (or perhaps stupidity), I went thru the exact same motions and wasted another 30 minutes with the same ESB charger on the way back. They tried everything, rebooting the charging station, multiple payment authorisations approved from my card using my bank app, and eventually they gave up saying there's nothing they can do to help me. Eventually I found a lovely EZO charger in the middle of nowhere outside the N2 hardware store near Broofield just south of Castleblaney.

I now totally appreciate how stressful it can be with limited range and patchy charging options!!

Yeah absolutely, it's an esb/ecars and general infrastructure issue. The car itself - eGolf - is really nice to drive and it charges in no time at all (even at the lowish 40-50kWh rate that it supports, small battery means it's quick to fill up).

Did they advise you to try setting up an free PAYG account on the app?

Might have been a quick solution and way less hassle than it sounds like you had. And if you topped up by €20 at the start they send you a free access card which should always work.

I've only used my card once to test it but IMO it's handy to have in the car/wallet and it's better to be looking at it rather than for it, even for irregular users.

On the parking thing the Monaghan CC app is run by Park Magic, which also run the same one for Donegal CC, dunno about others. Although those apps are separate, you can log in with your Park Magic account. They also do toll tags so you could get a pay as you go tag and use that credit via the motorway tolls. I have found getting the right toll both stressful enough when travelling on my own so the tag is great. And I can itemise them out afterwards to submit as expenses.

The Weev chargers in the ROI border counties were installed as part of the Faster Project, EU funded, and all single charger with 1xCCS, 1xchademo. I know they've expressed a desire to expand these sites with their own funding but that depends on the relationships with each council I'd guess.

I find the ABB units at junction 14 on the M7 to be totally ****. At least 4 goes at trying to start a tap and go session recently before giving up and downloading the app which worked.

Without realising it was coming, an RFID card arrived in the post a few days later. I must get around to registering it and see if it works as I don't want to have a repeat of the J14 experience.