Dublin to Cork in a Leaf

gabsdot40

We're planning to drive to from Dublin to Cork, (and back again) next weekend. This will be our longest trip so far. Does anyone have any advice on where to stop and charge and does anyone know if there are any hotels in Cork with onsite charge points?
Thanks for the help

Benny_Cake

gabsdot40 wrote: »

We're planning to drive to from Dublin to Cork, (and back again) next weekend. This will be our longest trip so far. Does anyone have any advice on where to stop and charge and does anyone know if there are any hotels in Cork with onsite charge points?
Thanks for the help

I di my first long distance trip from Naas to Cork a few weeks ago. Driving a Leaf, there are charging stations at Naas, Junction 14, Portlaoise, Ballycolla, Urlingford, Cashel, Cahir and Fermoy. So lots of places to choose from, I'd probably make stops at J14, Ballycolla and Cahir, but you might be able to do it in 2, just leave some breathing room in case you need to move on to the next charger for any reason. If you don't have a Leaf, check the ESB map for triple standard chargers, it's quite doable as well.

Regarding hotel, check for the yellow pins on the ESB map: https://www.esb.ie/electric-cars/electric-car-charging/electric-car-charge-point-map.jsp

Bear in mind that the Q-Park car parks in Cork have installed standard 3Kw chargers and offer a few hours of free parking for EV drivers! Enjoy the trip.

peposhi

gabsdot40 wrote: »

We're planning to drive to from Dublin to Cork, (and back again) next weekend. This will be our longest trip so far. Does anyone have any advice on where to stop and charge and does anyone know if there are any hotels in Cork with onsite charge points?
Thanks for the help

If I were you, I'd do it with three fast charges. No need to stress out. The road between Cashel and Cork is quite up-hill so you will use plenty of leccy, but you will regain it on the way down. I also prefered to drive on the old road and kept off the motorway where possible. Found it a lot more relaxing.
There are a good few charging options in Cork so this is not a worry.

Enjoy the trip

pwurple

Hotels in cork that I know of with charge stations are the former Jury's (now the River Lee hotel). Silver springs, and jury's inn. I've charged in the three of those recently, all working in the last month (river lee hotel recently repaired). Also castlemartyr hotel outside the city.

The on street chargers are policed well enough in Cork. The street chargers are usually free early in the morning (before 10am) and after 6pm in my experience. All the q park's also let you charge and park for free for 4 hours.

Let me know how it goes, I'm planning the opposite journey in a few weeks... Cork-Dublin return.

gabsdot40

Here is and update on our trip.
We left Blanchardstown with 10 bars and got to Midway (exit 17) in Portlaoise for the first charge. It was a bit nail biting though, we were very low on power. The charge point there has 2 parking spaces and we had to wait for someone to finish before we could plug in and then another Leaf came along before we were done too, so it was fairly busy. We got an 80% charge there.

Then we drove on to Cashel and charged up again to 80%.

The charge point in Fermoy was out of order according to the ESB website so we stopped again at Cahir. The charge point is a bit off the motorway here

Then we drove on to Cork. We were staying beside the train station. There is an on street fast charge point but an ICE was parked in it, (I left them a note) but there is another fast charger in the train station car park so we parked there. You're supposed to pay for parking but we didn't notice until we came back, but we got away with it.

Next day we left on a full charge and stopped twice Cahir and Midway and got back to Dublin with 4 bars.

We drove at 85km per hour the whole time so it took 5 hours each way, including the stops for charging.

It was a bit stressful at first, wondering is the charge point would actually be accessible and working but now that we've done a long trip we'll be more confident about trying another. In fact we're planning to go to Limerick next month.

secman

A friend of mine got a leaf last autumn
Thus far he done regular trips to county Down and Donegal . Last weekend he went to Killarney, he's doing much more driving since he switched to electric, spends more on coffee and buns than lecky!

That's why we take the diesel for the odd really long trip.

No excuse for the ESB having 1 DC charger per site, it's just ridiculous now, there are enough electrics at this stage and the ESB have the money to install many more chargers, they got enough of them for free and we need to keep up the pressure for them to start installing more chargers on the one site.

All it takes are 1, 2 or even 3 EV's in front to make you never want to do it in an EV again, so I don't bother and you'll have the one contrary git who insists he or she wants "all" of 100% charge and they'll have everyone wait up to an hour and the ESB discourage this kind of behaviour !

cros13

gabsdot40 wrote: »

Then we drove on to Cork. We were staying beside the train station. There is an on street fast charge point but an ICE was parked in it, (I left them a note) but there is another fast charger in the train station car park so we parked there. You're supposed to pay for parking but we didn't notice until we came back, but we got away with it.

The Irish Rail car parks are supposed to be free for charging EVs.

secman wrote: »

A friend of mine got a leaf last autumn
Thus far he done regular trips to county Down and Donegal . Last weekend he went to Killarney, he's doing much more driving since he switched to electric, spends more on coffee and buns than lecky!

Think I might have met him at the Roscrea rapid on the way back. White Leaf.

pwurple

gabsdot40 wrote: »

Next day we left on a full charge and stopped twice Cahir and Midway and got back to Dublin with 4 bars.

Nice one, thanks for the info. I was planning Cork -> Cashel -> Junction 17 M7.

secman

cros13 wrote: »

The Irish Rail car parks are supposed to be free for charging EVs.



Think I might have met him at the Roscrea rapid on the way back. White Leaf.

Yep a pearl white 142d .... jobbie..he would talk to anyone !

DrPhilG

I did Donegal to Cork and back a few weeks back. Overnight in Dublin on the way down, but did the full trip in one coming back.

Cork to Dublin is a doddle compared to Dublin to Donegal. Twice as many fast chargers between Dub and Cork.

KCross

The following is what I just did on a Cork->Dublin->Cork trip in a 24kWh LEAF



Essentially it’s a 3 charge effort, so add an hour to the journey.

It is possible to do it in 2 stops but it depends on what part of Dublin you are going to.

I presume a 30kWh LEAF would make it in two 25min stops easy enough.

One important point, getting from Cashel to Midway, Portlaoise (and vice versa) you really need to have a bit more than 80% to reach it comfortably.

It was dry and about 14C and I used a full 80% for that leg of the journey. I drive at 120kmh on the motorway.

BoatMad

Deleted User wrote: »

That's why we take the diesel for the odd really long trip.

No excuse for the ESB having 1 DC charger per site, it's just ridiculous now, there are enough electrics at this stage and the ESB have the money to install many more chargers, they got enough of them for free and we need to keep up the pressure for them to start installing more chargers on the one site.

All it takes are 1, 2 or even 3 EV's in front to make you never want to do it in an EV again, so I don't bother and you'll have the one contrary git who insists he or she wants "all" of 100% charge and they'll have everyone wait up to an hour and the ESB discourage this kind of behaviour !

for my sins , I an now on the Committee of the IEVOA following the recent AGM

also I know several very senior people in ecars, and I would have to say

"ESB have the money to install many more chargers" is not the case.


There is money to upgrade and change out older FCPS, but as was clearly reported by the IEVOA, the FCP rollout is on hold pending policy decisions on charging and other issues.


the current FCP rollout , excluding the few already announced as to be yet installed is complete and Ten-T funding is all drawn down,

DrPhilG

BoatMad wrote: »

[for my sins , I an now on the Committee of the IEVOA following the recent AGM

Does that mean you'll be wearing an "I love Paddy" t-shirt and telling us all how wonderful the ESB are?

BoatMad

DrPhilG wrote: »

Does that mean you'll be wearing an "I love Paddy" t-shirt and telling us all how wonderful the ESB are?

NO, The real action is not ESB, its influencing Gov policy thats where the future of lobbying lies. ESB will do as they are told by their masters

ESB is not really central to the debate, they are somewhat important today , but they will most likely be irrelevant in the longer term

DrPhilG

BoatMad wrote: »

DrPhilG wrote: »

Does that mean you'll be wearing an "I love Paddy" t-shirt and telling us all how wonderful the ESB are?

NO, The real action is not ESB, its influencing Gov policy thats where the future of lobbying lies. ESB will do as they are told by their masters

ESB is not really central to the debate, they are somewhat important today , but they will most likely be irrelevant in the longer term

My point being that Paddy Carroll's main contribution to EVs in Ireland seems to be blowing smoke up the ass of ESB ecars on Facebook.

Actually, are you him? I hear he has many disguises...

BoatMad

DrPhilG wrote: »

My point being that Paddy Carroll's main contribution to EVs in Ireland seems to be blowing smoke up the ass of ESB ecars on Facebook.

Actually, are you him? I hear he has many disguises...

No, Im not him

The fact is that ultimately at this point in time the owners of EVs and the ESB ecars programme managers are actually allies ( or should be )

The success or failure of the whole EV " experiment " in Ireland, both from infrastructure development down to individual users will be driven by the states policy on the adoption and incentivisation of EVs by the state .Thats where we must influence thinking


The day to day minutia no doubts affects users, but ultimately its not the issue in my view

Rafal

BoatMad wrote: »

The success or failure of the whole EV " experiment " in Ireland, both from infrastructure development down to individual users will be driven by the states policy on the adoption and incentivisation of EVs by the state .Thats where we must influence thinking

It would be helpful if you could post here any suggestions as to how to put pressure on the government that have been discussed in your meetings. I am not a member of the group you are on the board of, as it requires a Facebook membership, which I will not join, but I would be happy to help in any way I can.

stesaurus

BoatMad wrote: »

for my sins , I an now on the Committee of the IEVOA following the recent AGM

also I know several very senior people in ecars, and I would have to say

"ESB have the money to install many more chargers" is not the case.


There is money to upgrade and change out older FCPS, but as was clearly reported by the IEVOA, the FCP rollout is on hold pending policy decisions on charging and other issues.


the current FCP rollout , excluding the few already announced as to be yet installed is complete and Ten-T funding is all drawn down,

Could we maybe strip this out into another thread specifically for committee information?
I wouldn't always check threads specifically for the Leaf so I and others might end up missing the likes of this. I'd like to have updates on what the committee are up to but from what i've heard about Paddy I won't be joining up as a paid member while he's the face of it.

BoatMad

I will post stuff here in a personal capacity , and Ill start threads when a topic might be of interest . The Facebook page IEVOA contains the official pronouncements

Note the chairman of the IEVOA, is Frank Barr

If you think an organisation needs changing , the best way is to join it and get involved. Hurling on the ditch isn't a great use of time
Also remember in time a strong co-ordinated voice representing EV users will be useful and necessary

BoatMad

BoatMad wrote: »

"ESB have the money to install many more chargers" is not the case.


There is money to upgrade and change out older FCPS, but as was clearly reported by the IEVOA, the FCP rollout is on hold pending policy decisions on charging and other issues.

the current FCP rollout , excluding the few already announced as to be yet installed is complete and Ten-T funding is all drawn down,

I think they have indeed got the money for many chargers but they're not going to spend it with little to no return on investment.

I doubt the Government will supply finding for some time yet if ever.

The reliance on the network will greatly reduce the longer the range of electric cars. However the usage of the chargers themselves will explode if thousands of electrics take to the road but personal usage will not be frequent.

300-340 kms is a lot of range from home chargers.

BoatMad

Deleted User wrote: »

I think they have indeed got the money for many chargers but they're not going to spend it with little to no return on investment.

I doubt the Government will supply finding for some time yet if ever.

The reliance on the network will greatly reduce the longer the range of electric cars. However the usage of the chargers themselves will explode if thousands of electrics take to the road but personal usage will not be frequent.

300-340 kms is a lot of range from home chargers.

All I can say , is what I know from my contacts , which are at a very senior level

The rollout of FCPs is currently finished , bar whatever is already committed to , no plans are in place for further additions until the policy in ration to the existing network is clarified (ESB mightn't even end up owning it )

There is a a refurbishment going on where very old FCPS like Gorey are being replaced ( any way ESB need to remove all the old non RFID FCPS anyway )

The Government will be subject to significant EU millions on our carbon commitment . so it will be keen to incentivise EVs, but it firstly needs a Gov and secondly needs pressure from Users. There was plans to create a EV " committee" with representatives from Users, but that has stalled with the current political impasse.


Commercialising the network, its a user base of less then 2000 cars is just nonsense economics, especially when many can revert to home charging . The ESB couldnt justify the nescafe in their canteen on the revenue

IN my personal view we need serious incentives to convince people to switch

a commitment to no charges for 5 years or 20,000 cars
access to bus lanes for a limited time period ( <5 years subject to annual review)
zero motor tax
free parking while charging and enforcement of anti ICEing laws

I think halving the already extortionate VAT would be a good start and completely eliminating VRT on electrics.

Motor tax is already cheap.

Free tolls would also have a big impact.

Also more than the Leaf/Zoe/i3 and E-Golf would greatly help.

BoatMad

Deleted User wrote: »

I think halving the already extortionate VAT would be a good start and completely eliminating VRT on electrics.

Motor tax is already cheap.

Free tolls would also have a big impact.

Also more than the Leaf/Zoe/i3 and E-Golf would greatly help.

Personally , reductions in the cost of purchase by way of subsidy , tend to benefit manufactures more then users. There is no indication that the irish car buying public are phased by a 20-23K car in itself

reductions in annual running costs by way of reductions in "fuel" costs, tax etc, directly benefit users and owners

The cheaper electrics are to buy the better that means more people can afford them.

The problem is lack of choice. Not everyone wants a Leaf because it's a Nissan and not everyone wants a Zoe because it's a Renault etc.

The E-Golf is far too expensive and the I3 also.

I'm not so sure any incentives will make people change from a 3 or 5 series for instance to a Nissan and not everyone likes the look of the I3 or it's stupid doors.

The SUV drivers, people carriers etc etc they have no choice.

Running costs are not on the top of a lot of drivers minds, especially now they consider Diesel "Cheap"

You need to make ICE cars far less attractive to buy and that means eliminating them from Cities and large towns especially older ones and offer greater financial assistance to drivers who give up old cars 10 years + and it should also be law that these cars are driven straight to the scrap yard, crushed and not to be sold on like in current scrappage schemes.

KCross

And what does this have to do with "Dublin to Cork in a LEAF"!

Rafal

BoatMad wrote: »

I will post stuff here in a personal capacity , and Ill start threads when a topic might be of interest . The Facebook page IEVOA contains the official pronouncements

Note the chairman of the IEVOA, is Frank Barr

If you think an organisation needs changing , the best way is to join it and get involved. Hurling on the ditch isn't a great use of time
Also remember in time a strong co-ordinated voice representing EV users will be useful and necessary

I second it: please start a thread and keep us posted so we can help. And thank you for passing the comments on and in that way somehow representing the views shared here.

If the organisation drops the requirement for me to join Facebook, I will also gladly join as a paid member.

BoatMad

Rafal wrote: »

I second it: please start a thread and keep us posted so we can help. And thank you for passing the comments on and in that way somehow representing the views shared here.

If the organisation drops the requirement for me to join Facebook, I will also gladly join as a paid member.

You don't have to join Facebook to join the IEVOA. but it uses that method to disseminate information. But you don't even need to login to Facebook to read it.

Anyway this is all in the wrong thread and that's my fault