ESB eCars

Black_Knight

Black_Knight wrote: »

Norton House Car Park, Cork Road, Skibbereen disappeared from the Ecars map today. Don't think it was marked for replacement, and it is/was one of the new Evolve Smart T AC units, so odd if they were putting in DC now, though badly needed down the neck of the woods (not a bad place either, just off the N71). We'll wait and see.

Bantry too?

Black_Knight

MAXFANTANA wrote: »

Bantry too?

Bantry says it's offline because works are blocking the unit.

Skib just reappeared as under repair.

markpb

It’s 10pm on a weeknight in a pandemic and there’s a queue for the 50kW charger at Stillorgan Luas. There’s a Leaf charging, a van of some kind and me. I only need a top-up so the 22kW will do me fine but still.... a queue! What’s the network going to be like when people really do get moving?

Busman Paddy Lasty

markpb wrote: »

It’s 10pm on a weeknight in a pandemic and there’s a queue for the 50kW charger at Stillorgan Luas. There’s a Leaf charging, a van of some kind and me. I only need a top-up so the 22kW will do me fine but still.... a queue! What’s the network going to be like when people really do get moving?

F*cked

innrain

markpb wrote: »

It’s 10pm on a weeknight in a pandemic and there’s a queue for the 50kW charger at Stillorgan Luas. There’s a Leaf charging, a van of some kind and me. I only need a top-up so the 22kW will do me fine but still.... a queue! What’s the network going to be like when people really do get moving?

I was there yesterday evening. A beamer was plugged in the AC43 taking less than 1kW and the DC was limited to 27kW




Complained to ecars and got an email today that

due to supply restrictions from the electrical grid in the area, if AC and DC are used simultaneously the max output power may be reduced. This is not an issue with the charge point itself, nor something we can rectify at this time.

Interesting that the info is not in the app as it is on others. Anyway no dynamic balancing.

kanuseeme

That's why I won't be getting an EV

markpb

innrain wrote: »

Complained to ecars and got an email today that
Interesting that the info is not in the app as it is on others. Anyway no dynamic balancing.

I love that there’s enough power in the area for a tram line and a rail maintenance depot but not enough for two EVs to charge simultaneously!

Kramer

innrain wrote: »

I was there yesterday evening. A beamer was plugged in the AC43 taking less than 1kW and the DC was limited to 27kW

Is there some benefit for the PHEV being plugged in there? Reduced parking fee or the charge space being in a better position in the carpark?
800 watts odd - maybe they just had the AC running so it was pulling something & the indicator wasn't showing as green?
Free parking or 24c/hr, while charging?

markpb wrote: »

I love that there’s enough power in the area for a tram line and a rail maintenance depot but not enough for two EVs to charge simultaneously!

Gas isn't it .
Can that unit do 45/50kW on DC alone? If it can, surely it could do more than 28DC simultaneously, with 1kW AC .

slave1

Complained to ecars and got an email today that
Quote:
due to supply restrictions from the electrical grid in the area, if AC and DC are used simultaneously the max output power may be reduced. This is not an issue with the charge point itself, nor something we can rectify at this time.

I’m calling BS on that, if the proper car with low SOC and high voltage battery was plugged in then that unit could supply 50kW so it has minimum 50kW supply.
With that photo it was only supplying 28kW so nothing to do with supply restrictions, 100% the charger or it’s software/config/setup.

Also, if you need proper speed you can phone eCars and get them to disconnect that dope on AC.

Silent Running

slave1 wrote: »

Complained to ecars and got an email today that
Quote:
due to supply restrictions from the electrical grid in the area, if AC and DC are used simultaneously the max output power may be reduced. This is not an issue with the charge point itself, nor something we can rectify at this time.

I’m calling BS on that, if the proper car with low SOC and high voltage battery was plugged in then that unit could supply 50kW so it has minimum 50kW supply.
With that photo it was only supplying 28kW so nothing to do with supply restrictions, 100% the charger or it’s software/config/setup.

Also, if you need proper speed you can phone eCars and get them to disconnect that dope on AC.

Can you? This must be new. In 2019 I was at a 22kW charge point where a PHEV was plugged in to the only working socket. The car was obviously full as the charge had finished. I called ecars and they said they wouldn't disconnect any car that was plugged in. I had to go off and try to find another charge point. I placed a curse on the PHEV driver and all of his houses before I left.

Black_Knight

Silent Running wrote: »

Can you? This must be new. In 2019 I was at a 22kW charge point where a PHEV was plugged in to the only working socket. The car was obviously full as the charge had finished. I called ecars and they said they wouldn't disconnect any car that was plugged in. I had to go off and try to find another charge point. I placed a curse on the PHEV driver and all of his houses before I left.

I think he means to impersonate the phev and said you can't unplug your cable.

Silent Running

Black_Knight wrote: »

I think he means to impersonate the phev and said you can't unplug your cable.

But that would be fibbing.

Black_Knight

Silent Running wrote: »

But that would be fibbing.

If they're fully charged/not charging, **** them.

Obviously that only really applies to the 22kW AC units, since if they stopped charging on the AC43kW plug you'd get the full 50kW from the DC plugs, and if they were charging on the AC43kW, then that's not their fault. Ignorant of them for sure, but that's a supply and demand issue with charging units.

kanuseeme

Supply and demand issue for sure, a couple hundred EV's added each month will not help things, the only person not complaining is the so called "dope".

I know I won't be a "dope" and be dependent on such a network, it might be a phev this time, but it could be like that picture (that keeps getting removed for some reason) with 4 cars waiting.

sh81722

kanuseeme wrote: »

Supply and demand issue for sure, a couple hundred EV's added each month will not help things, the only person not complaining is the so called "dope".

I know I won't be a "dope" and be dependent on such a network, it might be a phev this time, but it could be like that picture (that keeps getting removed for some reason) with 4 cars waiting.

It's all about the usage patterns. We drive a smallish battery EV 23k a year on average and the last time we used charging outside our drive was on 31st Dec. The last time I had personally to queue on a charger was in 2018 (once). When did you last have to fill your PHEV at the petrol station?

kanuseeme

.

innrain

Silent Running wrote: »

Can you? This must be new. In 2019 I was at a 22kW charge point where a PHEV was plugged in to the only working socket. The car was obviously full as the charge had finished. I called ecars and they said they wouldn't disconnect any car that was plugged in. I had to go off and try to find another charge point. I placed a curse on the PHEV driver and all of his houses before I left.

I wouldn't blame the user. Probably the car came without a cable or a "genuine" one costs 300 quid which is a lot of petrol. I saw id3s charging on the AC43 there. The thing is once the second user selects the AC43 while CCS is in use the power on DC drops. Thet don't even have to plug the AC cable. Beside this charger there are another 2 2x22kW AC so hard to believe there is no full 50kW input. The charger is fairly new replaced somewhere late 2019.
There is no parking benefit if your charge. In fact I saw an id4 clamped there last week.

kanuseeme

sh81722 wrote: »

It's all about the usage patterns. We drive a smallish battery EV 23k a year on average and the last time we used charging outside our drive was on 31st Dec. The last time I had personally to queue on a charger was in 2018 (once). When did you last have to fill your PHEV at the petrol station?

15 euro 6 weeks ago, still have 14.50 worth, before that it was December 15 euro again, which meant I could go where I like, charge if it suited me or was available with no worries or care on what or who or where or anything.

I grant you that you did not queue but I am sure you wasted plenty of time charging, or got to a charger before some one else, who will look at your car with hate filled eyes thinking, his car can get an extra 15 kWh in the same time frame.

I could have bought an EV, but why bother with such hassle, I can do most my daily mileage on battery, if I go further, I use petrol, if I am waiting I look for a charger.

I have seen posts here about guys doing 600-750 km and spending 1.5 to 2 hours charging, my phev would do the same for 75 euro in petrol without the time wasted and when you subtract the cost for charging, how much are you saving?

sh81722

kanuseeme wrote: »

15 euro 6 weeks ago, still have 14.50 worth, before that it was December 15 euro again, which meant I could go where I like, charge if it suited me or was available with no worries or care on what or who or where or anything.

I grant you that you did not queue but I am sure you wasted plenty of time charging, or got to a charger before some one else, who will look at your car with hate filled eyes thinking, his car can get an extra 15 kWh in the same time frame.

I could have bought an EV, but why bother with such hassle, I can do most my daily mileage on battery, if I go further, I use petrol, if I am waiting I look for a charger.

I have seen posts here about guys doing 600-750 km and spending 1.5 to 2 hours charging, my phev would do the same for 75 euro in petrol without the time wasted and when you subtract the cost for charging, how much are you saving?

As I said it's all about usage patterns and in 2021 I have spent 0 minutes and annoyed 0 other drivers when charging. I didn't say anything about saving money though. The cheapest way would have been to buy a second hand petrol car and DIY service it. This just happens to be the most convenient way of driving for us.

Edit: Personally I would hate to have to be feathering the throttle to stop my ICE starting on M50 and as we have one regular weekly trip that is 140 km normally completed in one day I would be driving the most with ICE running anyway if we had any of the currently available PHEVs. That would definitely cause hate filled eyes for myself.

irishgrover

There is absolutely a place for EVs and same for PHEVs. Its really all about personal habit, choice, route and service on that route.
I have a 530e and a esoul 64 (previously an ioniq 28) outside the door.
If doing a same day return to Dublin (from South Galway) I would take the EV everytime... (unless I was in an extreme hurry). In that journey I pass 17 fast CCS chargers, where 4 locations have 2 or more chargers)
If however I was going to Cork same day, I would historically take the PHEV because of the relatively ****e network, especailly between Limerick and Cork.

AndyBoBandy

Going to be great craic at all the 3 car 'hubs' from May 10th onwards.......

the_amazing_raisin

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Going to be great craic at all the 3 car 'hubs' from May 10th onwards.......

Not sure about that, hotels aren;t opening until June so will people be doing a lot of inter county travel for a day trip?

Next county over yes, but would you go from Dublin-Galway and back in the same day for the craic?

Although, I will need to range test the ID.4....

Kramer

irishgrover wrote: »

There is absolutely a place for EVs and same for PHEVs. Its really all about personal habit, choice, route and service on that route.

PHEVs are being attacked from all sides now - their days are numbered. I've seen more than a dozen articles over the last few weeks, from all over Europe, criticizing PHEVs & saying how they emit more, are a dodge for manufacturers, are often big heavy SUVs etc.
Sure, some of that is true, in some instances.

Some however, use PHEVs well & they serve a great purpose in offering a painless transition to BEVs, especially here, with our less than stellar charging network - Limerick to Cork as you say, Charleville, Mallow, not a single DC charger & nothing planned .

My PHEV, with a lowly 9.2kWh battery, has likely covered more electric only kilometres than many BEVs, with 70kWh+ batteries. It's arguable that 8 similar PHEVs would be a better use of battery supply, for now.

March:


169kWh - probably averaged 22kWh/100km on battery, mostly in urban areas, so zero local emissions, same as a BEV. Probably close to 800kms last month, fully electric, at less than 2c/km.

But obviously, PHEVs days are numbered too.

the_amazing_raisin

Battery supply isn't an issue anymore, look at the numbers of EVs being built by VW & PSA group, neither of which builds their own batteries

I agree PHEVs had a place back when battery supply was badly constrained, but the same isn't true nowadays.

Now the use of a PHEV is to make up for bad infrastructure, and I'd argue a REX is better for that (hopefully Mad_lad isn't watching) since it can fast charge and has better electric range

The problem with PHEVs was always with the drivers, I've 2 neighbours with PHEVs, neither of which are plugged in regularly. They complain about the amount they're spending on fuel and about how little range they get in electric mode. I tell them a PHEV only works if it starts every drive at 100%, and they usually look embarassed and quitely plug the car in for a bit

There's plenty of good PHEV drivers, but there's also plenty who just bought the PHEV to dodge the motor tax on a pure ICE car

Black_Knight

the_amazing_raisin wrote: »

There's plenty of good PHEV drivers, but there's also plenty who just bought the PHEV to dodge the motor tax on a pure ICE car

Funny how spending more (phev over just a traditional hybrid) to save on tax translates to phev, but much harder to translate that to Bev where much more savings are.

Black_Knight

the_amazing_raisin wrote: »

Not sure about that, hotels aren;t opening until June so will people be doing a lot of inter county travel for a day trip?

Next county over yes, but would you go from Dublin-Galway and back in the same day for the craic?

Although, I will need to range test the ID.4....

Personally I'll be heading up the country to see my family. It's been a long 4 months. That being said I don't plan on using any public chargers on the drive up, unless the 150kW in Athlone if 1. It's available (warm battery so ideal timing) and 2. Everyone in the car is happy to pull over for 20 minutes. Purely doing it to save the embarrassment of using the 3 pin at my parents for 20+ hours. It'd be annoying to have to do it at the start of our return leg with a cold battery and thus lower charging speeds.

AndyBoBandy

Black_Knight wrote: »

Purely doing it to save the embarrassment of using the 3 pin at my parents for 20+ hours. It'd be annoying to have to do it at the start of our return leg with a cold battery and thus lower charging speeds.

No local AC options to utilise for a few hours upon arrival? At a Tesco perhaps?

That would be my plan if ever visiting family far away enough to need a charge to get home….. park up at the nearest AC unit and get a lift back to the in-laws, then a lift back to get the car a few hours later….

AndyBoBandy

the_amazing_raisin wrote: »

Not sure about that, hotels aren;t opening until June so will people be doing a lot of inter county travel for a day trip?

Yes, absolutely…… there are a lot of folk out there with new 211 EV’s who want to bring them for a proper stretch……

I’ll happily plod away all day long going somewhere for a day trip that’s outside my range limit…..

I did a close to 700km drive one day back in February (Dublin - Cork - Dublin), and felt fresh as a daily by the time we got home (thanks autopilot) and could have easily done another few hours driving if I needed to…

There’ll be a lot of folk that the drive itself will be the day trip……

Will be very interesting to see Black Knight’s usage stats from May 1st - 9th, and then again from May 10th-20th….. I’m guessing there’ll be an awful lot of people using DC chargers for the first time this May..

I know the 1st weekend after May 10th we’ll be heading up to Newry for a trip (I won’t need a charge on the way up or down, but might still stop at the supercharger on the way back to use up some of my free km’s), so will be interesting to see how busy the lonely 50kW eCars unit is while I’m plugged into 1 of 8 Superchargers..

the_amazing_raisin

Black_Knight wrote: »

Funny how spending more (phev over just a traditional hybrid) to save on tax translates to phev, but much harder to translate that to Bev where much more savings are.

I think some people will go to any lengths to avoid paying tax, even if it costs them more in the long run

the_amazing_raisin

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Yes, absolutely…… there are a lot of folk out there with new 211 EV’s who want to bring them for a proper stretch……

I’ll happily plod away all day long going somewhere for a day trip that’s outside my range limit…..

I did a close to 700km drive one day back in February (Dublin - Cork - Dublin), and felt fresh as a daily by the time we got home (thanks autopilot) and could have easily done another few hours driving if I needed to…

There’ll be a lot of folk that the drive itself will be the day trip……

Will be very interesting to see Black Knight’s usage stats from May 1st - 9th, and then again from May 10th-20th….. I’m guessing there’ll be an awful lot of people using DC chargers for the first time this May..

True, I'd happily go out for the drive by myself, I find it relaxing. Bit of a different experience when there's 2 kids shouting in the back seat however