ESB eCars

Kramer

unkel wrote:

OC20™

Only charge if you can get at least 20kWh!. . .

Caveat - & only when it's free of charge .

.

Kramer

liamog wrote: »

Tried to stop at Kill North on the way back from Kildare, apparently they still aren't up.

That's very disappointing as I'll be passing there next week & it's ideally placed for my trip :pac:.

unkel

Deleted User wrote: »

1.5 hrs at Tesco ? spending more time there for a free charge ?

COVID. 30 minutes queuing to get in, 10 minutes queuing for till. 40 minutes for the shop itself. Which is longer than my usual pre-COVID Lidl or Aldi shop, but that Tesco is huge.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

COVID. 30 minutes queuing to get in, 10 minutes queuing for till. 40 minutes for the shop itself. Which is longer than my usual pre-COVID Lidl or Aldi shop, but that Tesco is huge.

Can’t you order online ?

unkel

This is going wildly off topic, but no, I can't anymore, my Tesco login has been faulty for quite some time and nobody can fix it

Used to do a Tesco online shop, but that was mostly for bulky stuff. Not so much for fresh food. I need to pick perishables like meat myself so they will last long enough to do the dinners for the week.

McGiver

My first experience with the "hub" at Galway Plaza.

Arrived there and the following situation on the ground:

Tesla M3 charging on the UFCP, using CCS, parked really badly so no other car would fit in the other bay if they wanted to use the Chademo.

Outlander charging on the FCP, using Chademo, pretending he didn't see me.

Myself with a CCS car. Unable to charge. Brilliant.

Had to charge on the AC43 as I can take 11 kW and planned to stay for a while. Took in 6 kW in the end and pissed off.

When we were leaving, both Tesla and Outlander were gone and a group of German lads were done plugging in their e-208 into the FCP CCS. Was going to tell them to use the free UFCP CCS instead but they were too fast...

We should write to Ecars thar having two connectors on the UFCP is bollox and poor value for money. It should have all 4 possible, 2x CCS, 1x Chademo and 1x AC contingency.

graememk

Well that's one way to ensure you don't have to share a charger..

Still a dick move tho

Kramer

McGiver wrote: »

We should write to Ecars thar having two connectors on the UFCP is bollox and poor value for money. It should have all 4 possible, 2x CCS, 1x Chademo and 1x AC contingency.

It doesn't matter how many connectors there are though, there simply isn't access to the charger due to the farcical layout/design.
It's just 3 spaces, shared between the 2 chargers & a left, rear ported car will be out of luck, regardless of how many connectors there are on the charger.

To call these "hubs", is itself, a joke. Ionity, 4-6 chargers, all accessible or Tesla superchargers, these are hubs.

An ECars install, where it's physically impossible to charge a Model 3/Ioniq etc. if a Leaf & Outlander are charging, at 20-30kW, is not a "hub".

I haven't seen anything from ECars recently, that instills confidence they will ever get things right .

+ add to that EV drivers are still expected to stand out in the rain while they plug in and set the charge going. Not like petrol or Diesel owners experience.

Irishjg

I still can’t understand why the 150 rig at Kilcullen wasn’t added as a third charger with double CCS. Both original 50s should have been left there allowing for either CCS/Chademo. It would have allowed for four people to charge from between all CCS to two Chademo and two CCS simultaneously.

liamog

The 2nd 50kW at Kilcullen was a temporary addition whilst they waited for the 150kW to be available.
Really they should upgrade the sites to two of the 150kW units each with 2xCCS and 1xCHAdeMO. I can't see how they can get away with charging a higher fee for the electricity if your speed depends on whether someone else is plugged in alongside you.

liamog

liamog wrote: »

The 2nd 50kW at Kilcullen was a temporary addition whilst they waited for the 150kW to be available.
Really they should upgrade the sites to two of the 150kW units each with 2xCCS and 1xCHAdeMO. I can't see how they can get away with charging a higher fee for the electricity if your speed depends on whether someone else is plugged in alongside you.

We pay per Kwh so the ESB couldn't care less whether there's a leaf charging at 30 Kw on the 150 Kw and I'm stuck on a 50 Kw charger with a 150 Kw capable car.

Joke of a company they ESB.

Busman Paddy Lasty

[Deleted User] wrote: »

We pay per Kwh so the ESB couldn't care less whether there's a leaf charging at 30 Kw on the 150 Kw and I'm stuck on a 50 Kw charger with a 150 Kw capable car.

Joke of a company they ESB.

Leaf on the Kilcullen HPC just now and a Model 3 paying for juice on the 50kW.
CCS giving charge for a few seconds then gives fault, high-low power alarm.

Busman Paddy Lasty

Busman Paddy Lasty wrote: »

Leaf on the Kilcullen HPC just now and a Model 3 paying for juice on the 50kW.
CCS giving charge for a few seconds then gives fault, high-low power alarm.

It’s a joke, how about we all complain ?

Yes it would have been a good idea to leave the other 50 kw charger there too.

The 50 kw might have been in use and the 150 kw available at the time either still a joke the other 50 kw wasn’t left there.

I know we’re never happy but it’s sad to see these stupid decisions, these are not proper hubs having ChaDeMo on the 150 kw is a joke.

Busman Paddy Lasty

[Deleted User] wrote: »

It’s a joke, how about we all complain ?

Yes it would have been a good idea to leave the other 50 kw charger there too.

The 50 kw might have been in use and the 150 kw available at the time either still a joke the other 50 kw wasn’t left there.

I know we’re never happy but it’s sad to see these stupid decisions, these are not proper hubs having ChaDeMo on the 150 kw is a joke.

Wouldn't be too bad of the new HPC just worked! It should have 2 CCS however. Having a 75kW module for Nissan is outrageous. It should be swapped for a CCS connector unless Nissan subsidise it.

AndyBoBandy

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes it would have been a good idea to leave the other 50 kw charger there too.

Wait what???????? So they removed 2x 50kWh units and replaced them with 1 150kWh unit? I thought the 150 was just replacing 1 of the 50kWh units, not both of them!!

This is 1/3 of the way down the motorway between the 1st & 5th biggest cities in the country, and only 1 car can CCS charge at a time!!! Is there even a Type 2 AC in it for the Zoe's & non CCS Tesla's?

I seriously hope they can retrofit it in future to add a 2nd CCS and/or replace the Chademo when it finally dies..

liamog

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Wait what???????? So they removed 2x 50kWh units and replaced them with 1 150kWh unit? I thought the 150 was just replacing 1 of the 50kWh units, not both of them!!

Withdraw some of your outrage

There was 2 50kW triple head chargers on the site.
There is now 1 50kW triple head and 1 150kW CCS/CHAdeMO capable of charging one car at 150kW or two cars at 75kW each.

unkel

3 cars can charge now at the same time, compared to only 1 car before (last year) when there was just the EFACEC triple head (like everywhere else really on the handful of ESB charge sites in Ireland)

In fairness that is a significant improvement

Wish the ESB would stop pussyfooting with these tiny upgrades and the fiddling with the low priority local charge points and instead use their resources and our money for a few proper hubs. Those should be the priority, no, the only issue the ESB should be working on at the moment

AndyBoBandy

liamog wrote: »

Withdraw some of your outrage

There was 2 50kW triple head chargers on the site.
There is now 1 50kW triple head and 1 150kW CCS/CHAdeMO capable of charging one car at 150kW or two cars at 75kW each.

Outrage slightly withdrawn,

So now, 3 cars can DC charge at the same time, but one of them would have to be Chademo....

jusmeig

I was in Galway Plaza at the weekend and charged for free at the HPC (the new one)
eCars are calling this a "hub"?

The only chargers I could see are an old 50kw and the new HPC 150kw charger.
Are there others I am missing or is that it?
I drive a M3 and would not be there if the the Supercharger station was finished, but its a bit of a stretch calling that a hub unless there are more I missed.

liamog

jusmeig wrote: »

I was in Galway Plaza at the weekend and charged for free at the HPC (the new one)
eCars are calling this a "hub"?

In fairness to eCars, I've not seen them refer to either of the two locations with 150kW as hubs yet. Most of the people calling it a hub are only doing so to condemn it as not a hub.

This is the wording they used on Facebook

A 150kW charger will be installed alongside our current fast charger locations at Kilcullen, Kildare (M9) and Carrowkeel, Galway (M6). These high power chargers will also be used for sites at: Monasterevin, Co Kildare; Portlaoise, Co Laois (N7); Ballinalack, Co Westmeath (N4; Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim; Lahey, Co Donegal and Kells, Co Meath.

slave1

jusmeig wrote: »

I was in Galway Plaza at the weekend and charged for free at the HPC (the new one)
eCars are calling this a "hub"?

The only chargers I could see are an old 50kw and the new HPC 150kw charger.
Are there others I am missing or is that it?
I drive a M3 and would not be there if the the Supercharger station was finished, but its a bit of a stretch calling that a hub unless there are more I missed.

Tesla will be putting in a proper hub around 11kms away in Athenry so eCars can go see that if they like (or the many proper EV charging hubs throughout the world at this stage).
Hub = multiple charging stalls, dependable up time and preferable near somewhere for a coffee/toilet break
Oh and decent cable length too!!!!

MJohnston

unkel wrote: »

3 cars can charge now at the same time, compared to only 1 car before (last year) when there was just the EFACEC triple head (like everywhere else really on the handful of ESB charge sites in Ireland)

Four cars now, surely?

liamog

MJohnston wrote: »

Four cars now, surely?

Technically.

So it's now 2 CCS Chargers, 2 CHAdeMO Chargers and 1 AC43 charger. With a max of 4 cars, 2 DC, 1 Other DC, 1 AC. For any particular CCS or CHAdeMO driver it represents a net increase of 1 charger.

McGiver

I've talked to an acquaintance of mine who is a YouTuber and the most watched EV channel in Czechia, a Czech Bjørn essentially.

7000 EVs on the road (4 times less as a % of the car fleet than here)

20 HPCs in place already.
Major Motorways covered similarly as in Ireland.
Large petrol stations have chargers.
Major players are energy companies CEZ (the Czech "ESB"), EON (German "ESB") and MOL (Hungarian oil company running petrol stations), plus several private operators.
All charging is paid.
The state doesn't really care or build the infrastructure, it all happens naturally.

Had a look at one large petrol station on the main motorway between two largest cities:
6x Tesla Superchargers
1x HPC Chademo 175 kW + CCS 175 kW load balanced
3x DC triple head 50 kW Chademo + CCS + AC43
1x AC 2x22 kW

All of that is sheltered in the petrol station area which is sheltered plus the supercharger plus HPC are sheltered under a separate Isle attached right to the petrol station.

How does Ecars compare?

It's the typical Paddy way of doing things though isn't it ? we've seen it time and time again and it will never change.

AndyBoBandy

McGiver wrote: »

How does Ecars compare?

unkel

McGiver wrote: »

The state doesn't really care or build the infrastructure, it all happens naturally.

That's key here and that is where Ireland went wrong and is still going wrong. Let the likes of Tesla, Ionity, Fastned, Easygo build fast charging networks with (near) zero tax payers money and the EV owner shall pay whatever rate they charge us that is commercially interesting for them.

The private sector works effectively and efficiently. State companies like the ESB do not. Heavy subsidies and free charging distort the market and prevent healthy competition.

innrain

My opinion on that is that the free killed it.

Fun fact Dublin County does not have one single privately owned fast charger with public access (not dealearships), event though at least one quarter of all IE reg plates are D. There is this one on plugshare https://www.plugshare.com/location/243661 which does not look public at all.

And it is not the cost of the charger that prohibits it. A Tritium unit is about 30k I even could afford to pay for that. One charging costs me 10EUR if they get 10 in a day that's 100 over an year 30k. Return on investment is not scary even considering 5 times installation cost.
What about the semifast ones DC25 which cost about 10k then? Cheaper installation, less demanding on the power requirements.
But because there was/is this expectancy of free, the mindset was not built around this as a profit generator setup. Hopefully this will change.
I don't want to advertise but you may have seen the announcement of the "100no AC units and 10no 50kw DC units" at Charlestown SC. That will turn a leaf

Busman Paddy Lasty

Kilcullen high power CCS working. Kona got a charge today and checked in on PlugShare. Reboot by eCars could have sorted it.