EasyGo public chargers

talla

I'm not aware of any easy go chargers in Donegal, all mainly ESB chargers. While you can use easygo on the ESB chargers, I believe rate are more expensive.

The only DC chargers in Donegal are Ecars so better off just downloading the ecars app. AC chargers are a mixture of Ecars, chargepoint and tesla destination chargers.

zg3409

I am inclined to think it may be a mix up but rumours say new esb chargers are going in right next to them...

TitianGerm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120680159#Comment_120680159

Or someone joking and sticking signs on the chargers to piss people off?

kanuseeme

Whats charging rage?

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120680192#Comment_120680192

Or using it as a private reservation system.

Red Silurian

Tried to charge at an easygo DC station yesterday but it kept failing. Is there a minimum balance I need to get the charge going? Was at lidl if that helps

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120773429#Comment_120773429

I see my charging stop at positive 73c I think it is. Next time ring the helpline and they should be able to help. I have started a charge with a few euro credit in the past.

Touch to pay by credit card is an option on most of their DC chargers too. Present card to black box. I don't know if you plug in car first as I don't use that option. If paying by credit card the charging fee may be higher and they may "hold" something like 30 euro from you card for a few days to be sure after the charging session is ended they can bill you the final total.

Check the location on plugshare app too as they can often give trouble. Charleville cork for example says online and ok but many people having issues. Often public charger can take multiple attempts to get going and the whole plug car in first or last can vary by charger type.

Black_Knight

Used EasyGo over the weekend. Started charging but felt I wouldn't have enough credit to charge enough, so I topped up. The charging failed after 10 minutes, to which EasyGo support said "the charge limit had been reached" but what I believe happened is that the charge initiated with a certain balance, and ran until that initiation balance fell below a threshold and then stopped the session. The charging session didn't care that I had added more credit. Very poor user experience if that's the case.

Other than that the actual charging and power was spot on. They've added card payments to their units, so hopefully that's a smoother experience.

markpb

EasyGo has never been a good experience for me. Automatically stopping at 80% is irritating but I understand the reason for it. The app is flakey as hell, I’m never able to top-up or add a card because of some unexplained Braintree error and the helpdesk just said to use the website. My charge stopped a few days ago and I was unable to restart it remotely because it said the charge point was occupied - by me🤪

innrain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861744#Comment_120861744

The stopping at 80% can be overridden when you start the charging session. That on the Tritium devices which show their age.

Press number 3 before pressing start. That error in the app with the occupied again shows the age of the systems. Once the session has ended it doesn't remember who plugged into the car. You need to physically pot the connector back into the cradle to show available to use. Lately the app sings me out all the time. What's the point to having an app on the phone if it doesn't remember the user.

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861872#Comment_120861872

Having to log into app every time is a pain and no auto top up is a recipe for lots of customer support calls.

I get a pop up at 80% warning charging speed will slow and I always press the 100% button but dont usually charge above 90%.

Black_Knight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861744#Comment_120861744

Yeah. I had the same "occupied by me" issue on Sunday. Had to unplug and plug in again to start charging again.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120862925#Comment_120862925

No auto top up is stupid, and not recognising manual top ups if done mid charge is even stupider!

Not long left for 90% charge. I see your ioniq up for sale.

notahappycamper

I have a prepay account and would have thought there would be an auto top up function? My wallet emptied after 23 minutes and the session stopped. I topped up successfully then got an error message when trying to charge and a red charging light on my e-tron.

innrain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120954907#Comment_120954907

Yes this is how easygo works. You have to have in the account more than what are you going to spend before you start the charging session. Even topping up during the session does nothing and the charging will stop when the initial amount is spent.

Red Silurian

An easier function would be to charge your credit card on the fly surely. Start and finish charge using the app and charge the credit card. Saves the need of having accounts and auto topup etc

To my knowledge applegreen and plugsurfing accounts have this function

Red Silurian

I was on to easygo support regarding the charger in Dungarvan, below is the response I got

We apologize for any inconvenience caused. Regrettably, we cannot offer a timeframe for when the charger will become operational, as this matter is beyond our control. We must await the connection to be provided by ESB.

Kind Regards,

Priya.

zg3409

A bit if an eye test. 200 charge points per year, that's 4 a week by my maths.

More details in subscription only podcast https://www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-big-tech-show/the-big-tech-show-irelands-ev-charging-network-is-awful-but-things-are-finally-starting-to-look-up/a418339813.html

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121035257#Comment_121035257

Or €75k, per charger

say a life span of 10 years., €7500 per excluding an maintenance or financing costs.

10c profit per kWh. Needs to deliver 7500 KWh to break even at an average of 50kw

thats 1500 hours. Per year, so if it’s not doing 4 hours Per day it’s making a loss.

markpb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121036298#Comment_121036298

Some of the chargers that they installed recently appear to be very quiet. They’re probably hoping that usage will grow over time so it might be <500h/yr now but over 3,000h/yr towards the end of life.

September1

I think see them putting chargers in various locations but they are always empty. I hope they manage to be profitable.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121036809#Comment_121036809

They've made a lot of installs in tourist towns lately and some aren't active yet

innrain

75k for veefil RT50 is 3 time its worth. The ABB units they install in Lidls lately are about 25k https://chargingshop.de/en/product-category/dc-chargers/

These are of the shelf prices. I imagine a company installing 200 in a year can get them cheaper. A private company that is.

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121037793#Comment_121037793

Agreed. ESB said 10 years ago total cost was about 50k per site with 20k per charger. I imagine the charger itself is around 15k for basic 50kW unit but it's ground works, supply upgrades, all the messing and support that really costs.

I see their site in kinnegad is going to be mostly ESB. It's a shame as that easygo site was busy and presumably profitable. As others have said most easygo sites seem quiet while nearby esb sites seem busy enough.

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121037793#Comment_121037793

Add installation etc. the units only make up some of the costs

MrMusician18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121036298#Comment_121036298

Your calculations are a bit off. The wholesale price of electricity - presumably a big consumer like easygo will purchase from a business intermediary or even directly in the energy market, is about 10c/kwh at the moment average. assuming they go with a similar pricing model to ecars, then you are looking at about 40c/kwh of headroom cover their costs.

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121043761#Comment_121043761

If they were buying at wholesale they would have collapsed over the last year.

they are buying at commercial rates of a retailer. Which are far higher than 10c/kWh the wholesale rate is only 1 element you need to add TUOS and DUOS and other rates like standing charges

here’d are the only people buying and selling on the market : https://www.sem-o.com/documents/general-publications/List-of-Registered-Parties.pdf

innrain

I was yesterday in Howth and noticed that this charger which is labelled restricted on plugshare and was removed back in march is now an easygo device. It appears on the app 49c/kWh and 27c connection fee. Didn't get the chance to test it myself but there were cars changing so I don't think it is restricted anymore.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121037808#Comment_121037808

As others have said most easygo sites seem quiet while nearby esb sites seem busy enough.

Easygo aren't doing themselves any favours with their prices in fairness.

As for the build cost being a factor I don't buy that argument, there's plenty of petrol station forecourts out there that cost an arm and a leg to build but sell their fuel for 3c/L above wholesale or less

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121096007#Comment_121096007

Try take a photo of the signage. One spot had a pole saying local link car only, other spot said anyone I think. It may have moved to easygo but restrictions for uphill spot may still apply. Many local link cars are EVs.

WiseOldOwl

Guys, how do u initialise charging on the app? I don’t have the fob yet. Ended up just charging to debit card on charger.

How do I stop charging if I don’t want to wait for full charge? Will I lose the chsnge of my €20??