ESB eCars

Quite the sh1tshow this weekend

The rapid in Ballinalack was not working, connects to the car but was not asking for rfid validation so wouldn't charge, the new 50kw unit still wont start a charging session

New 50kw unit in Sligo town is the same as Ballinalack, an Ionic (not the new one) had the same issue just before I arrived, I was beginning to think it might be my car that had the problem with the new units

That is 3 different new 50kw units I have tried with no success

Tried to use an easygo 22kw unit in Lidl beside the Sligo 50kw and that wouldn't initiate a charge either

Thankfully when I crawled to a Rapid in Carrick on Shannon it was working perfectly as it was on the first leg of the journey

South east and north west are the only two zones not covered by SuC now. Unfortunately for me, we travel to wexford a lot as we have family there. Outside of that trip it's getting to the point where you could use a tesla using the SuC network only. In fact, if you use Ionity Gorey you could probably use a Tesla without using ecars network already.

eCars....this is how it should be done....

A combination of bad design and poor maintainence IMO

If you look at Tesla SuCs or Kempower chargers as an example, the cables are short enough and supported high up so that they can't really fall on the ground, and are securley held into the charger. Whereas I've come across many ESB DC units where either the CCS or Chademo plug had fallen out (or wasn't put back) and ends up damaged

In a similar fashion, because there's generally 1 single charger at an ESB location, when it's broken it's more noticable. At a Tesla or Ionity hub, there's at least 1 other charger, so the chargers probably get less use overall, and if 1 breaks it's less of an impact because there's backups

I'd prefer that they put in 8 50kW chargers in a location over 4 150kW. What really kills long distance travelling is not knowing how long you're going to have to stop for. If you know it'll take you 45 minutes to add whatever charge you need at 50kW, it's better than it taking 30 minutes on the higher power charger, but you might have to wait 30 minutes before you can add charge. If it's more predictable that you aren't going to have to wait to start charging, people will be less inclined to drag every last drop that they can get before hitting the overstay charge.

Having more chargers allow you to tailor the overstay charge more effectively as well. Tesla do it, by having different idle fees depending on how occupied the location is.

My opinion is that ESB should be ensuring that there are enough chargers on the main routes that you are unlikely to have to wait, but that they should concentrate on providing rapid chargers (50kW) not high power chargers. By not providing high power chargers, there will be a market for commercial operators to provide higher power charging, which will encourage investment in the market. As it currently stands, the financial proposition for operators to provide high power charging is compromised by ESB pricing. If ESB roll out more HPC, then any location developed by a commercial operator may find that it has a reduced usage unless they drop the price significantly.

Here's eCars Facebook post on the new unit at J14 in case anyone missed it.

ESB ecars November 17 at 8:55 AM · 

📣 We have a new High Power Charger available for EV drivers in Kildare. You can find it at:

📌 Mayfield Service Station, M7 Junction 14, Monasterevin, Kildare

⚡ There are now eight high power charging spaces available at this location. Please note that this is a new type of high power charger on our network. This charger is a double sided 200kW unit, with 4 connectors – one CCS and one CHAdeMO on each side. It will share the available 200kW across 2 connectors but is subject as always to the limitations of the connected EV and the limitations of CHAdeMO.

⚡ As part of our multi charger site rollout, our 8 bay high power and 4 bay high power hub sites will consist of CCS and DC CHAdeMO connectors only. Prioritising DC charging at these sites is to facilitate faster charging and less wait times for EV drivers at these high traffic locations. It is also in line with our strategy to concentrate on CCS and CHAdeMO connector types to support the majority of EVs on the market. Our 3 bay high power (150kW) and fast (50KW) hubs will continue to have a 22kW AC socket available. 22kW AC charging also remains available at our standard chargers located at non hub sites throughout Ireland.

Whilst I agree in principle my experience is that the new 50kw units do not work reliably, as in my car charges fine on every other type of charger including the old triple heads but not on the new 50kw ones

So get them working first and then I would be happy to see more of them everywhere

50kW are so 2016. How many cars sold this year have 100kW+ charging capability? How many will have 200kW+ in 2024. As the energy density will increase so will the charging speed. Right now you can buy a 150kW+ capable car for 38k. A national network has to look into the future and set the tone. Leave the 50kW for the small businesses. The local barber, the local grocer should have it installed and make some money on the side.

The eCars network was started with an agreement between ESB, Renault-Nissan and the Government, who provided funding as part of a trial which aimed to see 10% of the cars on Irish roads being EVs (either BEV or PHEV) by 2020. There was no tendering or even public consultation prior to its establishment. The initial rollout wasn't planned to provide a complete network, and since exiting its "trial" period, still hasn't been properly planned.

eCars may be officially classed as "commercial," but as it is primarily owned by the state, it does not operate under the same economic imperative to return a profit to its shareholders. eCars investment costs essentially come as a reduced dividend to the exchequer, and can be seen as government support for the EV market. This investment should be used to make sure we don't have a single point of failure or excessive congestion in our public charging network, but in a cost efficient manner. I think that a large number of 50kW points is the most cost effective way to do this. Putting in HPCs will increase the cost, and result in a lower number of chargers for the investment value, which will result in more waiting.

I dislike tendering for hubs on the motorway network, as that will create a monopoly at each service station. This will ultimately lead to higher prices as the contracts can't specify a price as the cost of electricity can vary, and the CRU have said that they have no responsibility wrt EV charging prices. There should be the capability installed by ESB Networks in all motorway services for multiple providers to install chargers, and an appropriate rent charged by TII for the space used.

Blanch install seems complete. 4 connectors at any one time 3 parking spaces. The AC is going to create havoc there. I see a scenario when only two cars would be able to charge there and none at the HPC.