ESB eCars

But you still paid the 75c per kwh I bet, I know I would. Why? Because probably 90+% of all your charging is done at home for less than 15c per kwh

You're right, I did. But I stopped the charge as soon as I had sufficient + small buffer for the return journey. If it was even the high ecars rate I'd have filled to 80%

Paying such a high fee did sting a bit but as you say I do most at home so I'm willing to take a bit of pain on the road.

Grrr

Also I believe there are other BMW electric models out there that can have 22kW AC — looks like it's standard on some trims of the i5 Touring, an option on the iX1, etc

So it definitely looks like the BMW Group is keen to bring it back, for whatever reason.

The Renault Megane eTech also has 22kw AC if you configure it

Taycan also had 22kW AC available as an option but knowing Porsche it probably cost €€€.

22kW charging is a c.€1k option on the iX. I think BMW call it charging professional or something. Obviously that's an outrageous amount but I've found it very useful when attending various events- concerts, matches, funerals etc that are some distance away.

My only issue with AC chargers is that I've got a 7kw charger, and there's very few places where I will stop long enough on route for it to make it worthwhile to use vs using a DC charger. On one of my few long trips, I had to fall back on a AC charger and all it really got me for an hour was a tiny extra safety margin. I still had to hit a DC charger before travelling any distance.

As destination chargers they make sense. For me at least.

I will top up on my home charger for an hour now and then. But that's a destination.

I had my first real experience of living off 3 phase charging in France recently, the campsite had a bank of 6x 27kW AC chargers

Why 27kW? I've no idea, maybe all their nuclear reactors were running hot or something

Anyway, the ID.4 only charges at 11kW. It was a bit strange plugging in at the morning and the car is done sometime around lunchtime, I'm used to charging overnight

I definitely preferred fetching the car from the charger and bringing back to the cabin overnight rather than leaving it at the charger and having to trek to it in the morning.

22kW charging would have been nice option, but I'm not sure it would have been any more convenient under the circumstances. It would probably reduce my time on the charger to 1-2 hours, which would be better for turnaround times if they're ever busy.

But if I'm in the pool for a few hours then the car might be sitting idling for a while, which isn't ideal. So then it would be better to have more chargers but less powerful ones

There's also a fair argument that a bank of 50kW DC chargers with two plugs and loads sharing would be better since basically every car nowadays can use them fully

However I'm pretty sure even the cheapest DC charger is still more expensive than a dual port 22kW AC charger

The thing I'm really excited to have 22kW AC for is those short trips to do the shopping or whatever. I have no access to a home charger, and likely never will in my current place, so I rely fully on the public network.

With 22kW I can hop into Dundrum SC for an hour in the morning — casually do some shopping and grab a coffee — and I'll probably have picked up 100km worth of range on the ESB chargers there.

I currently have the iX40 with just 11kW AC and in the same time, I'd only be getting about 45km of charge (partly the Mini just being a more efficient car)

What response would you like? Nobody here ever has to wait for a charger. This thread only has people who think EV ownership is dreamy and has no issues ever. People who tell the truth, good and bad about EV ownership dont belong in this thread, so im out.

I had , of all things, a feckin outlander phev queuing beside me (in my 24kwh leaf). They waited 20 minuites while I was charging and then charged. At current prices it's cheaper for them to drive on petrol than to fast charge. Not to mention the 20 minute wait and 30+ minute charge time.

There are queues out there, especially at SPOF chademo sites. CCS drivers, especially new ones, are spoiled. They can charge at multi unit sites, they have 200-300km range so need to charge less anyway. I suspect that (and the straight out in delusion land EVangelists, of which I am not one) are the reason for the perception most folks have that they never queue.

why were you hogging the charger for 20 min, that outlander is far more important ! ( i have an somewhat converted outlander with a 30kwh battery , and charge all the time and people give me looks, dont care eff them.)

its a really silly conversation in this thread, form "theres no ques" to "you blind fools, canty you see teh que!!!!!!1111" to "im more importatn in my full ev then you in your phev".

Who said anything about operating at a loss? Certainly recent history has shown there to be very little chance of that happening

If people could pay the same rate at home as on the road it would open EV adoption to those in apartments, renters and anybody else without charge points

I'm definitely in the camp of being a spoiled new CCS driver with lots of range :) On a more serious note though, that does allow me (and other spoiled CCS drivers like me) to plan my charging stops at quieter locations. I'm in an EV 6 months, done 16,000km in that time and never had to queue once - that has been reality for me, but then again I don't live in Dublin and need to use some of the busier locations.

I've chatted to a couple of Leaf owners over the last few months about their cross country trips over the years and heard their horror stories around SPOF sites. I get it that the experience of CHAdeMO users is likely to be completely different to newer CCS drivers.