Irish EV owners will soon have to pay for all public charging points

8 Jul 2020

ESB Ecars charging points like this will no longer be free from 10 August. Image: © mrnovel80/Stock.adobe.com

ESB Ecars has announced that from 10 August, standard public EV charging points in cities, towns and villages will no longer be free to use.

For 10 years electric vehicles (EVs) in Ireland have been able to avail of standard 22kW public charging points for free. But the new pricing plan revealed by operator ESB Ecars has shown this will end on 10 August.

These charging points dotted across cities, towns and villages in Ireland will have two price plans.

Those availing of the pay-as-you-go model will pay 26.8c per kWh. Meanwhile, those who pay a monthly subscription of €4.60 will receive a reduced charge of 23c per kWh.

So far, ESB Ecars said that it has achieved more than 11,000 sign-ups to the subscription service.

While charging was initially free on these points to encourage the uptake of EVs, ESB Ecars said that this new pricing structure will help fund the planned €20m investment in the national public charging network.

150 new charge points

Last November, it was announced that fast-charging points across the country would receive their own pricing structure. With a 50kW capacity, these charging points were installed along major roadways to recharge an EV faster than the more commonly available standard charging points. Since then, more than 150 additional standard charging points have been installed across the country.

“We all know that climate action is a priority for all of us and that electric vehicles play a key role in the move to clean, low-carbon transport,” said Niall Hogan, head of ESB Ecars.

“That’s why ESB is committing €20m to upgrading and expanding the public charging network for EVs and why we’ve introduced pricing on a phased basis to support that investment in clean transport.”

The introduction of pricing means that it will likely encourage EV owners to only use the charging points for top-ups rather than as part of a daily full charge.

ESB Ecars’ estimates for how much it will cost someone to use public charging points is based on the assumption that 85pc of an EV’s battery will be charged at home.

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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