EV owners’ reprieve on standard chargers bills

THE cost of using a standard public charger for electric vehicles was to have been introduced recently but has been put off for the time being due to Covid-19 restrictions.

According to the ESB ecars, the company running the charging networks, they would already have expected to have introduced pay-foruse on AC chargers. Motorists have been paying for public fast-chargers since November.

The pandemic means the yet-to-be-disclosed cost of standard chargers has been ‘temporarily deferred’.

EV owners have been able to use standard network chargers (22kW AC) for free while extensive upgrading was being carried out.

Meantime, ESB revealed to ‘Motors’ that usage of the network has decreased by 66pc since the start of the emergency.

Essential network maintenance continues but replacement or installation upgrades have had to be temporarily postponed.

It is reckoned that 96pc of AC chargers and 99pc of fast-chargers are working at any given time.

Up to March there were 140 replacement chargers (22kW AC) fitted. The push will continue this year when Covid-19 guidelines allow.

There are two price plans for the fast chargers: Pay As You

Go (PAYG) or Membership. PAYG costs 33c for every kWh of charge while membership of €5-a-month reduces that to 29c.

It is reckoned that it costs an average of €4.30 to boost a vehicle battery’s range by 100km at a 50kW fast charger.

Because of the current restrictions, ecars is giving those on their membership plan currently paying a subscription an additional two months at the end of their contract period. That means they get the existing kWh rates for 14 months instead of 12. ESB said last year that payfor-use to the entire network would begin around now – as soon as availability levels had increased on the standard AC network.

“Under normal circumstances we would already have introduced pay-for-use on AC chargers. However, we’ve temporarily deferred pay-foruse on AC chargers and will engage with customers when it is being introduced.”

The ESB has upgraded a 22kW AC standard charger to a new type of fast charger at Circle K Service Station, Promenade Road, Dublin Port. There are now two fast chargers there.

These are a new type of charger on the network. They can provide up to 44kW on CHAdeMO and CCS connectors, and between 2-6kW on the AC connector, depending on car type.