The ESB has announced that it’s cutting its prices for public electric car charging by up to 13 per cent. The cut was originally expected to happen last autumn, but according to the CSO, it’s only now that wholesale electricity prices have fallen by 40 per cent compared to last year that Irish electric car drivers will feel the benefit.
How much of a price cut are we getting?
The cut, which sees 13 per cent taken off the most expensive price, 12 per cent off the medium price, and eight per cent off the lowest price, will see the cost of charging fall from 68.2c per kWh to 59c per kWh for fast-chargers of 150kW or above, from 64.7c per kWh to 57c per kWh on chargers with power between 50kW and 100kW, and 56.3c per kWh to 52c per kWh on chargers of 22kW and below.
What about monthly subscribers?
Those prices are for pay-as-you go customers. If you’ve signed up to ESB’s €4.99 monthly charging subscription, then the prices will now be 54c per kWh for the fastest chargers, 52c per kWh for medium-speed chargers between 50kW and 100kW, and 47c per kWh for 22kW chargers.
That all seems quite generous…
Yes, but there’s a sting in the tail. The ESB says that it’s changing the way it charges ‘overstay fees’ - the extra cost stuck on your bill if you stay longer on a charger than the ESB deems necessary. Previously, you paid a flat rate of €8 for any overstay. Now, though, you will pay 50c per minute once you spend more than 45 minutes on a fast charger (that’s 50kW and above, which seems a bit rich considering that 50kW barely counts as fast anymore) and after ten hours on a slow 22kW charger. However, the overstay fee - surely a tacit admission that there just aren’t enough chargers around - is capped at a maximum of €22.50. The ESB says that customers should make sure they allow push notifications from their ESB charging app so as to make sure they don’t incur any unnecessary overstay fees.
Commenting on the price reduction, John Byrne, Head of eMobility at ESB, said: “We are pleased to announce a reduction of prices across our extensive EV public charging network. We are lowering our prices following reductions in wholesale energy costs while continuing to upgrade and improve our charging infrastructure across the country. We keep our prices under constant review and are committed to providing value to our customers with competitive prices."