According to a news story on RTE, the ESB has released full details of its intended pricing structure for owners of electric cars to use the public charging network. Coming into effect on November 18 this year, the rate can be as high as three times that of charging at home.
Electric charging costs
There will, according to RTE, be two different payment plans. EV owners can avail of a simple 'pay-as-you-go' option at a rate of 33 cent per kilowatt hour or pay a €5-a-month membership fee to get a discounted rate of 29 cent per kilowatt hour. For reference, to top up the latest 62kWh Nissan Leaf from 'empty' to fully charged would cost €20.46 on the 33c rate, or €17.98 with membership. Charging up at home, at best, costs 10 cent per kilowatt hour, meaning €6.20 for a full charge of the Leaf, for example. The ESB wants EV owners to charge up at home and at work wherever possible, freeing up demand on the public network for those that have no other option. Interestingly, the ESB is offering those that sign up to the membership scheme early (before the end of November) a free subscription for 12 months.
Only applies to high-speed charging
When charging comes into place in November, it will, to begin with, only apply to the fast public chargers, the 50kW units. The ESB will not ask for payment to use the older, slower chargers, though does have plans to upgrade them. As part of a €20 million investment in the public charging network announced in Budget 2020, the ESB has already confirmed that it will create at least 50 new high-power charging hubs around the country, capable of charging multiple vehicles at a rate of 150kW.
Read our detailed feature on Busting the electric car myths to further understand what all this lingo means.