The ESB's electric cars division, e-Cars, has announced that it's raising the cost of public EV charging by 7c per kWh across all of its plans from the 30th of July.
How much extra is this going to cost me, then?
The price rise means that the cost of charging now climbs to 59c per kWh for slow 7-22kW AC charging, 64c per kWh for faster 50-150kW DC charging, and 66c per kWh for very fast DC charging above 150kW.
That's assuming that you're using the 'pay-as-you-go' rates, but there is a way to get slightly cheaper charging, and that's to subscribe to the ESB's monthly charging subscription service. That costs €4.79 per month, but it brings the charging prices back down to 54c per kWh for slow chargers, 59c per kWh for fast chargers, and 61c per kWh for very fast chargers.
What does that do to a charging session cost?
Well, if we take the 77kWh version of the Volkswagen ID.4 - Ireland's best-selling EV so far this year - as a baseline, then the cost of charging works out at €40 for a 10-100 per cent top up from a slow kerbside charger, €34 for a 10-80 per cent charge from a fast charger, and €37 for a 10-80 per cent charge from a very fast charger.
Does the 'overstay' fees change?
No, the hated overstay fees - as good an admission that there just aren't enough charging points as you'll find - remain the same, so that's an extra 50c per minute after 45 minutes of charging on fast chargers, or after ten hours charging on a kerbside slow charger, with an overstay fee cap of €22.50.
Why is the ESB raising the cost?
At a time when we're trying to encourage more and more people to switch to electric? Good question. According to the ESB: “This price increase is being implemented in response to sustained increases in operational costs and electricity network charges absorbed by ESB ecars in recent months. The new pricing supports continued investment in our EV charger network and the continued rollout of high power chargers, ensuring a robust and future-ready EV charging infrastructure. We remain committed to offering service and value to our customers. The new prices will remain competitive in the marketplace, particularly for customers using fast and high power chargers.”