Cost of Charging an Electric Car at Home
The cost of charging an electric car at home will typically cost significantly less than using public charging points. Prices are rising – and we have included ESB and Electric Ireland’s upcoming MAY price increases in our figures.
For example – someone with a day/night meter, charging a car at home overnight will pay about 15.4c per kwh
That would work out at about €2.28 for a 100km drive.
On a normal meter – unit rates are about 31c per kwh. Therefore a charge to do 100km would cost about €4.62.
Some of the public charging points will cost as much as €10.80 for the same charge.
Figures are correct as of April 2022 but include May price increases.
Charge times and price estimates based on Nissan Leaf 40Kwh
More information here on The Price of Home Charging Electric Cars in Ireland
ESB Public Car Charging Network Prices
Electric cars can be charged on ESB’s nationwide network of publicly accessible charge points. They are located in various places all over Ireland such as on-street, motorway service stations, shopping centres and car parks.
In May 2022 – ESB is raising prices for charging at its public charging points by as much as 53%.
There are currently three types of charging stations on the ESB ecars network:
- Standard AC (up to 22kW)
- Fast Chargers ( up to 50kW)
- High Power (upto 150Kwh)
Standard chargers (up to 22kwH) could take anything from an hour to 7 hours to charge a car to 80% , depending on the type of car and battery size.
For example – a 2016 Nissan LEAF can only take 3.6kW speeds from these points – which equates to around 30km of driving per hour charging. However, some cars such as the Tesla Model S and the Renault Zoe can take the full 22kW, enough to cover 150km in most cases.
These type of chargers are typically found on streets or in car parks.
Fast (or rapid) chargers (up to 50kwh) are generally found in motorway service stations. These charging points can charge a car up to 80% in approximately 30 minutes depending on car type and battery size.
These fast chargers already had fees since November 2019
High Power Charge Hubs with a power output up to 150kwh . These are located on motorways and national road sites. These hubs can charge between two and eight vehicles simultaneously and are capable of providing up to 100 km of electric driving range in as little as six minutes.
ESB have an optional subscription fee which will be increasing from €4.60 to €4.99. THis which allows you to get cheaper per-kWh rates as shown in the table below.
From May 5th 2022 – ESB is increasing the overstay fee to €8 after 45 minutes on fast & high power chargers. A new overstay fee of €8 on standard chargers will apply after 10 hours . See charging rates below.
EasyGo Car Charging Pricing
Easygo were Ireland’s first private EV Charging Company. Many of their charge points are located in shopping centre car parks.
As of August 2021 , EasyGo had over 1200 Chargers – and have plans to add 500 more rapid chargers by 2022.
If an Easygo charge Point is Pay to Use, the fees are listed below.
- 1. AC Chargers (up to 22Kwh) : 24c connection fee and a rate between 10c and 39.72 per kWh of use (inc VAT)
- 2. DC Chargers (Fast) 39.72c per Kwh (inc VAT)
- 21kW to 35kW – 25c per minute
- 1kW to 20kW – 17c per minute
- 3. There is also a 35c per minute overstay parking fee at some charging points when you have been charging for more than 45 Minutes.
- We expect increases to these fees in the coming weeks.
Ionity Charge Points
Ionity only have 14 fourteen charge points mainly on motorways
The IONITY chargers are equipped to charge at speeds up to 350kW. But no current cars can cope with that speed (yet). A Nissan Leaf will usually accept charge at a maximum of 45kW and Hyundai’s latest models will take up to around 70kWh.
Ionity Pricing : Ionity charge 73c / kWh which is a lot more than the others.
However , if you sign up with one of their ” Mobility Service Providers” (MSP) you will pay a discounted rate.
(Audi e-tron ; Mercedes.Me.Charge ; BMW ChargeNow ; Porsche Charging Service; Volkswagen W) .
Most of these seem to involve a monthly fee and a reduced rate. For example – with Audi, it’s €17.99 per month and then a €0.33 per kWh fee.
Comparison of Electric Car Charging Prices in Ireland.
(Based on 100km drive in a Nissan Leaf 40kwh
Figures checked April 2022 and show the new rates from May 5th for ESB and new electricity rates at home for Electric Ireland (Increase May 1st)
| Pay As You Go | Membership | |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Charger | €3.97 | €3.40 |
| Fast Charger | €4.51 | €3.97 |
** Easygo prices vary – this is an estimate.The actual could vary depending on location.
ESB – How to Charge Your Electric Car
More Information about Electric Cars in Ireland
Switch and Save on Electricity Bills