Questions around charging an EV are probably the ones we hear most from people considering going electric. One of those questions is from people wondering where will they charge an EV if they get one.

It’s a good question because you won’t be going anywhere in your EV if you don’t charge it up first! But it’s also something that can be quite daunting for those that are new to the EV scene. There are far too many incorrect and exaggerated reports on the EV charging infrastructure in Ireland. Sure, it’s not perfect, and there are many improvements to be made, but it’s much better than many make it out to be.

So in this piece, we’re going to go through the many places where you can charge your EV. From your home to work, from Malin Head to Mizen Head, we’ll be listing out the numerous ways to charge up and get back on the road.

The first thing to note is really a bit of a request. And that is to leave your previous conceptions about refuelling a fossil fuel car at the door. At the end of the day, both an EV and a combustion car are just boxes with wheels, but how you refill them is quite a different experience. And one of the biggest misconceptions is mixing up how long it takes your car to charge with how long it takes out of your day to charge it.

Here’s an extreme example: let’s say you’re visiting a friend on the other side of the country. They don’t have an EV charger, but they do have a garage that has a few domestic sockets. You arrive on 2% battery and plug in your Tesla Model X Long Range. It will take that car just short of 50 hours to fully charge…that’s two full days! And here’s the ‘but’: it only took about 15 seconds out of your day to take the cable from the boot and plug it in. Another 15 seconds to unplug when you get ready to leave for the journey home. The point is that if you are doing something else, like having dinner, going to the cinema, or sleeping in your bed, it doesn’t matter how fast your car is charging. The only important thing is that it has enough charge when you need it next.

So let’s go through the options on where you can charge an EV in a step-by-step manner. Now if you want to know how fast your EV will charge, then be sure to check out our other piece on charging speeds. So here we’re going to look at the most common locations where people charge their cars.

At Home

Let’s kick things off at home, as this is the place where the vast majority of current EV charging is done. Over the coming years, this will change as the national fleet switches to EVs and those that live without off-street parking adopt EVs and rely on public charging.

At the moment, most EV owners have a driveway or garage or some sort of off-street parking where they charge. The slowest form is to just use a domestic 3-pin socket. Just plug in like you would a kettle. You’ll take a while though, as the charge will only pull around 2kW, the equivalent of about 10km range per hour. Although it’s slow, it’s still enough to cover a daily commute of 150km with an overnight charge. Another point to make and stress is that it is not recommended to rely upon. You are better off having a qualified electrician fit a certified product to charge your EV on a long-term basis.

So that moves us on to what are commonly known as domestic chargers. Technically speaking, the charger is actually built into your car, and the box on the wall is simply a piece of Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) that supplies the electricity.

In Ireland, the vast majority of our housing stock runs on single-phase electricity. So, when you get your home charger fitted, it’s almost certainly going to be a unit that puts out about 7kW. What does this mean for your car? 7kW refers to the car charging a total of 7kWh of energy in one hour. So it would take about 4 hours to fully charge a Honda e, 8 hours for an entry-level Model 3, and up to about 13 hours for a bigger battery Tesla Model S or X. But those figures are only from 0 to 100%. It would be extremely rare for you to arrive home with 1% battery!

As we mentioned at the outset, if you’re sleeping in your bed at night, it doesn’t matter if it takes 1 or 10 hours for the car to charge. It will still be ready for your 7am exit the next morning. Of course, you could theoretically have your grid connection upgraded to a 3-phase supply. In that case, a car like the Renault Zoe that is capable of 22kW AC charging could refill 0-100% in less than 3 hours to give you another 300km range.

We’re not going to go into it on this piece, but there is a huge amount of domestic EV chargers on the market. And they all have their strengths and weaknesses. Smart chargers are making EV charging very sophisticated. You can programme them to charge at certain times when your supply is cheaper, or when the grid is cleaner. Some can divert excess solar energy produced on your roof and send it to the car.

Car Parks, Shopping Centres, and Towns

You’ve probably noticed chargers in the car parks at your local supermarket, or in multi-story car parks like at the Airport or Shopping Centres. From time to time, these locations have DC fast chargers. But in general, these units will be AC chargers that will be put out from 7kW up to 22kW.

The majority are currently operated by either ESB or EasyGo, but things are changing as more companies begin to install chargers. Many businesses are trying to future-proof themselves by installing these chargers for their customers to use.

These slower AC units are more designed for what you could call ‘grazing’. The intention is not to arrive nearly empty and go back up to 100%. The idea is that you just ‘top up’ for a few hours. For example, you plug in your car while you go to the cinema, and you top up from 50% to 90% while you are there for free.

As there are well over 1,000 of these units, there is no way to list their exact locations around Ireland. The best thing to do is to use something like PlugShare. You can view it online or download the app. It will list every publicly available charger in Ireland. And if you want to know more about this then have a look at our article about the best apps for EVs in Ireland.

DC Fast Chargers

DC fast chargers deliver energy to your battery at a much higher rate than the slower AC units in general. They’re designed for quick stops so that you can get back on the road again quickly. So, you will find them in places like motorway service stations, garages, and along popular routes. If you’re taking a long trip like Dublin to Dingle, or Galway to Belfast, these are the type of chargers you will want.

They tend to be much bigger units and are normally more expensive to use. Most of these types of units put out about 50kW, which is enough to top up about 150-200km in a half hour. But as the technology progresses, some of these units are now at 150kW or more. We’re also starting to see ‘hubs’ springing up in some of the motorway service stations, where you will find a number of fast chargers.

Although ESB were early to start providing chargers, they are not alone anymore. EasyGo are installing a lot of Tritium units, often in pairs which is great. IONITY now have a handful of sites in Ireland. Of course, you also have the Tesla Supercharger network in Ireland. Having been lacking for many years, Tesla are installing a few sites throughout 2021 and 2022.

AS with the AC units, there would be too many to list. So the best thing is to check out the likes of PlugShare or Zapmap where you can find every unit available in Ireland.

Summary

As you can see, there are a huge number of chargers in Ireland. Of course, we would like to see more, especially as the number of EVs on Irish roads rises. If you are thinking of going electric with your next car, then it is well worth checking out the apps mentioned to see where the chargers are located near you. Also, have a look at our other pieces, where we answer questions such as how long it takes an EV to charge.

Are you looking to make the switch to electric motoring? Clickhereto browse different EVs, compare your favourite models and learn about the transition to electric motoring on Nevo.ie.