Guillaume Séguin

EasyGo just updated their pricing structure, for their fast chargers, with a cheaper rate when you charge at a lower power.

Every EV owner knows that in winter, with a cold battery, charging speed is much lower and it’s possible to see rates as low as 20kw on some models whilst in summer you would get twice that power. On that basis, a price per minute makes your charge much more pricey. On the other side of the spectrum, a per kwh charge may seem fairer but hogging becomes a major risk.

Every provider knows it’s a difficult problem to solve and EasyGo just came with an original solution : a price per kwh that will vary depending on your peak charging speed.

The connection fee is still €0.24 and on top of that you now have 3 per minute rates. This rate will be applied to the whole session duration :

0-20kw : €0.17 per minute
21-35kw : €0.25 per minute
36-50kw : €0.35 per minute

If this will not change anything for most EVs, able to charge at over 40kw. But vehicles like the Nissan Leaf 24, in winter, will benefit from a more reasonable rate as you can see on the updated pricing table below :

EasyGo has recently opened its second Fast charger location in Kinnegad Plaza (M6/M4 junction), co. Westmeath, and has recently launched an Android app (and soon for iPhone).

It is finally here. The most anticipated EV of all times is now available in Ireland, 3 years after being revealed to the public. As with the UK, just 2 versions are available for now, with prices starting from €48,900 : Standard Range Plus (SR+) and Performance. The Long Range (LR) will probably come later.

The Standard Range Plus (SR+) is rear wheel drive, and has a pack of approximatively 55kWh useable. Combined with an excellent efficiency, it can acheive 415km  on the WLTP cycle.

Standard equipment is the same as the rest of Europe with Standard Audio and navigation, 18 inch Aero wheels, glass roof, Autopilot (which isn’t one). Black is the only no-cost colour, and you can get Blue, Grey (€1,100 for either) , Pearl whilte (€1,600) or Red (€2,200) as well. You can pay €5,400 for “Full Self-Driving Capability“, or €1,100 for the trailer hitch (towing capacity : 910kg). The 19 inch Sport wheels or the Black and White interior are unfortunately not yet available on RHD markets.

At the top of the range, the Performance model is 4wheel drive and you can spot it by the wording “Dual motor” underlined on the bootlid, a carbon fiber spoiler on the top of it and a 10mm lower suspension, sitting on bigger 20 inches wheels. It has a 74kWh (useable) battery pack for a range of 530km WLTP. Compared to the SR+, it also adds navigation with traffic information, a better sound system, in-car streaming or an internet browser. It is available from €60,700 and options remain the same as on the SR+, bar the tow hitch, unavailable on this variant.

Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus : €48,900

Tesla Model 3 Performance : €60,700

More information about the Model 3 can be found on Tesla website

These are some of the EVs we can expect to see on our roads within the next 12 months. There is a lot going on, and it only covers BEVs, not PHEVs.

BMW iX3

We can expect 400km WLTP range for this other premium SUV. It should however be smaller than the Audi E-tron, Mercedes EQC and Jaguar i-Pace. Cheaper too ?

DS 3 Crossback e-tense

PSA’s premium brand will have its first EV, and it will also be the first small premium electric SUV in Europe. It will have the same powertrain as the Peugeot e-208 (50kWh battery, 136hp motor, 11kw AC charging), with added luxury.

Coming in Autumn 2019, don’t expect it below €40,000

Honda e

The 95% ready version has been presented in 2019 Geneva motor show. The WLTP range is only around 200km but this also means the car should be lighter and could be cheaper than the other supermini (Zoé, e-208). It innovates with 3 very large screens and cameras instead of wing mirrors.

Pre-orders are now open and deliveries will start late 2019 in Japan, and hopefully early 2020 in Europe.

Hyundai Ioniq facelift

With a power increase and a bigger battery (38,3kWh instead of 28kWh), the Ioniq will no longer be the EV with the smallest battery around. It should still be one of the most efficient EVs around, however if it charges like the e-Niro and Kona equipped with that powertrain/battery ensemble, it might disapoint current Ioniq Electric users, used to really fast charges till 77%, this one will slow down its charge way before that.

Kia E-Niro and Soul EV

The Korean company expects around 150 EVs to be bought in 2019 – e-Niros and new e-Soul. That is scheduled to spiral the year after to around 500.

Mini hatch Cooper S E

It is expected to have the 184hp motor of the BMW i3s, and should be really fun to drive! Unfortunately since it wasn’t thought from the ground up as an EV, the Mini Cooper S E will only get a 33kWh battery. It should arrive by the end of 2019.

Nissan Leaf e-plus

62kWh battery, 100kW Chademo charging, 214hp but still passively cooled battery, it is almost ready to be launched, but in limited volumes so don’t wait too long before ordering one or you might wait till 2020. Expect a €6000 premium over the 40kWh version, for a price of around €36.000 for the SV Premium, and under €40.000 for the luxurious SVE.

Opel Corsa-e

Opel will come into the EV game with a very good EV on paper : 50kWh battery, 136hp, 100kW CCS charging and a 7 to 11kW onboard charger. This will allow a WLTP range of 330km. It will be presented to the public in September in the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Peugeot e-208

Technically similar to the Opel e-Corsa, it will also have the 50kWh battery and 7 to 11kW AC and 100kW CCS charging.
It will be launched in Autumn, at the same time as the ICE versions, and we can hope for the first Irish registrations early 2020.

Renault Zoé2

Renault is very discreet about the replacement of the Zoé, the best selling EV in Europe so far this year, but this should be considerably improved over the outgoing model. It will be like for the 2018 Nissan Leaf a major facelift, and the battery pack should be bigger to 50kWh with 100kw CCS charging like the Peugeot e-208 and the Corsa-e. But it will keep its much more powerful 22kW onboard charger, allowing to recharge in hundreeds of Irish locations in just over 2 hours, something still unique on the market.
Presentation for Frankfurt Motor Show (September) and should be on the roads very quickly after that.

Skoda CityGo e-iv (and sisters Vw e-up and Seat miii)

The e-up will no longer be the only VW group triplet to be electrified. The battery pack size is 36.8kWh, much more than the 18kWh of the original one. With 265km WLTP, 210Nm of torque and 82hp, it could be Ireland’s cheapest EV, if the VW group decides to import it, unlike the original e-up. If yes, you can expect it early 2020.

Tesla Model 3

You probably know everything already about the Tesla Model 3. We are just missing the prices… expected from around €48.000 in Standard Range Plus trim.

Volswagen i.d. 3

Pre-reservation started in May, but presentation of the production version will be in Frankfurt Motor Show (September). Expect the first i.d.3 to arrive in Ireland for the summer 2020.

The popular Renault Master van is now available in a fully electric variant, called Z.E.33.

As its name implies, it has a 33kWh battery pack (31kWh useable) and a 7.2kw AC charger. The exact same setup you can find onthe Kangoo Z.E.33.

The motor is just 76hp (you read well!) and the maximum speed is limited at 100 kph. You can immediately tell that this vehicle is focused for a local usage. As for the other Renault vehicles to date, there is no DC capability and this means you need a minimum of 5 hours to fully charge this van.

You can get the Master Z.E. as a panel van, from 8 till 17 cubic meters (3 lenghts, 2 heights), or on a platform cab, for all sorts of transformations. It can carry 1000 to 1100kg of cargo.

The range is 200km NEDC, which means somewhere between 100 and 150km in real life, depending on your load and driving style.

This van is available from €70.800 after grant, which seems quite disproportionate, but keep in mind that this vehicle is aimed at profesionals, who usually prefer to lease. Lease prices would have to be much more competitive. More information about the Master Z.E.33 is available on Renault website.

Renault Master Z.E.33 SL31 – €71,800

Renault Master Z.E.33 SM31 – €72,400

Renault Master Z.E.33 MM31 – €73,200

Renault Master Z.E.33 LM31 – €74,000

Renault Master Z.E.33 Platform ML31 – €70,700

Renault Master Z.E.33 Platform LL31 – €71,500

As for the past few months, there is a clear difference between BEVs and PHEVs imports trend.

BEVs imports are slowing down with just 54 cars registered in March whilst PHEVs are still heavily increasing (198 registrations). This is still due to the fact that the difference of market price between UK and Ireland is now thin when it comes to BEVs and that PHEVs value is decreasing in UK, making importing very interesting financially. Also, PHEVs have never been very popular in Ireland in the first place so finding your dream one will require widening your search geographically !

There is no change in the popularity of the models imported, see more details in the tables below:

Mercedes GLE 500e

PHEV sales are still on the rise though at a slower pace now with 144 new registrations last month. Note that the Volvo S90T8 is 4th in March, outselling the BMW 530e.  The Range Rover Sport is now 3rd to date.

Easygo first fast charger, located in Monaghan Town

Easygo has just commissionned its first fast charger, located at the Four Season Hotel in Monaghan town.

This is a the first competitor for ESB Ecars charging network, due to implement pricing for their fast charger sometimes this summer. A 3rd player, Ionity, is due to break ground soon at its first Irish location in Cashel, Co. Tipperary. The 4th network being Tesla’s, with 4 supercharger locations on the M1, M7, M8 and soon a 5th one on the M4… of course these are only accessible for Tesla cars.

This DC charger is a Veefil, from the Australian make Tritium, offering a classic 50kw of power, with 2 connectors : Chademo and CCS. Sorry Zoé drivers, no juice for you there !

From this Friday (15th March), billing will be implemented on this first fast charge point. It will cost you €0.35 per minute on top of a €0.24 connection fee for bill pay customers, or a €1.25 connection fee for pay as you go customer. Price per minute means winter charges will be more expensive than summer ones, depending on your car. On the other hand, this pricing structure will ensure that chargers will only be used to fast charge, and unlikely feature abandoned EVs trickle charging.

How much are you going to pay ? Here is a table with various charging scenarios. These are examples only, figures depend on your car, battery temperature, initial state of charge and how economical you drive. It can greatly vary so take this with a pinch of salt and most importantly be aware of the optimal charging speed of your vehicle.

As with the rest of the world, the Telsa range is being simplified in Ireland, with important the price drops, alongside a simplified option list.

Model S

It now starts at €85,166 (vs €98,770 before for the 75D) in “Standard Range” with an increase of range (520 vs 490km NEDC). So we can assume that the pack is at around 80kWh of capacity useable.

The 100D is replaced by the “Long Range”, same range as before but a price drop of €35,000 to just €90,980 ! The difference of price with the Standard range is rather small now and makes the Long Range an affordable option. Finally the “Ludicrous Performance” (formerly P100D) is now at €105,282 (vs € 168,828 before).

Tesla Model S

Model X

The Model X 75D is now gone from the price-list. The X starts directly with the Long Range version (formerly 100D), at €96,096, which is still €25,000 less than the outgoing 75D! Finally the Ludicrous Performance is at €110,398, which is actually cheaper than the most expensive Jaguar I-pace. The Model X is now directly priced against not only the Jaguar but also the Audi E-tron.

Tesla Model X

Model 3

Prices for Ireland haven’t been released just yet. Based on the Model S/X prices and what we know of the Model 3 in other markets, we can expect a start price under €40.000 (after incentives) for the famous “$35,000” Standard Range model sold in the USA.

More information on Tesla Ireland website

Tesla Model 3