THE ESB HAS revealed details of the charges electric car drivers will face for topping up their vehicles at its on-street chargers.

The public charging network has been free since it was introduced in Ireland in 2010 but fees for the use of the faster 50 kilowatt on-street chargers will come into effect from 18 November.

Customers will have a choice of Pay As You Go or Membership to pay for the fast chargers.

Those who opt for the Pay As You Go option will be charged 33c per kilowatt-hour (kWh), while those who opt for Membership will have to stump up a €5 monthly fee and will then be charged 29c per kWh to charge their vehicle.

Both of the options are significantly more expensive than charging the car at home, which can cost as little as 10c per kWh using cheaper night-rate electricity.

The state-owned company say the membership is designed for drivers who typically use the network over five times per month and Pay As You Go is for less frequent users.

It is offering drivers an introductory deal that provides the Membership rate with no monthly subscription for 12 months. The offer will be available from 29 October until the end of November.

The ESB says that most electric vehicle drivers charge their car at home or in work and use the public network to top up for 15% of their charges. It calculates that these drivers can save up to 71% compared with the driver of a diesel car.

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“The introduction of pricing to fast public chargers is a natural step in ensuring we improve the network and maintain high standards into the future for electric vehicles,” Head of ESB ecars, Niall Hogan, said.

“Today’s announcement of investment in the public EV charging network is another milestone in ESB leading Ireland’s transition to a low-carbon economy.”

Electric cars were a key focus in the government’s Climate Action Plan announced in June. It is aiming for one million electric cars on the road by 2030.

Figures released by the CSO earlier this year show that electric and hybrid vehicles accounted for 11.8% of all new private cars licensed, up from 6.5% in the same period in 2018.