Most days, charging an EV in Ireland looks like plugging in at home before bed. The only time it gets interesting is on long trips, where the question becomes "which network, what speed, how much per kWh". This page covers both ends.
Home charging is 90% of the answer
If you have a driveway or off-street parking, install a 7 kW home charger. With Ireland's night-rate electricity (typically 02:00–05:00 on smart meter tariffs), home charging works out at roughly €0.10–€0.20 per kWh, depending on your supplier and tariff. That's about €6–€12 to fully fill a 60 kWh battery — the cheapest fuel you'll ever buy in Ireland.
Hardware cost: a 7 kW wall-mounted home charger typically lands at €1,200–€1,800 fully installed, before the SEAI €300 home-charger grant. Reputable Irish installers include EasyGo, EZ EV, Eonix, and the dealer-bundled options most franchises now offer. Pick one that's a Safe Electric registered contractor and that does its own commissioning rather than subbing out.
SEAI grant: €300 toward a home charger, available to anyone with off-street parking — including used-EV buyers and PHEV owners. You apply on seai.ie after the work is done; keep the invoice and the Cert of Compliance.
The four public networks that matter
| Network | Coverage | Speeds | Per-kWh (Apr 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ESB eCars | Nationwide, motorway and rural | 22 kW AC, 50–150 kW DC | €0.43–€0.62 |
| Easygo | Strong south & west, urban hubs | 22 kW AC, 50–200 kW DC | €0.42–€0.59 |
| Ionity | Motorway-only, premium | 150–350 kW DC | €0.69 (or €0.39 for subscribers) |
| Applegreen Electric | Forecourts on M-routes | 50–200 kW DC | €0.55–€0.65 |
Smaller networks (Tesla Supercharger now opening to non-Teslas at selected sites, hotel/restaurant slow chargers via Easygo, Lidl/SuperValu carparks) fill in the gaps. ESB eCars remains the only network with genuinely rural coverage; if you do regular Donegal, Mayo or Kerry trips, ESB is the one app you can't live without.
What the speeds actually mean
Charger speed is described in kW, but the real question is "how much range per minute". Rough numbers, assuming a battery between 20% and 80% (where DC charging is fastest):
- 3 kW domestic plug (granny cable): 10–15 km of range per hour. Useful for emergencies or to top a PHEV. Not a real charging strategy for a BEV.
- 7 kW home charger (AC): 30–40 km of range per hour. A typical car fills overnight.
- 22 kW destination charger (AC): 90–130 km of range per hour. Hotels, carparks, supermarkets. Most cars are limited to 11 kW AC even at a 22 kW point.
- 50 kW DC fast charger: roughly 200 km of range in 30 minutes for most cars.
- 150 kW DC ultra-fast: 250–320 km in 25 minutes — if your car can accept that much power. Many can't.
- 350 kW DC (Ionity): currently overkill for almost every car on Irish roads. The Hyundai Ioniq 5/6, Kia EV6, Porsche Taycan, and Audi e-tron GT are the rare cases that exploit it.
Day-rate vs night-rate at home
If you don't have a smart meter and an EV-friendly tariff, you're charging at flat day-rate, which in 2026 is roughly €0.32–€0.42 per kWh. Switching to a smart-meter night-rate tariff (Electric Ireland, Energia, SSE Airtricity, Bord Gaís and Pinergy all offer them) brings the night window down to €0.10–€0.20 per kWh.
Pair the tariff with the charger's scheduling app and the car will charge automatically in the night window. Free drive equivalent: a 14,000 km/year EV on home charging at night-rate is roughly €480/year of electricity, against ~€1,820 of diesel. That's the headline TCO win.
Where the network has gaps
- Donegal interior: ESB eCars covers the main towns but the network thins between them. Plan for chargers at the destination, not on the way.
- West Cork & Kerry peninsulas: hotel and pub chargers fill in, but they're slow (mostly 22 kW AC). Add an hour or two to long trips.
- Mayo north of Castlebar: similar story to Donegal interior. ESB sites in Belmullet, Achill, Westport are fine; the rural roads between them aren't densely served.
- Apartment blocks generally: kerbside charging in Dublin is improving but coverage is uneven by postcode. Confirm your nearest reliable point before committing.
None of these gaps are deal-breakers; they just shape model choice. If you do regular trips into the gaps, prioritise real-world winter range over WLTP marketing numbers, and pick a car that does at least 75 kW DC charging so a 20-minute coffee stop actually moves the needle.
Public-charging etiquette (the unwritten rules)
- Don't sit on a fast charger past 80%. Charging slows dramatically above 80%, and you're blocking someone who needs the slot.
- Cable management: leave the cable hung tidily, not coiled on the ground.
- Pay attention to the bay markings — some are EV-only, some are time-limited even with an EV plate.
- Report broken units in the network app. ESB eCars has a fault flag in the app; use it. The network can't fix what no-one tells them about.
The cars that charge fastest
If charging speed matters to you (long-distance regular drivers, sales reps, people without home charging), the 800V architecture cars are in a league of their own:
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 / Ioniq 6
- Kia EV6 / EV9
- Porsche Taycan / Audi e-tron GT
- Genesis GV60 / G80 Electrified
These can pull genuinely 200+ kW from a 350 kW Ionity unit and add 250 km of range in well under 20 minutes. For the rest of the market — Tesla Model 3/Y, VW ID range, BYD, MG, Renault, Stellantis — expect 100–150 kW peak DC, which is still fast enough that a coffee-and-toilet stop covers it.