ESB ecars Announces Higher Charging Prices and a New Overnight Plan
ESB ecars has announced new public charging prices, and for pay-as-you-go and membership customers they work out at around 10 to 11 cent more per kWh in its two main price bands. Tucked in alongside the bad news is something new: a subscription with cheaper overnight charging.
In an email to customers, ESB said the new prices include VAT and apply from 2 November. The ESB EV Charging Team said: "We understand that pricing changes have an impact. This update reflects rising wholesale energy costs and helps ensure we can continue providing a reliable charging service while investing in the future growth of the network."
These are the rates ESB announced for 2 November 2026. Prices can change, so check the price displayed before you start charging.
Pay-as-you-go
On standard AC chargers, the announced pay-as-you-go price is €0.70 per kWh. On DC fast and high-power chargers, it's €0.83 per kWh. Before the change, ESB's price-plans page listed €0.60 and €0.72, so that's 10 cent and 11 cent more per kWh.
For a 20 kWh top-up, that means €14.00 instead of €12.00 on a standard charger, or €16.60 instead of €14.40 on a fast one (20 kWh multiplied by the price per kWh).
Those pay-as-you-go prices apply when you pay from pre-paid credit in a registered account. ESB's published price for a one-time payment in its app or a contactless card payment, where offered, is a little higher again: €0.72 per kWh on standard chargers and €0.85 on fast chargers.
One wrinkle: ESB doesn't describe the dividing line between standard and fast charging the same way everywhere. Its announcement and the plan summaries on its website put standard at up to 48 kW and fast at 49 kW and above. Its new price terms for Ireland, though, say fast starts at 50 kW in one place, 49 kW in another and above 49 kW in a footnote. The old price list split AC charging up to 50 kW from DC charging at 50 kW and above. So the before-and-after figures here assume your charger counts as standard, or as fast, both times. For a charger or socket rated around 49 or 50 kW, the band isn't clear-cut, so it's worth checking which rate applies before you plug in.
Membership becomes Charge Lite
Until now, ESB offered just one monthly membership for its public chargers in Ireland. That membership carries on, renamed Charge Lite, and Charge Smart joins it as a second tier. Charge Lite's monthly fee stays at €4.79, but its per-kWh prices rise to €0.65 on standard chargers and €0.78 on fast chargers, up from €0.55 and €0.67. The same banding wrinkle applies.
Charge Lite saves 5 cent per kWh compared with pay-as-you-go, so the fee pays for itself at about 96 kWh of public charging a month (€4.79 divided by €0.05). Below that, pay-as-you-go works out cheaper on the charging rate and subscription alone. These examples leave out overstay fees and any separate parking charges, and assume you can choose either plan without extra costs or a longer commitment.
Charge Smart: night owls, your moment has come
The new plan, Charge Smart, costs €6.99 a month. Between 7am and 9pm it charges the same as Charge Lite: €0.65 and €0.78 per kWh. Between 9pm and 7am, the rates drop to €0.52 on standard chargers and €0.66 on fast chargers.
The announced overnight rates are below the old membership rates, subject to the same change in charger bands. That's a lower price per kWh, not necessarily a smaller bill: daytime charging on Charge Smart costs the same as on Charge Lite, and the monthly fee is €2.20 higher. Whether those overnight rates beat charging at home depends on your own electricity tariff.
Compared with Charge Lite, that extra €2.20 is covered after about 17 kWh of charging billed at the overnight standard rate (€2.20 divided by the €0.13 saving per kWh), or 19 kWh at the overnight fast rate (€2.20 divided by €0.12 gives 18.3 kWh, rounded up). Those figures compare Smart with Lite, not with pay-as-you-go. Beating pay-as-you-go, which has no monthly fee, takes a lot more.
Take 19 kWh of fast charging in a month, all billed overnight, and leave aside parking, overstay fees and any other charges. Pay-as-you-go comes to €15.77 (19 kWh at €0.83). Charge Lite is €19.61 (the €4.79 fee plus 19 kWh at €0.78), and Charge Smart €19.53 (the €6.99 fee plus 19 kWh at €0.66). Smart beats Lite by a whole 8 cent, but costs €3.76 more than pay-as-you-go.
To get ahead of pay-as-you-go, Charge Smart needs about 39 kWh a month billed at the overnight standard rate (€6.99 divided by the €0.18 saving per kWh), or 42 kWh at the overnight fast rate (€6.99 divided by €0.17 gives 41.1 kWh, rounded up). If some of your charging happens in the daytime, you'll need more in total, because Smart's daytime rates are only 5 cent below pay-as-you-go.
The new rates at a glance
Here are the new rates ESB has published for Ireland, in one place. Charging rates include VAT, and Charge Smart has one €6.99 monthly fee covering both its daytime and overnight rates.
Plan | Monthly fee | Standard AC, per kWh | Fast/high-power DC, per kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
Pay-as-you-go (pre-paid account) | None | €0.70 | €0.83 |
One-time app payment or contactless, where offered | None | €0.72 | €0.85 |
Charge Lite | €4.79 | €0.65 | €0.78 |
Charge Smart, daytime (7am–9pm) | €6.99 (day and night) | €0.65 | €0.78 |
Charge Smart, overnight (9pm–7am) | Included in the €6.99 | €0.52 | €0.66 |
Before you sign up
Check the commitment. ESB's new price terms for Ireland list the minimum term and early termination fee as "n/a" for both Charge Lite and Charge Smart, which suggests neither plan ties you in. But a footnote in those terms mentions a minimum term expiring, and ESB's FAQ still describes a 12-month minimum for membership, without naming either plan. Until that's cleared up, don't assume you can cancel or switch whenever you like. Confirm with ESB before signing up, and if you're already a member, ask whether any earlier commitment carries over to Charge Lite.
Watch the clock. It isn't clear how a session that crosses 9pm or 7am is priced. If you're counting on the overnight rate, ask ESB about that too.
Overstay fees still apply. ESB says these aren't changing. They're €0.50 a minute after 10 hours on a standard charger, or after 45 minutes on a fast or high-power one, up to €22.50 a session. ESB's FAQ says 7 kW and 22 kW standard connectors get the 10 hours, but a 43 kW AC connector on a fast or high-power charger gets 45 minutes, whatever rate it's billed at. A cheaper night rate doesn't mean you can leave the car plugged in until morning, so check the charging and parking rules at the site before planning a late session.
Worth switching?
The quick test: add the monthly fee to what a typical month of charging would cost on that plan, then compare the total with pay-as-you-go. If you only use public chargers now and then, pay-as-you-go is likely to win: Charge Lite needs about 96 kWh a month to get ahead, and Charge Smart around 40 kWh if it's all billed overnight. Charge Smart only makes sense if enough of your charging can happen between 9pm and 7am, at sites where that's practical and allowed.
ESB's price plans page is the place to check current rates, and with prices on the move, it's one worth bookmarking.
Note: At the time of writing, Techknow Ireland has no commercial relationship with ESB ecars or public EV charging providers.
Techknow Ireland is not responsible for the content of external or third-party sites.
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