EV·Echo Price Watch · Ireland
What charging actually costs in Ireland, checked and cited
An independent check of the pay-as-you-go price a driver pays at Irish public chargers, in cent per kWh, with any per-session fee shown rather than hidden. Ireland has no open-data rule for charging prices, so every figure is read from the operator's own published page, cited, dated, and re-checked. What comes out is a verdict we put our name to — verified and re-checked, never guessed. Great Britain has its own register at evecho.ie/price-watch.
How it works
- Pay-as-you-go rates only. The price available without membership or subscription — by bank card where the network takes one, otherwise its pay-as-you-go app rate — in cent per kWh including VAT, at rapid chargers (50 kW and up). Where a network adds a per-session access fee, it is folded into an effective rate over a 30 kWh session and both numbers are shown. Memberships, idle fees and card holds are outside the comparison.
- Cited, every network. There is no Irish open-data rule for prices, so a person reads each operator's published rate, records the source and the date, and it stands for 14 days before it must be re-checked. Every eligible network is in. Northern Ireland networks priced in sterling are listed, not ranked.
- A moved price is held, not assumed. If a rate changes, the verdict pauses until a person confirms the new number. The badge says so, within the hour.
- “Best price” means strictly the lowest. Level with the lowest reads “joint best price”. The margin to the next network is shown. The networks compared are named.
- Earned, never bought. No operator can pay for a verdict. The only way onto this page is the data.
Today's verdict, in a sentence
On 3 October 2026 EV·Echo Price Watch compared the walk-up price of 3 Irish rapid charging networks: ESB ecars, IONITY, ePower.
Verified today
No network carries a verdict in this market yet. Every eligible network is already under daily watch; the first verdict appears when the comparison is complete and a network asks to carry the badge.
The networks compared
- ESB ecarsIn today's comparison
- IONITYIn today's comparison
- ePowerIn today's comparison
- EZO (EasyGo)Priced per site, listed not ranked
- Applegreen Fast ChargeListed, not yet ranked
- Circle KListed, not yet ranked
- WeevListed, not yet ranked
- Tesla SuperchargerNot eligible
Figures are taken from each operator's own published prices and, where one exists, its open-data tariff feed. The dated comparison and its sources are kept for every verdict; they are provided to the operator carrying the badge and are available on request.
Comparison run 3 Oct 2026 at 06:26 UTC across 3 verified Irish rapid networks. Method version 2026-10-01. Eligible networks: Public charging networks on the island of Ireland operating 20 or more rapid (50 kW+) charge points that publish a pay-as-you-go (no-membership) price. Networks with no pay-as-you-go rate are listed as ineligible. Basis: The pay-as-you-go price available without membership or subscription, in cent per kWh including VAT, at rapid chargers (50 kW+). Irish networks may add a per-session access or connection fee; where they do, it is folded into an effective rate over a 30 kWh reference session, and both numbers are shown. Where an operator publishes time bands, the rate charged at 12:00 local time is used. Memberships, subscriptions, idle fees and pre-authorisation holds are outside the comparison. There is no Irish equivalent of the GB open-data regulation, so the operator's published page is the primary source and every reading is cited. A network has a headline rate only when at least 75% of its rapid connectors and 75% of its rapid sites share one price. A human-read price stands for 14 days before it must be re-checked. Badges update within 60 minutes of a verdict change.
Carry the badge
An operator with a verdict can show it on their own site. The badge is an image we serve: it carries the date of the last check and updates itself. Every state it shows is factual and non-comparative unless the evidence supports a comparative claim; the full market position stays here, on the register. It carries a “Check it yourself” link back to this page. It does not ask anyone to install anything.
The first Irish network to carry the badge will appear here. Operators: ask us for a verdict through the contact page.
Badge terms
- Use the live snippet above. Do not cache, screenshot or redraw the badge; a static copy stops being true.
- Any reproduction in print or in a presentation must carry the verification date and the basis line as shown on this page.
- The badge supports only the sentence it shows. It is not evidence for other claims (“best value”, “cheapest in Scotland”).
- We may withdraw permission to display it at any time; the live badge then shows the neutral mark.
- The badge is free and cannot be bought. Sponsored placement in the EV·Echo app is a separate, labelled product. Paying customers get no preview, veto or preferential treatment in the daily verdict.
Disputes and corrections
Seen a wrong price? Tell us through the contact page with the network, the site and what you were charged. A report opens a hold on that network's verdict until a person has checked it.
Operators: dispute a verdict within 14 days of it appearing, by the same route. You will get a written answer from the person responsible for the register, and disputes and their outcomes are logged. When the comparison method changes, the change is dated and announced here, and earlier verdicts keep the version they were made under.
For operators, councils and dealers
The badge is free and cannot be bought. What we do sell is the verification report: a monthly, dated statement of where an operator's walk-up rate stands against the networks around it, written to be printed — on a forecourt, in a tender, in a council's choice of operator.
Drivers
The same prices sit on every charger card in the EV·Echo app, next to whether the bay is free, with a “What it costs” page for every Irish network. The price before you go, the bay when you arrive.
