On the 18th June I wrote to Eamon Ryan, with a copy to the ESB explaining the problems I had with the ESB/eCARS network the previous weekend. I explained I experienced real difficulties that were caused directly by ESB/eCARS incompetence. Further I went on to voice my opinion that we have our priorities wrong, and we need to focus on fixing the customer experience of the charger network in Ireland. If we fail to do this, we will surely fail in our transition away from fossil fueled vehicles. Complete letter follows below.

I received a boiler plate reply from one of Eamon’s civil servants, and no response from the ESB. On the 7th July I received an email from the ESB/eCARS that I suspect many Irish EV users will have also received, with a clear apology. For those of you that didn’t experience problems, my letter below will be of interest.

For the Attention of: Eamon Ryan,
Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Minister for Transport
Dear Minister,

Re: Using the ESB eCARS network in the real world

My wife and I acquired our EV new in 2020 (a Renault Zoe) and have travelled extensively throughout Ireland, England, Wales and France gaining considerable experience of using the various charger networks. Inevitably we have mixed experiences, but we remain strong advocates of EVs. In Ireland we mostly use the ESB network, because it is the most extensive and generally reliable. But this last weekend our experience has been unfortunate, to say the least, and I think you should be aware of our “user experience”.

This weekend we spent three days in Kilkenny, a mixture of business and pleasure. Late Friday afternoon I hooked up to a composite CCS/Type 2 charger in the St. Candice Church car park. Neither the CCS or Type 2 ports worked. I rang the ESB and eventually spoke to an agent who said the fast charger was kaput, but the Type 2 should be OK. I said it wasn’t and had tried numerous times. The agent advised I found another charger.

Very early on Saturday morning I attempted to use a regular Type 2 in the City Green car park. I was early (7am) because we had a full day and I wanted to have sufficient charge to return home in the early evening. The charger accepted my card and completed the handshake with my car, but the charge process didn’t start. The same problem I had with the previous evening. I retried several times using both A and B connectors. During this time there was a dreadful storm, torrential rain, thunder and lightening; I got soaked. But I persevered because I have good experience with all Type 2 devices, whereas fast chargers can be tricky. Given two chargers didn’t work, I was really starting to be concerned that the problem was with my car. But given the terrible weather conditions, and commitments across the day, I postponed trying to solve the problem and resolved to attempt a charge on the way home that evening in Clonmel.

In Clonmel I tried a Type 2 with the same result. I attempted to ring the ESB with no success. I drove across the city and found another Type 2 and repeated the exercise. Same result! At this stage I was almost ready to call the Renault 24 hour assistance line; but I was trying everything I could first because I knew from experience that emergency callouts are not quick, and we would probably end up having to get a hotel overnight, and missing church in the morning. Note my wife and I are musical directors of the church choir, and I am the organist, so missing this would be most unfortunate.

So I called the ESB one last time, and fortunately spoke to an agent that spoke good English that I could understand and took my problem seriously. Under her guidance I repeated the process step by step and she said “OK I know the problem, I have fixed it. Please repeat the process”. Which I did and it worked. I asked, “What did you do? She said, “Your account was below the minimum amount required to start the charge!” I said, “But I have automatic top up!” And the agent told me that the system had changed very recently and that the minimum balance required to start a charge had increased from €/£5 to €/£20. So although my account had credit, it was insufficient to commence a charge! At this stage I was too tired and anxious to get home at a reasonable time so I didn’t continue the conversation, other than thanking the agent for her assistance.

When I arrived home and investigated I found emails that had been sent telling me that my payment method wasn’t working! “We regret to inform you that the credit card listed on your account could not be accessed to process your billing payment. Please login to your account in the driver portal to update your payment information to continue charging.” Nothing about having insufficient funds. But, note the agent had been able to use the card to top up the account, so the card was clearly OK. And I subsequently increased my top-up amount and the card worked fine!!

You will understand this series of events is very upsetting. I did find an announcement dated 7th June from eCARS advising the new minimum balance required. But I didn’t read this; it was only a community letter. If I had, I wouldn’t have changed anything as I had set the automatic top-up. If the ESB were serious they would have sent a specific email relating advising on the change of policy marked “important, action required”.

So I have a number of observations:

1. To increase the minimum balance from €5 to €20 is extraordinary. Why? This is quite simply providing a massive cashflow benefit to the ESB. In my opinion, this is completely unacceptable commercial behaviour.
2. The ESB sent me emails when I was trying to make their chargers work telling me my credit card wasn’t working. And yet it’s clear that they used the wrong error message. It should have said, “insufficient balance to commence your charge”. So firstly, the systems change had not been implemented correctly, and customers were being advised wrongly. But equally sending an email to a customer who is on the road, in my case in torrential rain, and battling with a seemingly problematic charging process isn’t going to get read.
3. My top up was set at automatic and €20. I still don’t understand why I was below the minimum.
4. I expect large numbers of EV owners must have experienced similar problems to myself. Where is the public apology from the ESB?
5. In the public domain, the primary preoccupation with the charger network is the underinvestment and insufficient numbers of chargers. I disagree. I rarely have had to queue for a charger. I suggest the really important issue that needs urgent attention is that the charging network needs to be run in a responsive customer oriented manner. Everything I have documented here illustrates an incompetent organisation. Introducing change without proper due diligence. Prioritising their own cashflow. Not undertaking proper systems testing to ensure systems operate correctly, and error messages are properly updated. The ESB is clearly aware of every time a charger is used, and when attempts fail. Old fashioned customer service processes that require the customer to call in, and endure long waits for agents to come free are entirely inadequate for the charger network. ESB agents should contact the customer by phone, not by email, immediately a problem occurs. Of course this would require more resources, but consider customers experiencing problems are frequently in stressful situations. Being proactive would revolutionise the customer experience.
   
   We are all aware that EVs are sadly coming under some negative press. Interestingly this is mostly about the sustainability of the technology. Imagine if enterprising journalists were to focus on the typical experience of drivers using the public charging network? I believe if stories like my own this last weekend were widely circulated, public opinion would turn and sales of EVs would drop dramatically.
   
   My strong recommendation is that eCARS should establish and empower a customer service governance team immediately that focus on dramatic improvements in the entire customer experience.
   
   In addition to all the items above, I make a plea for the provision of shelters covering all chargers. Why should EV drivers have to recharge while exposed to the elements, while petrol and diesel owners are usually properly sheltered? This is Ireland after all, we should expect rain!
   
   Finally I ask that you direct this letter to the appropriate executives in eCARS. I would be very happy to dialog with them; I would hope they would be interested.
   Yours sincerely
   David Sprott