ESB ecars, which runs about 1,600 public charging points across the island of Ireland, raised its prices on Monday 2 November, its second increase since July. Without a subscription, fast charging now costs 83c per kWh in the ESB app and 85c per kWh by contactless card, completecar.ie reported. According to the Irish Independent, that makes ESB the country's most expensive charging operator as well as its largest.
ESB blamed rising costs. "This adjustment reflects ongoing increases in energy and operational costs and allows us to continue to maintain the network, while also investing in more high-power chargers and expanding availability across the country," it told customers in an email quoted by the Independent.
The new prices
The fast tier covers everything from ESB's older 50 kW units up to its 350 kW chargers. All prices are per kWh in the Republic of Ireland.
| Payment option | Lower-power chargers | Fast chargers | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| App, pay as you go | 70c (was 60c) | 83c (was 72c) | +17% / +15% |
| Contactless card | 72c (was 61c) | 85c (was 73c) | +18% / +16% |
| €4.79 monthly membership | 65c (was 55c) | 78c (was 67c) | +18% / +16% |
| New Charge Smart, €6.99 a month | 52c at night, 65c by day | 66c at night, 78c by day | new plan |
Charge Smart's night rate applies from 21:00 to 07:00. The previous rates are the July tariff as listed by The Irish Times in September.
The second rise in four months
The July increase added up to 6c per kWh, just as the government was rolling out its ICE2EV scrappage grant. By the Independent's count, fast-charging prices are now 24% higher than in June. Filling a 79 kWh battery from empty at an ESB fast charger by contactless card now costs €67.15, the paper says, against less than €25 at home. Earlier in 2026, Ionity had been the most expensive operator, at 81c per kWh by contactless card at its 350 kW stations.
In Northern Ireland, where around 330 of ESB's points are, the increase also took effect on 2 November, according to The Irish News. It brings 85p per kWh by contactless card at 49 kW and above and 72p below that, with a Charge Smart plan following there on 25 November. ESB did not raise its overstay fees or the membership price.
The rise comes while Irish electric-car sales are growing. Battery-electric cars took 27.74% of new registrations in October, according to SIMI figures cited by the Independent. Irish households had already seen one of the EU's steepest increases in electricity prices, as shown in Eurostat's first-half 2026 data.
How the Superchargers compare
Tesla has 15 Supercharger sites open in the Republic, with 112 stalls, according to supercharge.info. Twelve of them, with 90 stalls, are open to other brands. Six opened between July and October 2026, in Sligo, Wicklow, Limerick, Mallow, Longford and Letterkenny, and three more are under construction in Dublin.
In September, The Irish Times put the price at Superchargers open to non-Tesla drivers at 57c to 64c per kWh, depending on the time of day. At those rates, a 50 kWh top-up costs €28.50 to €32.00, against €42.50 at ESB's new contactless fast rate. Supercharger prices vary by site and by time of day, and the current price is shown in the Tesla app before charging starts.
What it means for owners
Drivers who charge at home are barely affected. Drivers without a home charger stand to pay up to €1,500 a year more, the Independent estimates, for a VW ID.3 covering 15,000 km on pay-as-you-go rates. For Tesla owners on longer trips, the gap to the Supercharger network has widened: in September, Superchargers already cost less than ESB's fast rates. Regular ESB users can soften the increase with a subscription, or with Charge Smart if they can charge at night.