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Ecar

Get connected

ecar is all about making sure that electric vehicles can be charged and that the people of Northern Ireland can get connected.

Simple to charge

Electric cars are very simple to charge. You simply attach one end of the cable to the connector on the car and then attach the other end to the charge point you want to use. This can be done as long as you have an appropriate charge point either.

How do I charge an electric car at home?

It is recommended that a specific home charging point with its own circuit is installed in the home. To fully charge an electric vehicle overnight takes approximately six to eight hours. Slow home charging is the ideal method of fully charging an electric vehicle.

It is essential that an electrician carries out a safety check on the wiring and the electricity supply in your home before fitting a home charging point.

The cost of home charging will depend on the user’s home tariff, particularly the night-time tariff. This will be added to your home electricity bill.

The ecar team will be working with electricity supply companies to ensure all electricity customers can benefit from tariffs that favour home charging.

ecar has a grant available for the supply and installation of smart home charging points worth up to £1,500, for the first 150 home owners to purchase electric vehicles over the course of the project.

How do I charge an electric car at work?

Over the course of the two-year project, the ecar team will be encouraging employers to install workplace charge points for staff use. Electric car users may charge in private car parks at the workplace, particularly after a long commute. This point is similar to a home charger. The car is plugged into this specific charging point and is left to charge on a trickle charge.

The cost of charging at a workplace charging point will be added to the electricity bill of that particular building.

The ecar team will also be encouraging businesses to purchase electric vehicles as part of their fleet (see Benefits for Business Section). With a work place charging point this will allow businesses to charge their vehicles on site.

ecar has a grant available for the supply and installation of smart workplace charging points worth up to £1,500, for the first 150 businesses to purchase electric vehicles over the course of the project.

How do I charge an electric car in public?

ecar have installed public charge points in key locations in Northern Ireland. Public charge points have been installed in:

  • Belfast
  • Newry
  • Armagh
  • Fermanagh
  • Londonderry
  • Larne

ecar will be installing public points in other areas of Northern Ireland in 2012. Locations will be chosen depending on local council support, electricity network capacity availability and other factors. There will be over 100 public charging points installed over the course of the project.

To see the list of installed charge points and view where they are, click the link below ecar public charge point locations

For guidance on how to use a public charge point, the following video will provide a step by step approach:

These public charge points will take between one and six hours to fully charge a car depending on the type and battery size.

There will also be a number of rapid charge points at locations near major motorways; these will charge the car in approximately 25 minutes to 80 per cent of its full charge.

Electric car owners will be able to use these ecar public and rapid charge points with a secure ecar access card. This will be a pre-pay device.