Rental cars options, electric?

I presume you aren’t going to be getting off a long transatlantic flight jet lagged and then driving 4+ hours? Please don’t!

I haven’t driven an EV in Ireland, but in the U.K., if you have to pay for electricity at the rapid chargers, it works out about the same or slightly more expensive than buying fuel for an ICE car. It costs more than double to buy an electric car vs the ICE equivalent, so presumably they will cost far more to hire.

The majority of the public charging network is run by ESB ecars https://esbecars.esb.ie/ although chargers are slowly appearing in some shopping centres and supermakets too.
From my observations (I drive a plug-in hybrid), charging points tend to be more plentiful in larger towns and in some service areas along the motorway network. In smaller towns there may be one charger so you're dependent on it being free when you need it. ecars has just announced a hefty price hike too!
Anecdotal evidence from chatting to fully electric vehicle users would suggest a decent bit of planning can be needed for longer journeys to know where charging is available and also where the next alternative is if your first choice is already in use or out of order. Also need to consider the time taken to charge, not every charger is high-speed yet. Filling a tank with petrol or diesel only takes a few minutes in comparison!
If you can find accommodation with overnight charging facilities it would make things easier but also narrows your choices. Lots to think about!

There are plenty of maps available to help you find charging stations. And modern electric cars usually have at least 300-400 km range so you'll probably be fine as long as you can charge the car overnight. The island isn't that big afterall.

We are finding that even as recently as Christmas, you could usually be certain of getting on a charger or your second location, but now the sales of EVs has risen, the installation of chargers hasn’t kept pace with demand and more planning is required. The price has also risen since then.

Thanks to all for the info on EV.'s I will also speak to the source, the car rental agency, about this as well.

And no, I would never get off a flight having flown 11 hrs (and that's only if I get a non-stop) from San Francisco to Dublin and then drive 4 hrs across Ireland. So, no worries there. I'm sure there are some people that might consider it though! I value life too much!

Not Ireland, but I can tell you about my daughter’s recent adventure driving her electric car to come for a visit from L.A. The first destination was Marin County. It took 2 days having to stop to charge the car. First there was trouble finding the appropriate chargers and then the charger wasn’t always available. Sometimes it was in use and sometimes it didn’t work. She was able to drive to our house from Marin and charged it at our house. She was able to return to Marin on the single charge, but it was another 2 days to get back home to L.A. She drives a Nissan Leaf. They went to a Nissan dealer looking for a charger when they were on the northbound part of the trip and they were told not to use a fast charger more than once a day. Granted Ireland is much smaller than California, but I don’t think I would want to spend my vacation time locating and charging an electric car.

We will be in Ireland for two weeks, arriving August 21. We plan to pick up a car on the 24th and return it on September 3 or 4, depending on the time of our flight to Glasgow on the 4th. I’m finding cars to be very expensive, especially with an automatic big enough for 4 adults and luggage (carryon sized). If you can get a smaller manual transmission it will be better.

ETA Aer Lingus flies nonstop to Dublin from SFO. That’s what we are doing.

Hi from WI,
I wouldn't rent an expensive EV. Ireland is notorious for narrow roads and damaged rentals. But if you can't drive a standard transmission an EV might be about the same rental cost. But charging takes time and planning. I suggest you enjoy Ireland and not have to worry about charging.

wayne iNWI

I can drive a manual (that's what I drive at home), as can my 28 yr old daughter who will be traveling with me. It's just that at 65, the automatic just makes it so much easier to deal with the other challenge of driving on the narrow lanes and on the left hand side. I've nixed the idea of an electric vehicle and will just need to bite the bullet and spend about $2,000 for the two weeks of renting. I see a car rental company, Sixt, has a lot of cars to lease. I've never used them before. Their prices are the most reasonable of the lot, but maybe that is indicative of something, more, "buyer beware-ish". Anyone have experience with this car rental company?

I've used Sixt in Ireland twice (2014 and 2015). My only complaint is that they seem to be chronically understaffed at Dublin airport and the wait to check in and get the car was excessive (close to 1 hour). The wait to get a shuttle to the terminal after returning the car (same location) was also a bit long (45 mins).