THIS is the first official image of a 'super-hub' which will soon become part of the electric car charging network.

More than 50 are expected to be up and running, some early next year, depending on planning permission. Sites for the super-fast charging hubs are being assessed on motorways and the national road network.

They will be able to cater for two to eight vehicles at the same time and deliver 100km driving range in six minutes.

Meanwhile, details of a 'hogging' penalty were confirmed for those who overstay on public fast chargers when the new payment system starts on November 18.

Offending owners will be hit with a €5 fee after a grace period of 45 minutes. A recent ESB survey found 90pc of EV owners support such a charge.

There will be no excuse for saying you forgot as the updated ecars connect app lets you swipe to start or stop a charge and, if you have push notifications switched on, it will send you a reminder you have overstayed.

When the new pricing system starts, owners face an average cost of €4.30 to boost their range by 100km at fast public chargers (50kW). Those using standard 22kW AC public chargers will escape fees at least until mid-2020.

There will be two price plans for 50kW fast chargers, pay as you go (PAYG) or membership.

PAYG will cost 33c per kWh while membership of €5 a month cuts the cost to 29c/kWh.

The fast-charge pricing will be followed by EV drivers paying for the high-power chargers (150kW), pictured above, as soon as they are operating.

ESB reckons on solid savings for EVs compared with diesel or petrol drivers.

And Kia Ireland's technical training manager, Darrell Doyle, has some interesting figures on that front too.

They are based on the 64kWh e-Niro battery and 455km WLTP average range.

Cost is calculated on 20pc-80pc charging because the DC charge only goes to 80pc and most people start around 20pc.

On the PAYG plan, charging from 20pc-80pc will cost €12.67. That is €4.64 per 100km, a saving of €2.11 every 100km compared with five litres/100km diesel and €4.06 for a petrol on six-litre/100km.

On the subscription model, charging will cost €11.13 or €4.08 per 100km, a saving of €2.67 compared with diesel and €4.62 with petrol.

But as there will be a €5 a month fee (deferred for a year if you join soon) you'd need to charge more than three times a month to make a saving similar to the PAYG model.

ESB ecars says the really big savings will accrue if you charge mostly at home.

Irish Independent