Asda free charging

The one in Totton is a BP pulse free one, you need the app to start it but only one of the two poles works, unfortunately as it's near the store it is normally ICEd.
 
I dunno about the cost where they have charging, but not all Asda's have it ( - my local one doesn't), so best just check your local one.
 
For sure, neither Asda I'm familiar with has chargers at all. One of them is right next to an Ikea that has a Gridserve that's charging 69p, so if Asda suddenly started offering free electricity there could be a riot.
 
ASDA Clevedon had a Pod-Point which was broken for as long as I remember. No one would take responsibility for the cost of repairing it (looked like it had been a victim of a hit and run). Looking on Plugshare, it looks like BP Pulse have taken over. Don't know if it is free or not.
 
2 x 7kw posts outside my local asda, one has not worked for years, no identifying marks on them so no idea who runs them. Might be free but who wants to hang around asda for hours waiting for enough charge to make it worth being there.
 
5teep said:
2 x 7kw posts outside my local asda, one has not worked for years, no identifying marks on them so no idea who runs them. Might be free but who wants to hang around asda for hours waiting for enough charge to make it worth being there.
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Other people who've bought cheap electric cars 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
5teep said:
2 x 7kw posts outside my local asda, one has not worked for years, no identifying marks on them so no idea who runs them. Might be free but who wants to hang around asda for hours waiting for enough charge to make it worth being there.
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People that shop there perhaps, I believe they are one of the big 4 supermarkets and well frequented.
 
That's exactly what my friend who wants an EV says. There is a huge Asda quite near her house, but there are no chargers there. She doesn't have any possibility to charge at home (mid-terrace house). She shops in that Asda quite often. She says that if there were chargers there where she could leave the car while she shops, she'd get an EV.

She doesn't even want or expect the electricity to be free. She just wants it to be available.
 
Rolfe said:
That's exactly what my friend who wants an EV says. There is a huge Asda quite near her house, but there are no chargers there. She doesn't have any possibility to charge at home (mid-terrace house). She shops in that Asda quite often. She says that if there were chargers there where she could leave the car while she shops, she'd get an EV.

She doesn't even want or expect the electricity to be free. She just wants it to be available.
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7kw a week from an hour's shopping is not going to be enough...
May as well spend an extra 10minutes on her inevitable trips to fast chargers 🤷🏻‍♂️
... if she's serious about wanting one...🤔
 
If there are only type 2 chargers then she'll have to take that into account. She'll need a type 2 to balance on though.

At least I've gathered enough experience with my MG that I can advise her on what is and isn't feasible. She was talking about a hybrid, but if it's a plug-in hybrid then she's back to the same equation I think. Right now I think she should hang on to her low-mileage 10 year old Polo (one carfeul lady owner) and see what happens re charging possibilities.

I just went out and bought my MG, knowing that I had a garage with metal-jacketed power points and a pretty good fused electricity supply. I knew nothing. It's working out fine though.
 
Rolfe said:
That's exactly what my friend who wants an EV says. There is a huge Asda quite near her house, but there are no chargers there. She doesn't have any possibility to charge at home (mid-terrace house). She shops in that Asda quite often. She says that if there were chargers there where she could leave the car while she shops, she'd get an EV.

She doesn't even want or expect the electricity to be free. She just wants it to be available.
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She could contact ASDA and ask if they plan to install any chargers, and recommend that particular one. I did the same for Tesco a couple of years ago and got a very nice reply about how they were expanding their network of chargers and a short while later four Pod-Point chargers appeared in a store about 10 miles away from us, which meant at the time we could have a day out and travel there and back for free. :)
 
I'll suggest that to her.

I've noticed ChargePoint Scotland has an interesting strategy in the villages. Smaller places (like here) have a single three-connector charger, only one car being able to use it at once. Mostly people use the rapid-charge facility, especially because there is a time limit (at 55 minutes they start fining you). However the type 2 lead is there, and someone who has charged to capacity on the rapid charger has the opportunity (after the 90-minute no-return period) of coming back for another 55-minute session on that. This seems adequate as the charger is frequently vacant, and I've seldom seen a vehicle waiting for someone else to finish. However in larger villages they add a two-connector type 2 separately, which I presume has a longer time limit. I've even seen places with two of the triple-connector chargers and two type 2 chargers (giving four connectors). Theoretically six cars could be charging at once, two with the potential for rapid charging.

This seems to work, providing DC facilities for anyone who needs a quick charge - either local or passing through - along with the ability to allow your car to balance-charge. I think a lot more residential areas could copy this. People without home charging facilities don't just need a type 2, which they'd be occupying for hours and if it wasn't very close to home they'd be twiddling their thumbs for a ridiculously long time, they need rapid chargers to take on a decent amount of charge in a reasonable time.

In areas where there are a lot of terraced houses and flats, unless it's possible to provide everyone with a long-stay (preferably overnight) type 2 charger within reasonable walking distance of home, they really need to install DC chargers as well. A visit to a DC charger while you're shopping, with the ability to leave the car on an AC charger sometimes when it's already at a high SoC is what's needed.
 
I'm on a short break to Chester and he city centre hotel has 4 (expensive @ 75p) 22kW chargers. I was looking on Zapmap to see what else is around and there are some, not many though. However Electroverse shows a block of 40 not far from here and only 5 were in use earlier. I will wander along for a look but it's made me realise that Zapmap may not be a goo basis for discussing availability of chargers!

OTOH I couldn't get Electroverse to work on one in Birmingham yesterday. I think it would have been 48p instead of 72p.
 
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smokie said:
I'm on a short break to Chester and he city centre hotel has 4 (expensive @ 75p) 22kW chargers. I was looking on Zapmap to see what else is around and there are some, not many though. However Electroverse shows a block of 40 not far from here and only 5 were in use earlier. I will wander along for a look but it's made me realise that Zapmap may not be a goo basis for discussing availability of chargers!

OTOH I couldn't get Electroverse to work on one in Birmingham yesterday. I think it would have been 48p instead of 72p.
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Chester Zoo has 20 odd Podpoint for visitors at 30p/kWh.
 
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