Chargers in Lancashire

[Rolfe]

My query really relates to whether there is any practical alternative to the Gridserve chargers at Killington Lake when driving south on the M6.

I'm driving to Sussex in a couple of weeks and I had a route planned on ABRP which involved a stop of 52 minutes at Killington Lake. This wasn't the app's first choice, but its favoured charger is at a Porsche showroom in the middle of nowhere with no refreshments anywhere near. I decided I was happy enough to sit for 52 minutes at Killington Lake, because there is a nice Roadchef there. However, I re-calculated the route today just to check, and now ABRP has decided I have to wait 2 hours 5 minutes at Killington Lake to get charged! Obviously this is not on. The reason for this is that the Gridserve there is now downgraded to only 40 Kw, whereas it had previously been rated at 50 or even 60. It's the same charger, and ZapMap still thinks it's 50 Kw, but this is a worry.

I still don't want to sit at a deserted Porsche showroom for lunch. If I remove Killington Lake and ask ABRP for other suggestions I get a detour off the motorway on the A6 to Garstang, a 150 Kw BP Pulse charger where I only need to wait for 25 minutes, and there's both a Wild Bean Café next to it and a pub restaurant within walking distance. However that charger is noted on ZapMap as having restrictions, and it's currently marked as out of order. Not reassuring, considering that I'll be down to only 10% by then, and a problem with this single charger would be unwelcome. To be fair there are a couple of Booth's shops with Instavolts not too far away so it probably wouldn't be a disaster, but on the whole I'd prefer to stop sooner.

I had noticed a bit of a dearth of chargers rated better than 50 Kw in that area, but there is another possibility on ABRP which I didn't notice last time I looked, and which isn't marked on either ZapMap or PlugShare. It's a 160 Kw Instavolt at Greenlands Farm Village, beside a café, and only a short detour off the motorway. I'd get there at 19%, which is somewhat less scary than 10%, and there are a couple of alternatives close by, including the scorned 350 Kw one at the Porsche garage. (In fact it's so close to the Porsche garage that I'm not sure why it's not ABRP's first pick as an alternative.)

So I have two questions either for anyone familiar with the route, or for anyone who knows how reliable ABRP is. First, has Killington Lake really become essentially unusable unless you want to spend half a day there? ABRP has seriously changed its mind about the practicality of charging there. Second, do I believe it as regards the existence of this 160 Kw Instavolt at the farm village? Nobody else seems to be aware of it at all, and even ABRP isn't suggesting it spontaneously, although it seems an obvious choice. New installation?

Also, any thoughts about the reliability of BP Pulse, and whether heading for a single one noted as having "restrictions" is a wise move?

 

[Tonych]

My query really relates to whether there is any practical alternative to the Gridserve chargers at Killington Lake when driving south on the M6.

I'm driving to Sussex in a couple of weeks and I had a route planned on ABRP which involved a stop of 52 minutes at Killington Lake. This wasn't the app's first choice, but its favoured charger is at a Porsche showroom in the middle of nowhere with no refreshments anywhere near. I decided I was happy enough to sit for 52 minutes at Killington Lake, because there is a nice Roadchef there. However, I re-calculated the route today just to check, and now ABRP has decided I have to wait 2 hours 5 minutes at Killington Lake to get charged! Obviously this is not on. The reason for this is that the Gridserve there is now downgraded to only 40 Kw, whereas it had previously been rated at 50 or even 60. It's the same charger, and ZapMap still thinks it's 50 Kw, but this is a worry.

I still don't want to sit at a deserted Porsche showroom for lunch. If I remove Killington Lake and ask ABRP for other suggestions I get a detour off the motorway on the A6 to Garstang, a 150 Kw BP Pulse charger where I only need to wait for 25 minutes, and there's both a Wild Bean Café next to it and a pub restaurant within walking distance. However that charger is noted on ZapMap as having restrictions, and it's currently marked as out of order. Not reassuring, considering that I'll be down to only 10% by then, and a problem with this single charger would be unwelcome. To be fair there are a couple of Booth's shops with Instavolts not too far away so it probably wouldn't be a disaster, but on the whole I'd prefer to stop sooner.

I had noticed a bit of a dearth of chargers rated better than 50 Kw in that area, but there is another possibility on ABRP which I didn't notice last time I looked, and which isn't marked on either ZapMap or PlugShare. It's a 160 Kw Instavolt at Greenlands Farm Village, beside a café, and only a short detour off the motorway. I'd get there at 19%, which is somewhat less scary than 10%, and there are a couple of alternatives close by, including the scorned 350 Kw one at the Porsche garage. (In fact it's so close to the Porsche garage that I'm not sure why it's not ABRP's first pick as an alternative.)

So I have two questions either for anyone familiar with the route, or for anyone who knows how reliable ABRP is. First, has Killington Lake really become essentially unusable unless you want to spend half a day there? ABRP has seriously changed its mind about the practicality of charging there. Second, do I believe it as regards the existence of this 160 Kw Instavolt at the farm village? Nobody else seems to be aware of it at all, and even ABRP isn't suggesting it spontaneously, although it seems an obvious choice. New installation?

Also, any thoughts about the reliability of BP Pulse, and whether heading for a single one noted as having "restrictions" is a wise move?

I use BP pulse, Shell and Instavolt on long runs quite often. Don't think many apps show them all so I check each providers own apps

 

[Rolfe]

I've just checked the BP Pulse charger suggested by ABRP on BP Pulse's own app, and it's not marked. That's a bit worrying. It is marked on both ZapMaps and PlugShare, but ZapMaps has it as out of order. Maybe that's why it's not on the BP Pulse map at all?

Someone has left a photo of it on PlugShare, dated a month ago, without any adverse comment.

I didn't have the Instavolt app, but I downloaded it, and that charger at the farm village does appear. So it's real. There's only one, but if it's brand new and ZapMaps and PlugShare aren't showing it, maybe it won't be busy?

Perhaps your tip is the right one. Check the actual apps for the chargers shortly before leaving and see what's operational and what isn't. Thanks for the advice.