Charging Anxiety

[Walespete]

I have grown to like my MG4, great car to drive. Love the top down camera which makes difficult parking easy.

My only worry is charging. I have a fear of turning up at a charger hub on low battery miles from home and being unable to charge. My last DC charging experience was stressful. 2 chargers accepted my payment but refused to connect, timing out. It was as if I hadn't plugged in, the chargers didn't react.

I then tried Gridserve. These have never let me down, and it worked first time. To hell with the 89p per kilowatt. I would rather pay extra for the piece of mind stress free experience.

The we come on to AC charging at home.
AAAAAARRRRRRGH!

 

[Everest]

What issues do you have with AC charging at home?

 

[Walespete]

What issues do you have with AC charging at home?

Changed to the new Pod Home app for my Podpoint charger. It is awful! Screwed everything up. Waiting to go back to the old reliable Podpoint app.

 

[Everest]

Seems you're not having much luck with the 'reply' feature on here either (ah, fixed now)

 

[Giller]

Have you tried Zapmap? I rarely charge away from home but on the occasion I do I use their app to activate and pay for charging, was over in Scotland over the weekend and used a charger in Largs for a top up, no issues.

 

[Yorkshire Hillbilly]

TomTom also added an auto pit stop feature to their latest iteration of the app too. If you're going on a long journey just pop in your state of charge at the beginning and how much you want to arrive with and it calculates everything for you and it's dead easy to use.

Have a look at the Dave Takes It On YouTube channel. He's got very comprehensive guide to all types of chargers out there and how to use them e.g. when using x branded chargers plug in first then tap the card... when using x brand of chargers tap the card first then plug in.

And... if you haven't already, get an Electroverse account and RFID card, it works a treat with most chargers.

 

[hojnikb]

Get your car fully updated. Newer updates solved a lot of connecting issues people had at DCFS.

As for chargers; use ABRP. Tons of info and you get an accurate trip estimation.

 

[MG Clive]

Seems you're not having much luck with the 'reply' feature on here either (ah, fixed now)

I fixed it.

 

[Griffian]

I use an Electroverse card. It's touch-in and touch-out. Had no issues so far.

 

[Rip Van]

Get your car fully updated. Newer updates solved a lot of connecting issues people had at DCFS.

As for chargers; use ABRP. Tons of info and you get an accurate trip estimation.

What's "DCFS"?

 

[MG Clive]

What's "DCFS"?

Direct Current Filling Stations maybe.

 

[siteguru]

DC Fast Superchargers?

 

[MG Clive]

DC Fast Superchargers?

That's better than mine.

 

[Panther]

I'm sure I'll experience some charging anxiety on my first road trip this weekend to Wales, 120miles one way, there's no way the Xpower will make it back and not yet used a public charger, so it could be fun !!

 

[NikLiverpool]

Get the Electroverse card; you do not even need to be Octopus client. I have used it with my old Tesla, my wife's BYD and now with the IM6. No problems whatsoever.
I would also suggest to download the Ionity and Instavolt apps. You just need to register and log with your account. I have used both and no probs.

I can understand your anxiety though. First time I did a long range trip with my Tesla was a trip down to London and although I had access to the Supercharger network I was still stressed.

I would also suggest before any trip do a trial charge in a fast charger of your convenience. Just to familiarize yourself with the process and mitigate any potential issues.

 

[MGCamb]

Changed to the new Pod Home app for my Podpoint charger. It is awful! Screwed everything up. Waiting to go back to the old reliable Podpoint app.

I am living with it at the moment. I set the car to 80 or 100%, no time set in car and it works ok - just starts and does it all in one go. My problem is around our second car not being recognised.

 

[salty]

I'm sure I'll experience some charging anxiety on my first road trip this weekend to Wales, 120miles one way, there's no way the Xpower will make it back and not yet used a public charger, so it could be fun !!

Might not make it there!









(Only joking)

 

[T1 Terry]

I had problems connecting to the local vehicle mobs chargers (RAA) and after nearly an hr and 5 chargers in the same parking garage, a young female assistant on the phone told me to unplug, lock/unlock the car rapidly 5 or 6 times, then try again ..... and away it went and has not given me dramas since .....
No idea why that worked, just happy it did, we very rarely charge away from home .... so it's always a desperation charge when we know we can't make it home or to somewhere we can get a 15 amp outlet and plug in the single phase charger with the adjustable charge rate, and set it for 16 amp supply, then go and find something to do for an hr while it puts in enough to get home .....

T1 Terry