Gridserve serving up a treat!

[Sparci]

I used one of the new Gridserve charging points yesterday as a test run before a trip away next week to Cornwall (from Bristol) in my MG ZS EV. It worked at treat and connected no hassle, unlike the old Ecotricity units that I've dealt with in the past.

The display on the Gridserve charger was showing 120 KW going into the car, not sure what the actual rate was, but it was charging at a fast rate. I was there for 11 mins and 8.4 KW of charge was put into the car.

I understand Gridserve are looking to replace all of the outdated Ecotricity charging points and the tap and pay with your card / phone facility is excellent, no more app, which gets my vote.

Compared to when I purchased my MG EV back in February 2020 the number of pure EV / hybrids has significantly increased on the roads, we really need 20-30 charging points are key service stations, 3-4 doesn't cut it and I'm told that only 1 vehicle can charge at a time at each Gridserve charging unit.

Anyone else had experiences of Gridserve's charging points?

 

[Cocijo]

Which one did you use? At 8.4kw in 11mins you were getting around 50kwh which is great.

 

[Jake]

I had my best charge rate at Rugby Moto services which are brand new and a dedicated EV charge area with 6 or 8 double head Gridserve 350kW units. It was my 2nd Rapid charge of the day after a further 108 miles down to 23% the charge rate built up to 50kW at 40%SoC. It then slowly dropped to around 35kW up to 83% when I stopped. Before and since then I had never got more than 36kW.

I have found the new Gridserve units to be reliable, have informative displays, sensible cable tethering and easy to use on contactless. And at 30p/kWh (24p at Braintree) good value. I have a BP RFID ( £7.85/month sub ) and their Ultra charge units with incredibly awkward/short cables now cost something like 24p+/kWh with the RFID discount so not much difference. Add to that the unreliability of their ageing Rapid units and I'm seriously considering ditching the RFID after 5 years of declining service.

As you can guess I am a big fan of Gridserve and their drive to improve the infrastructure. I only hope they don't push their prices up too much as they become more dominant on the motorway network.

 

[Johnnybee]

Good to hear that EV charging is moving in the right direction, however the outlay for this is not inconsiderable. So expect prices to rise as more EV's take to the roads. Fortunately for me, I do 95% of my charging at home so my outlay is governed by my energy supplier. Having Solar Panels also helps to keep the cost down in the so called Summer.

 

[notdodgy]

Compared to when I purchased my MG EV back in February 2020 the number of pure EV / hybrids has significantly increased on the roads, we really need 20-30 charging points are key service stations, 3-4 doesn't cut it and I'm told that only 1 vehicle can charge at a time at each Gridserve charging unit.

Anyone else had experiences of Gridserve's charging points?

My one any only experience has put me off Gridserve for the foreseeable future.

11 o'clock at night and I ended up waiting to get sole use of a charger to get "Waiting for power" message. So it may be as bad as one car per site. Support rebooted the charger - no difference. My contactless card got blocked by the bank because of all the attempts.
I to had give up and drive to an Instavolt which worked first time.

 

[EWD]

I've found Gridserve to be a bit hit and miss. Twice this weekend I've had a charger saying, "Charger Error. Communication Problems." The first time at Wetherby services. I spent ten minutes faffing about. I couldn't get through on the phone either. Eventually the guy next to me went and I used that charger without issue.

On Sunday at Grantham Services I had the same issue. I spent 15 minutes on the phone with them rebooting the device twice. In the end they said they couldn't help so I went to a nearby InstaVolt and it worked first time.

Let's just hope these are firmware bugs that they iron out soon.

 

[ChrisT]

Gridserve Ecotricity Wetherby Services

Just charged for the first time using the upgraded chargers on the E Highway. Very impressed with the chargers, easy tap and go to get going. However the charging spaces have not been changed to allow two cars to sit in front of one charger. If you are out there service station owners can you...

www.mgevs.com

 

[EWD]

Gridserve Ecotricity Wetherby Services

Just charged for the first time using the upgraded chargers on the E Highway. Very impressed with the chargers, easy tap and go to get going. However the charging spaces have not been changed to allow two cars to sit in front of one charger. If you are out there service station owners can you...

www.mgevs.com

I think the issues I had with Gridserve are definitely minor firmware bugs as the Kona that came after me used the "faulty" charger without issue. When I swapped to the seemingly identical charger next to it the charger worked first time.

 

[Sparci]

Which one did you use? At 8.4kw in 11mins you were getting around 50kwh which is great.

It was the one at Aust services (Severn view) by the old severn bridge.

 

[Daveap]

I think the issues I had with Gridserve are definitely minor firmware bugs as the Kona that came after me used the "faulty" charger without issue. When I swapped to the seemingly identical charger next to it the charger worked first time.

I also had issues with A grid serve unit at the whertherby services. After two attempts I moved to the identical adjacent unit and it worked first time. Whilst charging another MG ZS pulled up and I warned them that it may not work. Sure enough same problem. Then a Nissan Leaf pulled up and was able to use this unit. Certainly it seems that the MG ZS software/firmware is more fussy - I have had similiar issues at Hubsta units where MG ZS will not work but other car makes had no problem. Hopefully these teething issues will be resolved in future software/firmware updates.

 

[ChrisT]

I also had issues with A grid serve unit at the whertherby services. After two attempts I moved to the identical adjacent unit and it worked first time. Whilst charging another MG ZS pulled up and I warned them that it may not work. Sure enough same problem. Then a Nissan Leaf pulled up and was able to use this unit. Certainly it seems that the MG ZS software/firmware is more fussy - I have had similiar issues at Hubsta units where MG ZS will not work but other car makes had no problem. Hopefully these teething issues will be resolved in future software/firmware updates.

When we tried the charger at Wetherby today an Audi etron had tried it and got the same problem - connection error so not just MG's having issue. Of course the issue was compounded as no one knew that the chargers dont charge 2 cars at once. I didnt try charging from the middle charger when the end one wasnt being used. Wondering if there is not enough power going to the end two chargers.

 

[Maylandmale]

I used one of the new Gridserve charging points yesterday as a test run before a trip away next week to Cornwall (from Bristol) in my MG ZS EV. It worked at treat and connected no hassle, unlike the old Ecotricity units that I've dealt with in the past.

The display on the Gridserve charger was showing 120 KW going into the car, not sure what the actual rate was, but it was charging at a fast rate. I was there for 11 mins and 8.4 KW of charge was put into the car.

I understand Gridserve are looking to replace all of the outdated Ecotricity charging points and the tap and pay with your card / phone facility is excellent, no more app, which gets my vote.

Compared to when I purchased my MG EV back in February 2020 the number of pure EV / hybrids has significantly increased on the roads, we really need 20-30 charging points are key service stations, 3-4 doesn't cut it and I'm told that only 1 vehicle can charge at a time at each Gridserve charging unit.

Anyone else had experiences of Gridserve's charging points?

Yes I was on holiday and used the Gridserve at a MOto service station on the A1M, pulled up plugged in, waived me card at the sensor, it whirled and clancked and the came up "WAITING FOR POWER" tried three times before the person charging next to me tols me it only charged one at a time I said B*ll!ks there two leads, he said "its always been like that but I will be finished in a about 1/2 hour" so I went and got a drink and sandwich. When he left I pluged in etc etc and away it went. A Jag E pace pulled up beside me then and being a gentlman let him try it a few times befroe I told the story, he said "B*ll!ks," you know the rest.