Public charging glitches

[amdmad]

I had some trouble with the PodPoints in the Glyndebourne audience car park. At least one wasn't working, but the real issue seemed to be that if you plugged in before "claiming" the post, the damn app would tell you it was already taken, not available, and once that happened nothing would change its mind. Picture a bunch of people in fancy evening dress shunting cars from one post to another on a bit of a slope with rough pebbly surfaces, in the blazing hot afternoon sun.

Podpoints are supposed to give you 5 or 15 minutes to claim a charge,so you don't have to stand there and wait .

 

[mj224]

A big thumbs up for Osprey, their modern chargers work so easily with a tap and pay. Gridserve is also one of my goto charger. I recently had trouble with Instavolt, but it worked once I downloaded the app. MFG seem to be pretty reliable, other than on one occasion a year or two ago....

AC Chargers are hit-and-miss for me, the local Clenergy, and Dragon chargers can't write proper software.......

 

[tsedge]

Just thinking about this - I never have any payments problems at chargers but then I always use my phone to pay via ApplePay for the convenience and extra security.

I wonder if those getting problems with bank card are getting a different experience. I know contactless cards decline every so many payments and sometimes want extra checks depending on bank policies.

 

[amdmad]

A big thumbs up for Osprey, their modern chargers work so easily with a tap and pay. Gridserve is also one of my goto charger. I recently had trouble with Instavolt, but it worked once I downloaded the app. MFG seem to be pretty reliable, other than on one occasion a year or two ago....

AC Chargers are hit-and-miss for me, the local Clenergy, and Dragon chargers can't write proper software.......

Our only problem with Ac is if its charging and you unlock car "forgot something " it stops the charge . Then got to start charge again,another £45 hold on debit card ....

 

[securespark]

Had that in Derby where the charger failed a couple of times, so we had 3 x £45 charges. It affected the available balance, but in the end, only one went through.

As for Visa, all the high street banks our family Bank with have deserted Visa like a sinking ship. I guess it's due to higher fees or something like that.

 

[Rolfe]

Sorry to hear that. I would suspect it might be your bank at fault. I've used them a lot, all over on my travels and never had a problem.

Dunno. I've got my Electroverse card working so I just use that. Handy little discount with it too.

Podpoints are supposed to give you 5 or 15 minutes to claim a charge,so you don't have to stand there and wait .

The issue seemed to be people plugging in first, then trying to claim a charge, and the bloody app insisting that the post in question was already bagged.

 

[amdmad]

The issue seemed to be people plugging in first, then trying to claim a charge, and the bloody app insisting that the post in question was already bagged.

I've always plugged in first lock car walk away,remembering the pods name,and confirm charge inside the store .

 

[EvTek23]

I've used Podpoint for some time when away from home at Tesco in Bournemouth and charged many times without any problems by connecting to the car, claiming the charge and locking the car, in that order. I've only had one problem charging when the charge stopped after the allocated 15 min claim your charge time. I couldn't get that outlet to charge again by either unlocking and relocking the car or trying to claim the charge again. In the end I had to move the car to a different charge point.
I've recently also charged in Tesco Loudwater (High Wycombe) twice and on each occasion, and as I recall they were on different charge points, that when I unlock the car to stop the charge the lights on the charge port have remained green with the plug locked into the car. It has taken a further re-lock and unlock cycle of the car in order to release the lock on the charging port.

 

[Rolfe]

I've always plugged in first lock car walk away,remembering the pods name,and confirm charge inside the store .

The Glyndebourne ones don't seem to work like that.

 

[GaryMG4]

While on holiday in the N. York Moors recently I had to plug in, lock the car and quickly get back to the cabin to use the wifi to claim the charge, no phone signal in that part of the forest. Failed once, I guess I wasn't quick enough.

 

[Martinonline]

When I last used the pod point at my local Tesco I left the car unlocked, plugged in, used the car's WiFi to specify the unit and commence charging. Then removed the shopping bags, locked the car and shopped.

 

[hmibennett]

I had some trouble with the PodPoints in the Glyndebourne audience car park. At least one wasn't working, but the real issue seemed to be that if you plugged in before "claiming" the post, the damn app would tell you it was already taken, not available, and once that happened nothing would change its mind. Picture a bunch of people in fancy evening dress shunting cars from one post to another on a bit of a slope with rough pebbly surfaces, in the blazing hot afternoon sun.

Yes, been there, done that! Good to have so many chargers provided on site, but needs to be more user-friendly underfoot (I actually tripped and fell on the hardcore this summer) and a few rapid chargers wouldn't go amiss - or, at least, tap and go chargers.

 

[Rolfe]

Yes, been there, done that! Good to have so many chargers provided on site, but needs to be more user-friendly underfoot (I actually tripped and fell on the hardcore this summer) and a few rapid chargers wouldn't go amiss - or, at least, tap and go chargers.

Picture me reversing up to the third different charger, in blazing hot sunshine, an evening dress and fancy shoes. The car wheels are scrabbling for a grip on the rough stony surface and spinning, because I'm trying to reverse uphill. Not the perfect start to the perfect day. But although I was struggling a bit on the stones in these shoes, at least I didn't actually fall over.

I've heard people complaining that the chargers are of limited use because they won't fill the battery in the time, I think it was a couple with a car with a large battery who lived close to their car's range away and didn't want to stop on the way home. But to be honest mine has only failed to fill once, at Tristan und Isolde last year. Don't know why, I was there for ages but the chargers were really slow that day.

I think these chargers are quite old and they rely to some extent on that wind turbine. Maybe they need to rethink their provision as technology moves on. They suit me though as I'm staying with friends quite nearby and just need enough so that I can get well on my way home the next day. (I made it to Longbridge this year, over 160 miles on the motorway in the SR.) I'd just like them to work first time. (They do have a techie lad hovering to help mind you.)

 

[Rom]

I

Hi all, I’m driving South from Scotland and experiencing multiple problems connecting to different charging networks. I’ve been driving an EV for 5 years so have some experience of public charging, but my ‘new’ MG4 XPower has taken 8 months in the workshop becoming drivable, so I’ve limited experience with this model.

Tesla chargers are working great, but many of them reverting to Tesla only, which is disappointing.

GRIDSERVE consistently returns a connection fault and their helpline say they have had previous problems connecting to MGs, tried different chargers, different power but all without success. Have others had problems with GRIDSERVE?

BP Pulse, I’ve tried multiple different chargers, spent ages on the phone but achieved no connection. I had decided to just never try another BP Pulse, but if the list of unusable networks gets long I shall have to conclude it is my MG that is unusable.

Westmorland, at Tebay I only had 13% battery left so I really persevered with their new 300Kw chargers despite numerous different problems with recognising/ authorising cards, connecting to the car and unlocking the cable to restart the process. After 58mins I achieved connection and the charge worked efficiently. I used to use their Teslas but they are no longer open to non-Tesla cars. On the return journey stopped at Cairn Lodge where the same problems started again and I gave up quickly (72% - no desperation ).

Do others have problems with specific networks? Or is it all just random? Are there any networks other than Tesla which are reliable so I can have the confidence to plan long journeys efficiently.

Many thanks

Sorry for the long reply, but it looks like I was experiencing similar issues to the original post on a completely different charging network.

I had a pretty bad experience last weekend in my mg4 long range on the Irish public charging networks. It was my longest drive, around 600km in total, and only the third time I've had to use public charging.

First one was using the new Brite DC charging at my destination, I was at around 20% battery, using their app, failed to communicate to start charging. Eur 40 deposit taken. Second attempt I just tapped my card, failed to communicate.
Third attempt, tapped my card and it started and stopped and charged correctly at 135kw.

That night, I tried the hotel Easygo charge point, but that failed to communicate and after a few attempts and many deposits, I gave up. Helpline couldn't get it working and suggested using another point, but I had given up at that stage.

Next day, I was at 13% and went to charge for a day trip, took 3 attempts with tapping the card, all failed to communicate. I used the app and the car finally started charging but was only taking 45-50kw. There was only one other car charging on a different point at the time.

Following day, I was at about 17% and went to Brite to top up for home, same issues again, multiple attempts to communicate and was only getting about 25kw. I took just enough battery to get me to an ionity station about 40 minutes away. There was only one other car using one of the 4 available points.

I normally don't have much issues on ionity using their app to charge, but this time it failed to communicate. 2nd attempt, it failed again. 3rd attempt, the app told me it failed to communicate but the car started charging. Again it was taking only about 50kw instead of 135kw, all 6 charge points were in use that day.

Back home I tried topping up on ionity but I gave up trying, I'm not sure if ionity were having issues because it kept telling me the points, which were available to select at the time, were now in use.

I went back the next day to the same ionity and got it to charge after a couple of attempts using their app.
First attempt, it failed to connect.
Second attempt, it said it failed to connect but the car started charging. I was getting about 80kw and it slowed to about 50kw.
All 6 points were in use.

I noticed a BYD Seal beside me was only getting 92kw but he just plugged in and was charging immediately. He never went more than 92kw and I'm sure that car is capable of much higher charging speeds.

Are these communication errors and slower than usual charging speeds an issue we need for our garages to check out, or were we just being unlucky?

 

[fifi16]

Sounds like a grim experience. I asked my dealership who claim to have heard of no such problems. BPPulse are off my list for ever but I have had success with various other providers. I have started a spreadsheet to record my public charging success rate

 

[fifi16]

Just thinking about this - I never have any payments problems at chargers but then I always use my phone to pay via ApplePay for the convenience and extra security.

I wonder if those getting problems with bank card are getting a different experience. I know contactless cards decline every so many payments and sometimes want extra checks depending on bank policies.

Apple Pay is my default system, but I keep Mastercard, Amex, Visa debit, Monzo and Zapmap card with me to maximise the chance of success. I’ve never been convinced that the bank is the problem. The 10+ charges for £1 that appear in the various accounts during a session of frustration indicate that the banking system is working fine. (The various £1 are always credited back eventually)

 

[atariman]

BP Pulse Holsworthy, Devon are useless. They report charger faulty even though other drivers have just charged there OK. Best I've found are of course Tesla, and Osprey. Anyone wanting to charge in Lifton, Devon, Strawberry Fields farm shop have just installed multiple chargers, fed from their own wind turbine and solar panels. Out of curiosity, I charged at one for ten minutes, but found it very expensive. I usually charge at the Teslas situated at the Arundel Hotel just half a mile down the road.

 

[tsedge]

Strawberry Fields has a nice farm shop and cafe. The Osprey chargers (16 or so) there work very well but yes, Osprey is expensive.

 

[gary333]

I was travelling up and down from Edinburgh over last week and used multiple Arnold Clark sites (via Electroverse) and all sites I visited were easy to use. I think they are Kempower units (but didn't specifically check). The positive was it was only 51p so actually semi-reasonable in price.

On the night time I used Tesla Adderstone (a little after Alnwick) as they were 37p.

When out and about I try and find Tesla chargers, but if not that, Ionity, however from now on I'll add Arnold Clark to the list).

 

[Rolfe]

Earlier today I charged on a Gridserve, and when I unplugged the app offered me a plug and play option for future. I accepted, and here I am on another Gridserve and it worked. Just plugged in and the car started charging, no fuss.