Thwarted by iSmart gosh dang it

[timeades]

Oh, that's fantastic! That's how it should be everywhere.

So disappointed to see that the brand new chargers installed at Gretna and Abington are open to the elements just like the old ones.

There are already hubs like this springing up around the country and I think it will come eventually as less reliance is placed on ICE. EV's only account for 1 in every 46 cars at the moment. What makes the Fulham one special is the actually ripped out an ICE filling station to install it.

There will also be a push for this sort of charging station as solar panel technology improves giving the operators more options to power the infrastructure of the charging hub but maybe not the chargers themselves

 

[Rolfe]

I hope that canopy is covered by solar panels!

 

[JDMB]

I hope that canopy is covered by solar panels!

This is an initiative in France to do this, I believe.

 

[timeades]

I hope that canopy is covered by solar panels!

That will be phase 2. There were issues with panel supplies, like most tech over the past 3 years, when they built it.

 

[KH11]

Do you have to have your car doors locked for the charger to work? According to the sales agent I saw yesterday she implied you did.

If that’s the case then you have to have somewhere to go especially if it’s raining while it does it.

 

[tsedge]

Do you have to have your car doors locked for the charger to work? According to the sales agent I saw yesterday she implied you did.

If that’s the case then you have to have somewhere to go especially if it’s raining while it does it.

No. There's a lot of guff talked about this: the car will charge whether locked, unlocked, the infotainment screen is active or shutdown, or whatever mix you want.

 

[KH11]

No. There's a lot of guff talked about this: the car will charge weather locked, unlocked, the infotainment screen is active or shutdown, or whatever mix you want.

I thought it wasn’t right what she was saying but I didn’t argue with her. I thought I had seen people on YouTube set the charger going and then got and sat in the car whilst it was charging

 

[Rolfe]

Do you have to have your car doors locked for the charger to work? According to the sales agent I saw yesterday she implied you did.

If that’s the case then you have to have somewhere to go especially if it’s raining while it does it.

Nope. The first time I charged at a public charger I sat in the car and fiddled around on Twitter while it did it.

Last week I put the car on a type 2 charger in a multi-storey car park and walked away, forgetting to press the door button. It was charging away happily when I realised what I'd done and checked the app. Sadly, the app refused to lock the car and I had to trail all the way back to the car park to press the damn button. The car was sitting there in a dark corner, DRLs (at least) blazing, happily supping up the electrons.

 

[timeades]

Do you have to have your car doors locked for the charger to work? According to the sales agent I saw yesterday she implied you did.

If that’s the case then you have to have somewhere to go especially if it’s raining while it does it.

At the Ionity, Instavolt and the free charger at the hotel I stayed in I just drove up got out, leaving the door open, swiped my card, plugged in and off it went. Then I shut the door locked up went and got a coffee. When I got back I unlocked opened the door and sat in the drivers seat fiddling with the infotainment screens

 

[KH11]

Nope. The first time I charged at a public charger I sat in the car and fiddled around on Twitter while it did it.

Last week I put the car on a type 2 charger in a multi-storey car park and walked away, forgetting to press the door button. It was charging away happily when I realised what I'd done and checked the app. Sadly, the app refused to lock the car and I had to trail all the way back to the car park to press the damn button. The car was sitting there in a dark corner, DRLs (at least) blazing, happily supping up the electrons.

So by the sounds of it then you only have to lock the car if you’re going off to have a coffee or shopping whilst it’s charging then. Otherwise you can stop with it and sit in the car.

 

[KH11]

At the Ionity, Instavolt and the free charger at the hotel I stayed in I just drove up got out, leaving the door open, swiped my card, plugged in and off it went. Then I shut the door locked up went and got a coffee. When I got back I unlocked opened the door and sat in the drivers seat fiddling with the infotainment screens

I will be charging my car at home on my Zappi charger but I will have a couple of goes on some rapid chargers. So I know how to get on with doing long journeys requiring a top up on route.

 

[JDMB]

My first public charge at Membury Services on the M4 Westbound started badly Gridserve charger wouldn’t accept any type of payment and I’d left my Electroverse card at home.

Called the number on the charger and this issue was diagnosed really quickly, the card reader was having a funny 5 mins, so they rebooted the charger remotely and after a couple of minutes it was working fine, so a really good response to a bit of an unnerving first charge.

I did have plenty in reserve as I wasn’t sure where we were staying, AirBNB booked by my wife, had any charging facilities, which it turns out it didn’t. Worse come to the worse, I’d have found a facility at my destination to charge, but we were only there for a night effectively, so thought it best to top up enroute, and then if needed, a top up on the way home.

 

[evcog]

I think there was a problem with early model MG ZS Evs where you could only charge with the door locked but that was resolved with a software update 2 or 3 years ago.

I must say so far I have had few problems with any chargers. Their have been an occasional one that didn't work but it was easy to move to another that was working. Perhaps I am very fortunate as chargers have increased by over 70% in the last 2 months so most are brand new.

I was dissapointed to learn that Tesla super chargers don't currently recognise most MG Evs. However, there are not many of the open ones in my vacinity so HeyHo.

 

[timeades]

I will be charging my car at home on my Zappi charger but I will have a couple of goes on some rapid chargers. So I know how to get on with doing long journeys requiring a top up on route.

My first public charge at Membury Services on the M4 Westbound started badly Gridserve charger wouldn’t accept any type of payment and I’d left my Electroverse card at home.

Called the number on the charger and this issue was diagnosed really quickly, the card reader was having a funny 5 mins, so they rebooted the charger remotely and after a couple of minutes it was working fine, so a really good response to a bit of an unnerving first charge.

I did have plenty in reserve as I wasn’t sure where we were staying, AirBNB booked by my wife, had any charging facilities, which it turns out it didn’t. Worse come to the worse, I’d have found a facility at my destination to charge, but we were only there for a night effectively, so thought it best to top up enroute, and then if needed, a top up on the way home.

My first 24 hrs were quite funny. Picked mine up from Preston and en route I'd planned to charge at an E.On charger very close to the dealership as a 'just in case' but as it turned out they had charged to 90% so set off for the lakes.

Drove quite a few miles first and second day and was down to about 30% so decided a first charge was in order, but I was in Keswick so it wasn't a good idea. Found an old tatty gridserve box hidden at the back of a car park that was out of order, luckily there was a 22kW charger next to it with a chap plugged in and he said 'you want Booths, they have 4 Ionity chargers' so off I toddled to Booths. Chargers were all full, 2 EVs not even charging. There was no where to park near by to get in the queue so I decided to head for the Hotel as I guessed I'd have between 15-20% left when I got there.

When I got to the hotel the charger was not in use so plugged in overnight and let it do it's thing but it did demonstrate to me how lucky were are in London and especially Hammersmith with not really having to think about or worry about finding a charger

 

[Rolfe]

So by the sounds of it then you only have to lock the car if you’re going off to have a coffee or shopping whilst it’s charging then. Otherwise you can stop with it and sit in the car.

That seems to be the case. Just remember that you can't unplug the charger cable from the car with the doors locked. That was my first (and so far only) call to my dealer, the morning after I got the car. "How do I get the charging cable to unplug from my car??!!" "Unlock your car," said in world-weary tones.

I had at least one experience where the car was unlocked and indeed a door was open, but it still wouldn't release the cable. I shut the doors, locked the car, then unlocked it again. Hey presto, the cable unplugged. Strange are the ways of EVs.

 

[Rolfe]

My first 24 hrs were quite funny. Picked mine up from Preston and en route I'd planned to charge at an E.On charger very close to the dealership as a 'just in case' but as it turned out they had charged to 90% so set off for the lakes.

Drove quite a few miles first and second day and was down to about 30% so decided a first charge was in order, but I was in Keswick so it wasn't a good idea. Found an old tatty gridserve box hidden at the back of a car park that was out of order, luckily there was a 22kW charger next to it with a chap plugged in and he said 'you want Booths, they have 4 Ionity chargers' so off I toddled to Booths. Chargers were all full, 2 EVs not even charging. There was no where to park near by to get in the queue so I decided to head for the Hotel as I guessed I'd have between 15-20% left when I got there.

When I got to the hotel the charger was not in use so plugged in overnight and let it do it's thing but it did demonstrate to me how lucky were are in London and especially Hammersmith with not really having to think about or worry about finding a charger

Booth's in Kirkby Lonsdale was a great place to charge for me. Was that the one you meant? Four Instavolt chargers (I think, or was it Ionity?) with only one car charging. I had more trouble trying to pay the £1.40 parking fee than I did with the charger. (I was finally rescued by an elderly lady in a hurry who stopped me trying to use my card and said "just give it some money!")

There were plenty parking spaces free too, and given how fast that charger was, I'd just have waited till someone went away. I now have that one pegged as my charger-of-last-resort on the way to Halifax. I will sit in that car park until I get a charge, no matter what.

 

[timeades]

That seems to be the case. Just remember that you can't unplug the charger cable from the car with the doors locked. That was my first (and so far only) call to my dealer, the morning after I got the car. "How do I get the charging cable to unplug from my car??!!" "Unlock your car," said in world-weary tones.

I had at least one experience where the car was unlocked and indeed a door was open, but it still wouldn't release the cable. I shut the doors, locked the car, then unlocked it again. Hey presto, the cable unplugged. Strange are the ways of EVs.

My other half is adamant that she just has to swear at it in Spanish and it works as she didn't see me clicking the unlock button on the screen

 

[Rolfe]

I need to remember that button on the screen. I got my knickers in a twist at Southwaite because the charger wouldn't let go of my car. I succeeded in the end, but I had forgotten about the screen. And indeed the app. (In my defence the sunlight was so strong that seeing any LED screen was a difficult proposition at the time.)

 

[timeades]

Booth's in Kirkby Lonsdale was a great place to charge for me. Was that the one you meant? Four Instavolt chargers (I think, or was it Ionity?) with only one car charging. I had more trouble trying to pay the £1.40 parking fee than I did with the charger. (I was finally rescued by an elderly lady in a hurry who stopped me trying to use my card and said "just give it some money!")

There were plenty parking spaces free too, and given how fast that charger was, I'd just have waited till someone went away. I now have that one pegged as my charger-of-last-resort on the way to Halifax. I will sit in that car park until I get a charge, no matter what.

Nope mine was Keswick, a town of 5,500 people plus however many in the summer and they have 4.5 public chargers. According to the chap I was talking to it can get ugly around the chargers in the summer

 

[Rolfe]

Oh dear! Kirkby Lonsdale only has 1,843 people according to Wikipedia, and I imagine it's a bit less over-run by visitors. (I tend to think most people using public chargers will be visitors, as in rural areas most people with EVs can probably charge at home.)

You'd think if chargers were getting that badly over-subscribed, sensible business people would think about installing more. You'd think.