on route charging pathetic

The place to discuss everything else..
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thefordprefect
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2021 2:59 pm

Post by thefordprefect »

Not sure this is quite the right place but...
We had a 200 mile journey across country. In a ID3 not really necessary to charge but wanted to arrive at destination and then back home with a reasonable charge. On the outbound leg we first tried a couple of Ionity chargers at Cambridge services following on screen instruction. But communication failed on 2 units so we hoofed it another 50 miles to a BP charger. It was freezing cold, little phone signal and the display was small and too low down (possibly ok for wheel chair users?) to easily read. It took an amazing 30minutes to realise credit cards would not work and we had to log onto BP site to get the thing to operate (had to hold phone above to get signal!) but in the approaching night we managed a charge.
On the way back we decided to try the Ionity charger again - there were 2 other users at the Cambridge services all failing miserably to charge their cars - Mitubishi and Seat (owned by a person who worked in development for Williams E racing). We all followed the instructions on screen, we all failed and the Seat driver gave up as it was a new vehicle with nearly full battery. The other driver was NEEDING a charge so continued to try. We managed to log on to Ionity website and enabled the charge unit to begin charging the car (at full price 69p/unit! Not the VW price). We suggested the other couple to use the Ecotricity charge (AC only and apparently not contactless).We went into services for food and drink, 30 minutes later we emerged to find the Ecotricity users still trying to get a charge. We took pity and used our credit card and a previous joined account to pay for their charge (later we checked the credit card for how much they charged - only 6kWH!!!! I would think they failed to get a full charge). We left them to it. went to disconnect our EV and found 2 other drivers battling with Ionity chargers. One gave up and left.

THIS IS RIDICULOUS! Pay at petrol pump has been working for years ALL CHARGERS INSTALLED MUST BE FORCED TO UPGRADE TO CONTACTLESS PAYMENT and no need to join a network. OK by all means have lower prices for members but most would be happy for full price and simple payment for those odd occasions charging is needed away from home. Some one has started a government petition for this purpose. It is found here with all of 20 signatures!!!! A previous one made it to 1000 sigs so no action!

Petition: Force all electric car chargers to accept credit cards

you need to search the government petition site for "Force all electric car chargers to accept credit cards" since the URL is not postable

Please spread this and sign if you agree.

Thank you.

Deleted User 192

Post by Deleted User 192 »

Never had an issue at Ionity with a We Charge card, which ID.3 owners can order through the We Connect ID. app, you can also get a plan for free for 12 months which gets you a 45p rate.
Deleted User 314

Post by Deleted User 314 »

I have to say that I will divert to an Ionity charger if/when I see them, 100% success rate and the highest charge rate (speed). Never had a problem, but I can imagine your frustration!

Contactless for all would be great but I would anticipate prices would be higher as folk don't need to register..
MotMot
Posts: 1211
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2021 2:04 pm

Post by MotMot »

I think you were unlucky (IONITY) and I’m unsurprised at Bp that have a terrible reputation for their charging network reliability.

If IONITY was crap first time - why go back?

Anyway - in general InstaVolt and Osprey have the most reliable reputation - and between them a pretty good coverage.

PS - in 4500 miles and 3.5 months of owenership I’ve had no insurmountable charging issues. But I always stick to those I know are reliable.
andrewparker
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Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2021 1:14 pm

Post by andrewparker »

Polestar 2 / Midnight / Plus / 20s
VW up! GTI / Tungsten
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Utumno
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Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2021 12:34 am
Location: Oxfordshire

Post by Utumno »

Forcing contactless payment won't fix broken chargers. Instead perhaps gov.uk should mandate availability times so that the chargers available actually work.
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