EV Discussion thread

Netexporter

More bolleaux on the interwebz. What a surprise.

Krakkkers

"If paying via contactless credit or debit card, a pre-authorisation fee of either £15 or £45 is temporarily reserved on your card. This is to validate your card and may be seen on your account as a “Pending Transaction”. This pre-authorisation amount will be cancelled and replaced with the actual amount you were charged for the kWh used during your session. Please note depending on your bank, this adjustment can take a few days to correct.

Please note that the pre-authorisation fee will apply each time a card is tapped on the charger or payment terminal. If you are unable to start a charge on your first attempt, we recommend you call our support team on 0808 281 4444.

To avoid pre-authorisation charges, sign up to the InstaVolt App."

1961Nick

JKenH said:

paul991 said:

I want one when the price is right

I want another one when it is as convenient to use as an ICE car: when I can reliably roll up to any charging station and immediately get a charge - no queueing in a disorganised queue not being able to leave my car to go to the toilets in case someone steals my slot, no wondering if the charger is working or whether it will connect to my car. I want it to be like turning up at a petrol station. No faffing around in the pouring rain and dark with a heavy charging cable that has been left on the floor, no finding I need an app I don’t have to start a charge. No finding the charging cable won’t reach the car because the car next to it is badly parked. No finding the charger I want to use blocked by a car that isn’t plugged in or has finished charging. No finding that after taking a vacant slot next to a charging car that when it comes to my turn it doesn’t work. No stopping because I have to charge when I wouldn’t otherwise need to stop for a break. No wasting time planning charging stops with a plan B,C and D as well.  I want to be in charge of my journey myself, not a slave to my car. 

It sounds like you need a Tesla Ken?

JKenH

I just went onto Facebook and the first post I saw on the EV Drivers group was this. 

Idle Fees - definitely needs to be a "thing" on all charging networks, not just Tesla. Today, I encountered 3 spaces - all at Instavolt ultra-rapid chargers being occupied by people treating them as long-term parking spots with added charging convenience. Two at the Startbucks in Fleet close to the Miller & Carter restaurant - and then a lonely, cold Mustang Mach-E plugged in but 100% charged at the Instavolt at Madjeski Stadium in Reading. The sooner charging networks get wise to this behaviour and charge people for staying connected but not charging - the better.

Selfish tw*ts.. grrr... 🤬

--

Edit: The two at the Starbucks in Fleet were observed parking there early this morning by local witnesses. There are only two chargers, so these two pr*cks had taken all the available bays. While my partner was there queueing to charge - some 12 hours later - she saw one of the cars being returned to by someone being dropped off as a passenger in an ICE car - to collect their EV that had been occupying the space for what must have been 10 hours needlessly. They then drove off and a grateful EV driver ahead of my missus in the queue finally got to charge. Not being able to charge & having run out of available time, my missus had to move on to her next call (she's a healthcare professional) - and then rang me, panicking that she didn't have enough charge to complete her day's visits. I had to head out, find her (in Mortimer) - then lead her to the Instavolt charger in Reading where she could get a quick Zap topping up enough to get her to her remaining 4 calls tonight and home to plug in to our Zappi. When we got to the Instavolt chargers in Reading, I witnessed the apparently abandoned Mustang with its owner seeemingly behaving in the same way as the two muppets had in Fleet earlier today. What is wrong with these people? Don't they realise that rapid chargers are a rare shared resource? Or do they just not care? 

W*nkers - is the conclusion I came to. 🤬

2nd Edit:

Both of these locations are within spitting distance of train stations. Coincidence? I think not.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/UKEVDrivers/permalink/24411494295161329/

If you are a laid back individual this isn’t a problem but some of us might find this type of situation really frustrating and wonder if an EV is more trouble than it’s worth.

it just seems to me there is a lot of unnecessary stress with an EV. I wonder if EV drivers (like smokers)  get better annuity rates. 

Krakkkers

Krakkkers said:

"If paying via contactless credit or debit card, a pre-authorisation fee of either £15 or £45 is temporarily reserved on your card. This is to validate your card and may be seen on your account as a “Pending Transaction”. This pre-authorisation amount will be cancelled and replaced with the actual amount you were charged for the kWh used during your session. Please note depending on your bank, this adjustment can take a few days to correct.

Please note that the pre-authorisation fee will apply each time a card is tapped on the charger or payment terminal. If you are unable to start a charge on your first attempt, we recommend you call our support team on 0808 281 4444.

To avoid pre-authorisation charges, sign up to the InstaVolt App."

So they don't withdraw the money but the customer can't access the money either, is that right?

Netexporter

You can rack up huge fees if you overstay on a charger.

silvercar

Netexporter said:

You can rack up huge fees if you overstay on a charger.

Idle charges on Tesla super chargers are £1 a minute, if the charging station is over 50% occupied. You get notifications (to your phone) when you are approaching the end of your charge time. 

silvercar

Totally EV household. Not once in 2 years of ownership have we had to wait to charge. We have a home charger, so only need to use chargers when we travel long distance.

MikeJXE

QrizB said 

 When you put your card details into the machine at Tesco it will say something like "card authorised, max spend £99". At this point Tesco have confirmed with your card issuer that you have at least £99 of credit (for a credit card) or of account balance (for a debit card) and will have submited a transaction for £99 to reserve it. This stops you from spending that 99 until you've finished with the pump.

At the end of your transaction, you'll then be charged for the actual value of your fuel and the £99 transaction will be reversed. Usually this reversal is pretty quick, but sometimes it takes a few days (it's worse with debit cards).

If you've got your bank's app you'll see both transactions on it, but the £99 won't usually appear on your printed statement.

If you take a look at the banking forums on this site, you'll find the occasional thread from someone with a low bank balance who has filled up their vehicle using pay-at-pump and then can't buy groceries / a takeaway / whatever because their funds are still tied up

Thats not strictly true, I have for years used Halifax Clarity card and never noticed that.

Yesterday for the first time I used my Chase debit card, half a tank top up as I'm going away for a week  tomorrow and I won't need to fill up till I get back

QrizB

Ok, perhaps i should have said "might see both transactions on it". I do on my AmEx.