London to Wales on M4?

[Rolfe]

Yes, they take contactless. There's a snag though. They take a £30 pre-authorisation charge before anything will even start. I had THREE aborted attempts to charge at that bloody thing in the photo ("the car did something unexpected") with the result that I now have £90 frozen in my bank account until these phantom debits go away. This annoyed me no end and prejudiced me against the company. I mean what is the point, seriously?

After the third aborted attempt I moved the car to a Gridserve charger. As far as I can see, the pre-authorisation charge taken by that charger was £1. Which is fine, although I don't know why they need to do it at all. But £30? Really?

The next thing that happened was that the Gridserve charger literally broke down while it was charging my car. However it had already got me to 67% which was enough to get home on comfortably, so I chalked it all up to experience and drove off.

I will have another go with an Applegreen charger some time and hopefully we will mend our relationship. There were other people charging on their connectors and I didn't see anyone else having a problem. But £30? Srsly?

 

[Jef]

As far as I can see, the pre-authorisation charge taken by that charger was £1. Which is fine, although I don't know why they need to do it at all. But £30? Really?

I went to my local Tesco with my green petrol can (fuel needed for the lawn mower) and the pump pre-authorised £100.00 - I purchased 2 litres of their finest fuel, that will last the lawn mowing season....

 

[Rolfe]

Presumably they didn't charge you £100 for that!

The problem with the Applegreen charger was that I tried three times to get connected and each time it pre-authorised £30. After it had kicked me off without delivering a single electron I took my disappointed and hungry MG4 to a Gridserve charger, as I said. However I'm now looking at £90 frozen in my bank account until Applegreen finally get round to telling the bank that I don't actually owe them any money after all.

I presume that if my first attempt at charging had been successful I would only see a debit for the amount of charge actually delivered. Fine. But with aborted connections to chargers being so common, freezing up so much of drivers' money in this way shouldn't be acceptable. Like you with your lawn mower, I didn't even want £30 worth of charge in the first place.

 

[PeteC]

Yes, they take contactless. There's a snag though. They take a £30 pre-authorisation charge before anything will even start. I had THREE aborted attempts to charge at that bloody thing in the photo ("the car did something unexpected") with the result that I now have £90 frozen in my bank account until these phantom debits go away. This annoyed me no end and prejudiced me against the company. I mean what is the point, seriously?

After the third aborted attempt I moved the car to a Gridserve charger. As far as I can see, the pre-authorisation charge taken by that charger was £1. Which is fine, although I don't know why they need to do it at all. But £30? Really?

The next thing that happened was that the Gridserve charger literally broke down while it was charging my car. However it had already got me to 67% which was enough to get home on comfortably, so I chalked it all up to experience and drove off.

I will have another go with an Applegreen charger some time and hopefully we will mend our relationship. There were other people charging on their connectors and I didn't see anyone else having a problem. But £30? Srsly?

I used those chargers in early March and had exactly the same happen. It took me 4 attempts to get one working, having tried 3 different chargers altogether. When it did work, it charged quite quickly as I remember. I wasn't too chuffed either to discover that it was taking £30 each time. I assumed it was teething troubles as the chargers were obviously quite new and only had one cable on each station operating, but it sounds like the connection problem is still happening.

 

[Rolfe]

When I was there, both cables were working on the AppleGreen chargers. Or at least they appeared to be. I didn't try a second AppleGreen charger because I could see a spare space at a Gridserve charger and went for it. Of course the drivers of the cars that were charging on the AppleGreen chargers were all swigging coffee in the food court so there was nobody to ask.

When the Gridserve charger then broke down while charging my car I started to wonder if there was actually something wrong. But it charged normally on the village charger when we got home, and subsequently on the granny charger, so I don't think it's the car.

The message I got from the AppleGreen charger was "the car did something unexpected". Whatever that might mean. However the car didn't do anything unexpected with Gridserve, Instavolt, Blink Charging or ChargePlace Scotland, so go figure.

I can see a justification for the £30 pre-authorisation charge. Theoretically, someone might present a card that has only a pound or two's credit, get the charging started, then scarper, leaving them unable to collect. So they want to ensure the card has enough credit to cover the maximum likely charge. But the knock on effect of this for a customer who experiences repeated aborted charges is surely disproportionate.

Gridserve isn't doing it. I saw a £1 pre-authorisation charge from them. The £30 isn't an issue if the charge is successful. But with a real possibility that it won't be, it's a problem.

Blink Charging isn't doing it. I had a couple of aborted charges with them, and each time they asked me to agree to a maximum charge of just over £20 for four hours on a type 2 charger. But when I checked my bank statement I had only been charged for what had actually been provided.

I'll certainly avoid AppleGreen in future if there's an alternative. There are times when having £90 locked up in allegedly pending charges would be more than inconvenient.

 

[Veryfatbloke]

Presumably they didn't charge you £100 for that!

The problem with the Applegreen charger was that I tried three times to get connected and each time it pre-authorised £30. After it had kicked me off without delivering a single electron I took my disappointed and hungry MG4 to a Gridserve charger, as I said. However I'm now looking at £90 frozen in my bank account until Applegreen finally get round to telling the bank that I don't actually owe them any money after all.

I presume that if my first attempt at charging had been successful I would only see a debit for the amount of charge actually delivered. Fine. But with aborted connections to chargers being so common, freezing up so much of drivers' money in this way shouldn't be acceptable. Like you with your lawn mower, I didn't even want £30 worth of charge in the first place.

I had a similar problem with the Shell chargers in the Shell garage leading into Tunbridge Wells, the first time I used one. I managed to get 6 pre-authorisations of £45 due to the non-intuitive screen display. Fortunately my account had sufficient funds to cover them and they came back out about 3 days later. I used it again on Saturday just gone and it worked fine. I only use them for a quick top up while my wife is at the chiropractor, as I usually charge at home.

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

When I was there, both cables were working on the AppleGreen chargers. Or at least they appeared to be. I didn't try a second AppleGreen charger because I could see a spare space at a Gridserve charger and went for it. Of course the drivers of the cars that were charging on the AppleGreen chargers were all swigging coffee in the food court so there was nobody to ask.

When the Gridserve charger then broke down while charging my car I started to wonder if there was actually something wrong. But it charged normally on the village charger when we got home, and subsequently on the granny charger, so I don't think it's the car.

The message I got from the AppleGreen charger was "the car did something unexpected". Whatever that might mean. However the car didn't do anything unexpected with Gridserve, Instavolt, Blink Charging or ChargePlace Scotland, so go figure.

I can see a justification for the £30 pre-authorisation charge. Theoretically, someone might present a card that has only a pound or two's credit, get the charging started, then scarper, leaving them unable to collect. So they want to ensure the card has enough credit to cover the maximum likely charge. But the knock on effect of this for a customer who experiences repeated aborted charges is surely disproportionate.

Gridserve isn't doing it. I saw a £1 pre-authorisation charge from them. The £30 isn't an issue if the charge is successful. But with a real possibility that it won't be, it's a problem.

Blink Charging isn't doing it. I had a couple of aborted charges with them, and each time they asked me to agree to a maximum charge of just over £20 for four hours on a type 2 charger. But when I checked my bank statement I had only been charged for what had actually been provided.

I'll certainly avoid AppleGreen in future if there's an alternative. There are times when having £90 locked up in allegedly pending charges would be more than inconvenient.

Pre-auth charges are why I prefer to use my Octopus Electroverse card whenever possible.
Sadly, neither Gridserve nor Applegreen accept it, so I go elsewhere.
As I'm an Octopus customer, there aren't any pre-auth charges, and the charging bill appears as a separate line on my home electricity bill.

 

[stephenw]

There are 3x 350kW(!) Ionity chargers at the Wales 1 Business Park (Magor) if you need to top up just past the bridge, though I've not used them myself. Or failing that some 60kW Gridserves at the services on the opposite side of the M4.

 

[siteguru]

@Rolfe in case you didn't know, there are also 4 (I think; maybe it's 2 with 2 leads each ... 4 parking slots) Ionity chargers at Gretna Green - they're over towards the BP garage.

Edit: Google Streetview link of them.

 

[Rolfe]

I saw them on ZapMaps but I thought they were attached to the hotel.

 

[tsedge]

Found a useful searchable and filterable website for Tesla chargers, can show those open to non-Tesla EVs too, with lists, maps, details and more:

supercharge.info

Zoomable Tesla supercharger map with adjustable range indicator.

supercharge.info

 

[siteguru]

Find Us | Tesla

Use the interactive Find Us map to locate Tesla charging stations, service centers, galleries and stores on the go.

www.tesla.com

That works too - just delete the selections for everything except Superchargers Open To Non-Tesla

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

Found a useful searchable and filterable website for Tesla chargers, can show those open to non-Tesla EVs too, with lists, maps, details and more:

supercharge.info

Zoomable Tesla supercharger map with adjustable range indicator.

supercharge.info

Find Us | Tesla

Use the interactive Find Us map to locate Tesla charging stations, service centers, galleries and stores on the go.

www.tesla.com

That works too - just delete the selections for everything except Superchargers Open To Non-Tesla

Or, set Zap-Map filters to "Tesla Public Superchargers"

 

[tsedge]

Thanks chaps - although I believe both of those options are already mentioned earlier in this thread. I was just adding another option, not claiming anything was better.

 

[siteguru]

I think the Tesla link was in a YT video - I just explicitly posted it so you didn't have to follow a "teach your granny to suck eggs" video, as it is so obvious.

 

[Jonoffun]

Planning our first long motorway trip in our SR SE

If we leave London on a full charge hope we will get to Bristol or even over the bridge maybe Newport or Cardiff before needing stop.

Is it foolish to let the batteries go under 5% if you know there is a services coming up before you get to zero?

What happens when you get to very low battery level?

Even if you run out completely if you are going slow on the inside lane would you just coast a while on the hard shoulder and then call AA?

I’m not planning that just wondering

Also any advice on which services on the M4 motorway are tree for charging? Any little tips appreciated

Just done my first long trip. My preparation:

1) Find the chargers you will be using on the M4, find a local one and try it out. Make sure the payment method works. Then try an alternate and check that works as well. I almost got stranded when my payment method was not authorised!!!
2) If you drive on cruise control at 60mph a) less stressful and b) you get much better mileage per kwH
3) My MG4 at below 5% if I remember goes down to about 19mph and the last 1% is not really there, our car showed 2miles of range and it was almost dead - it would never have done 2miles!
4) I would NOT go below 5% on a motorway, the risk of driving on the hard shoulder at 15mph and then finding a charger that works is too great. Why do that to yourself and family.
5) Oh - take the granny charger and extension cable, take a neighbours type 2 cable - have every charging cable option.

Good luck have a good trip, if you have Eco setting - use it 60mph sounds awful but it makes no real difference to the journey time and you see other EVs doing the same...it's the new 90.

 

[Rolfe]

You're braver than me. I don't think I'd go below 20% on a motorway if you offered me the Crown Jewels!

 

[PeteF]

Free charging on the M4.....???

 

[Rolfe]

I got (some) free charging on the M74.

The charger malfunctioned while my car was charging (but after it had delivered enough to get me home so thanks). I didn't get a debit on my account at all for the visit.

 

[MG4London]

You're braver than me. I don't think I'd go below 20% on a motorway if you offered me the Crown Jewels!

Well as long as you are on the inside lane when it goes to 2 then 1% just go slow until you have to roll over on the hard shoulder and then ring AA

Has anyone ever gone to 1% and then see what happens when you actually run out? Does it beep and then you keep rolling or what?