Octopus Electroverse Card

[Headgas1]

Hi all , in the summer I was on holiday in Cornwall and I got really frustrated about charging the car as nearly every charger is a different supplier and you need the app but when you try to download it your phone has no signal. You ring the helpline who offer no help whatsoever! When I got to st Ives I was nearly on empty and really needed to charge and I couldn’t which was very stressful.
I came on here to moan asking why they cant all be contactless and a couple of you suggested the electroverse card, well I am currently on holiday in Pembrokeshire wales and all I can say is wow well done Octopus! On every single charger you just tap the card and start to charge then tap again to turn off sooooo easy so thank you to everyone who suggested it it’s been a game changer for me (Although I probably would have got there as my son now works for octopus fitting ev chargers and solar panels ).
If you haven’t already got one I suggest you do .

 

[Gadget Geek]

I've finally got around to installing the app and ordering the card. I resisted the network providers moves to make me use apps and RFID fobs to start a charge, always using my debit card. But now there is a card which covers so many networks, I think now is the time to join in.

 

[5teep]

The Electroverse card also works on Charge Place Scotland chargers, so basically all over Scotland.

 

[Rolfe]

If I'd had the sense to think of that on Monday evening in Tyndrum I might have had an easier time of it.

Something did occur to me as a result of that episode though. The charger just kept saying "pay otherwise", and didn't give me any clue about what "otherwise" might be accepted. As far as I remember, the only card specifically referenced on the unit was VISA - which I had actually tried to pay with, and was being declined. I honestly forgot about the Electroverse card which was in my car all the time.

Most businesses and web sites carry a display of what cards are accepted. Chargers generally don't. You have to keep showing them cards until you find one they like. How hard would it be for chargers to have some sort of display on them listing which cards they accept? Either incorporated into the electronic display or as a physical sticker on the thing. It would be a lot friendlier than a charger that just snaps "pay otherwise" at you, without telling you what it actually accepts.

 

[5teep]

How hard would it be for chargers to have some sort of display on them listing which cards they accept? Either incorporated into the electronic display or as a physical sticker on the thing.

That would be very helpful, especially for tourists etc.

 

[Rolfe]

I was just staring at the screen, where the prompt to show it took bank cards was an actual VISA card (it declined my VISA card), and then there was something cryptic about a token or an unspecified card. I didn't have a token, and I didn't have a card specific to that charger, and I didn't think of the Electroverse card. I was about to go and try it with my credit card, which is a Mastercard, but then I couldn't get the car to unlock from the charger. While I was struggling with that I heard some relays trip and realised the charger had unlocked from the car. At that point I just said, sod it, I'm offski, and went back to the CPS charger where only the type 2 was working. Which was right next to a very nice restaurant. I admit it was that consideration that prevented me from trying harder.

No harm was done in the end. I got enough from the type 2 while I was eating steak to get me to Stirling, and when I encountered the same make of charger and the same problem there I did try the credit card and it worked. But if I'd realised about the Electroverse card, things would have been quite a lot simpler and there's no particular reason I couldn't have had that steak anyway.