JIS
Established Member
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2024
- Messages
- 93
- Reaction score
- 65
- Points
- 40
- Location
- Chenac, SW France
- Driving
- MG4 Luxury
The thing about owning an EV is that you learn fast and most via the hard way ! People who don't own EVs waffle on about range anxiety. However this is not the issue at all, it is charger anxiety ! Perhaps not where we live in SW France where there are many EV charging points where we have not had an issue. However, since leaving for Spain 3 days ago, we have encountered a number of issues, each of which has caused us to spend time either on the phone to the provider's help line or, simply "faffing about" trying to download the provider's app and then register and then get your bank card authorised as a payment method. Unfortunately, despite having three separate charger cards and multiple apps, there are still charger providers that we are unaware of.
So, the first issue we faced whist still in France in the Les Landes area, was a fabulous charge point area operated by Zunder. There were no less than 10 huge chargers each proudly boasting up to 400kW ! We tried one; zero; and another, zero. So I called their help line. They advised that only two were operational, the others had yet to be put into service. Why not display this somewhere ? Instead we wasted 15 minutes. However, once charging, it was smooth and very fast.
The second issue was that ABRP tried to route us to a m'way charging station when we were not on the m'way! Sure enough we could see the chargers and yes, there was a road that could link us to them BUT, there were padlocked gated to prevent entry !
The next charger that was "interesting" was in the town of Valladolid, north of Madrid. Here the Zunder chargers were within a commercial area, entry to which was only by a card for registered users or, large artic trucks via the main barriers. We gesticulated to the man at the gates that we needed to re-charge and he opened them. However, had we needed to enter out of hours ... that would have been a problem.
So biggest problems occurred this afternoon, Sunday 22nd December 2024. We had a scheduled stop with a SoC of 29% to re-charge to 80% prior to arriving at our stop for the night. This charge point was identified by ABRP (which knows my charge cards and provider preferences). We pulled in off the main road and found two chargers of differing types both operated by Wenea. I tried my three charge cards and - zero. So I scanned the QR code and was routed to a site where I had to register and identify my payment method. OK this takes time but OK. Anyway, I tried multiple times with each time my accepting the payment request and yet the app never progressed beyond this point. So I tried the other charger and repeated the process. Still nothing.
Meanwhile a Spanish couple arrived in their EV Mini Cooper. They had initial problems but they were soon charging. They spent the next 45 minutes with me on the phone to the help line where, eventually, I had to pay an amount (I said €20) and they would then manually engage the charger and set it off. From the time we entered to the time we started charging ... around 75 minutes. Yes it was frustrating but eventually, when it did start, we were charging at a healthy 80kW.
Finally, when we got to our small hilltop village for the night called Pedraza, we parked and spotted a regular 22kW charger. Although we were still at 77%, I thought that we really should top up if we can. This was a charger operated by "endesa" and again, demanded the use of their app or at least use the QR code to then enter my details and bank card details etc. This failed half a dozen times. Then I decided to try my various other cards. Guess what, my Shell Recharge card was accepted! Why oh why they don't list the accepted cards clearly is beyond me. Anyway, we finally started our top up.
So the lessons learnt so far are, do NOT assume that the first charge point will operate easily and always have a second as a backup. Clearly the other lesson is never to leave re-charging until you are down to say 10%. Look for chargers at 30%. That way, if you need to move on, you should not be in peril of running out of juice !
We are but three days into out Spanish adventure in out MG 4, and, apart from these issues the car has behave faultlessly. Well, except when I selected both ECO mode and then ECO within the Infotainment options. That caused an initial warning signal and then, we lost Intelligent Cruise control and Lane Assist (hurray !) and Active headlight plus a load of other things that flashed up. We stopped, restarted and the problem persisted for perhaps 15 minutes and then cleared itself, all by itself ! So now I stay in Eco mode only !
The other bit of tech that I managed to try out yesterday was Traffic Jam Assist. This was surprisingly useful when, on the Autopista we were down to a crawl and then stop, start. TJA took control and worked very well . I was impressed.
So, we have learned a great deal in three days on the French and then Spanish roads.
Finally, we are very grateful to the young Spanish couple who stayed with us this afternoon, speaking to the helpline on our behalf (in Spanish) and just being helpful. They said that they too had had bad experiences and that they also recognised that you meet the nicest people who are EV car owners !!
All for now ...
So, the first issue we faced whist still in France in the Les Landes area, was a fabulous charge point area operated by Zunder. There were no less than 10 huge chargers each proudly boasting up to 400kW ! We tried one; zero; and another, zero. So I called their help line. They advised that only two were operational, the others had yet to be put into service. Why not display this somewhere ? Instead we wasted 15 minutes. However, once charging, it was smooth and very fast.
The second issue was that ABRP tried to route us to a m'way charging station when we were not on the m'way! Sure enough we could see the chargers and yes, there was a road that could link us to them BUT, there were padlocked gated to prevent entry !
The next charger that was "interesting" was in the town of Valladolid, north of Madrid. Here the Zunder chargers were within a commercial area, entry to which was only by a card for registered users or, large artic trucks via the main barriers. We gesticulated to the man at the gates that we needed to re-charge and he opened them. However, had we needed to enter out of hours ... that would have been a problem.
So biggest problems occurred this afternoon, Sunday 22nd December 2024. We had a scheduled stop with a SoC of 29% to re-charge to 80% prior to arriving at our stop for the night. This charge point was identified by ABRP (which knows my charge cards and provider preferences). We pulled in off the main road and found two chargers of differing types both operated by Wenea. I tried my three charge cards and - zero. So I scanned the QR code and was routed to a site where I had to register and identify my payment method. OK this takes time but OK. Anyway, I tried multiple times with each time my accepting the payment request and yet the app never progressed beyond this point. So I tried the other charger and repeated the process. Still nothing.
Meanwhile a Spanish couple arrived in their EV Mini Cooper. They had initial problems but they were soon charging. They spent the next 45 minutes with me on the phone to the help line where, eventually, I had to pay an amount (I said €20) and they would then manually engage the charger and set it off. From the time we entered to the time we started charging ... around 75 minutes. Yes it was frustrating but eventually, when it did start, we were charging at a healthy 80kW.
Finally, when we got to our small hilltop village for the night called Pedraza, we parked and spotted a regular 22kW charger. Although we were still at 77%, I thought that we really should top up if we can. This was a charger operated by "endesa" and again, demanded the use of their app or at least use the QR code to then enter my details and bank card details etc. This failed half a dozen times. Then I decided to try my various other cards. Guess what, my Shell Recharge card was accepted! Why oh why they don't list the accepted cards clearly is beyond me. Anyway, we finally started our top up.
So the lessons learnt so far are, do NOT assume that the first charge point will operate easily and always have a second as a backup. Clearly the other lesson is never to leave re-charging until you are down to say 10%. Look for chargers at 30%. That way, if you need to move on, you should not be in peril of running out of juice !
We are but three days into out Spanish adventure in out MG 4, and, apart from these issues the car has behave faultlessly. Well, except when I selected both ECO mode and then ECO within the Infotainment options. That caused an initial warning signal and then, we lost Intelligent Cruise control and Lane Assist (hurray !) and Active headlight plus a load of other things that flashed up. We stopped, restarted and the problem persisted for perhaps 15 minutes and then cleared itself, all by itself ! So now I stay in Eco mode only !
The other bit of tech that I managed to try out yesterday was Traffic Jam Assist. This was surprisingly useful when, on the Autopista we were down to a crawl and then stop, start. TJA took control and worked very well . I was impressed.
So, we have learned a great deal in three days on the French and then Spanish roads.
Finally, we are very grateful to the young Spanish couple who stayed with us this afternoon, speaking to the helpline on our behalf (in Spanish) and just being helpful. They said that they too had had bad experiences and that they also recognised that you meet the nicest people who are EV car owners !!
All for now ...
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