Why are so many chargers broken?

All Volkswagen ID.3 related discussions
Post Reply
Teleopsis
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2021 2:25 pm

Post by Teleopsis »

Staying in St Ives, needed to get a charge. The first two public chargers I tried were both broken. One was reported as broken on zapmap (Genie point) but the report was a couple of weeks old, one was not (Pod point). I ended up with a working BP charger at Huntingdon Racecourse but was not happy having wasted an hour or so driving around, and if I had been short on charge this would have really not been good. This is my impression of the state of affairs in most places. Given that these things have no moving parts why are so many failing, and why are the companies not fixing them in a reasonable time? It's a serious problem for long distance driving at the moment IMO. On the bright side nice to see how much extra range I get in the Id.3 with a little increase in temperature, the winter's been a bit grim...

SinglePointSafety
Posts: 123
Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2021 1:22 pm

Post by SinglePointSafety »

Head over to https://www.speakev.com/forums/ and you will find a **lot** of discussion about the problem of non-functioning chargers - either physically broken or with failed software that can only be rebooted by the people who run them and who also decline to answer the helpline phone.... Or those chargers that will only work with a badly-designed, marginally-functional app, that you can't download anyway when you need it because sod's law says the charger is in a location (eg in a car park) with no signal.

My concern is that the whole situation needs governmental intervention to force companies to (a) keep the chargers working (b) change the chargers' operating hardware/software so that all chargers only require a contactless payment: no apps, no weird RFID cards. What we have now is the result of a 'light-touch' regulatory environment and an unreasonable belief that 'market forces' will sort it all out.

My other concern is that, yes, there are more chargers being installed, but EV car sales are increasing rapidly - and probably would have increased even more, if the 'chip shortage' had not intervened. It might be that the current (geddit?) charger-EV vehicle ratio situation is as good as it ever will be....
Last edited by SinglePointSafety on Sun Mar 20, 2022 7:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
id3 Max 2021
OB1CCFC
Posts: 360
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2022 10:38 am

Post by OB1CCFC »

I assume from what we are all seeing, that there is little or no active ‘polling’ or automatic health monitoring of chargers by a number of companies. They seem to rely on customer reports. Hard to believe.
For now I think EV drivers should always phone in or email faults ro operators. Every time. A new EV driver etiquette. If they get many repeat calls too bad.

I would advocate a nationalised EV charger backbone. But the chances of that politically happening are below zero.
Kia Niro EV3 in pearl white.
steviebabes
Posts: 107
Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2021 9:42 am

Post by steviebabes »

Pod point have a report a fault feature in their app. I reported one outlet of a 22kW was cutting off randomly and fair play to them it was fixed within a week.
ID3 Life Pro Performance Glacier White Andoya 19in Alloys
OB1CCFC
Posts: 360
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2022 10:38 am

Post by OB1CCFC »

I photographed and emailed Osprey re a damaged cable and they also responded in a few days. Then again it probably was dangerous 😗
I do actually always ring up if there is a fault. They seem to like it… ;)
Kia Niro EV3 in pearl white.
User avatar
Raxacorico
Posts: 295
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2020 9:54 am
Location: Scotland

Post by Raxacorico »

I completed a 900 mile journey over the last few days. I started in Oban, on the West Coast of Scotland, and drove to Stourbridge in the West Midlands. Our first stop to recharge was at a Marsden’s Pub near Stirling. They have two 50kw chargers and both were available. One was not working, so I moved to the other and enjoyed an excellent lunchtime meal as my vehicle charged back to 90% in about forty minutes. I mentioned the faulty device to the young lady who served us. I’ll get on to Osprey she said. When we returned three days later both devices were working - I could tell because they were both occupied! I moved to the Castleview Low Carbon Hub just about half a mile away. They have masses of low power devices (7 and 22 kw) for a park & Ride scheme. I used one of their four 50kw machines.
Life Pro Performance, Makena Turquoise - Loen Alloys - June 2021- Zappi Charger - Software v3.2 [dealership]
Repfigit
Posts: 38
Joined: Fri Dec 10, 2021 11:04 pm

Post by Repfigit »

A factor is whether the charger is actually profitable for the operator. If you've borrowed millions to install fast chargers, intending to make a bit of money, then any broken charger means a financial loss. If you've paid for the chargers with some sort of eco grant, and you otherwise don't care about whether they work or not as your business isn't focused on EV drivers, then why bother worrying about them? Depending on who and how the electricity bill is paid, it might be worthwhile for the charger to be broken!

As EVs become more common, problems should disappear. Chargers can now be profitable, so operators will have more incentive to fix them. And, with more people using them, it will be less and less acceptable for the chargers to be broken at major service stations and destinations.
ID.3 Family Pro - 145PS, 58kWh
Kings Red - Assistance Pack Plus - Heat pump
Ordered 8th December 2021
Build week 49/2022
Delivered to dealer 11/01/2023
Collection date 17/01/2023
Front safety camera stopped working 1 hour, 30 miles into ownership.
DumfriesDik
Posts: 456
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2021 7:56 am

Post by DumfriesDik »

It's amazing faulty units are not self reporting. Or even if they are not being used might be an indicator to the owner. Expectations 0 Reality 1.
Motability Customer
VW ID.3 Max
ENEMUK
Posts: 53
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2021 6:41 am

Post by ENEMUK »

I don’t even try to charge on the public network anymore. It is soooooo flakey as to be untrue. On a charge-test-journey from London to Oxford with seven charging locations (probably over 20 chargers) only two working chargers could be found. A total waste of time. Yes, It will have to improve but not clear when this will happen.
ID.3 Life Pro 145ps, 58kw, metallic paint and alloy wheels.
duckworthsj
Posts: 118
Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2021 4:07 pm

Post by duckworthsj »

I wonder if owners of Tesla have the same experience with their charger network?
If not... why not?
Is it also a problem with a sufficient number of trained electricians to repair the faults ? These paged have already commented on lead-time for installation of 'at-home' chargers.

Unfortunately I have found the Apps that show charger networks are not reliable as an indication of 'out of order' chargers.
Some of the Apps have a 'community page'., which is useful to see the real picture. I would encourage all users of these Apps to post their experience. I found this helpful.
Hers: ID3 204ch Pro Performance Denim Blue Black Roof. East Derry alloys, Pack Comfort Plus, Pack Assistance Plus.
His: Mini Cooper S-Electric 184ch ‘Yours’ (UK Level 3) Chili Red, Black Pack, Heat Reflective Windows… And lots of fun
sidehaas
Posts: 1788
Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2021 7:04 am

Post by sidehaas »

duckworthsj wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 5:42 am Unfortunately I have found the Apps that show charger networks are not reliable as an indication of 'out of order' chargers.
Some of the Apps have a 'community page'., which is useful to see the real picture. I would encourage all users of these Apps to post their experience. I found this helpful.
I find Zapmap useful as a pre planning tool by reading the comments and checking when the last successful charge was. I agree the basic out of service data is often unreliable. I've started using wattsup recently as I prefer the visuals, but I'm not sure if the live data is better or not. The Instavolt and Osprey apps are good for live data on their networks. I couldn't make the MFG app work properly, but it doesn't really matter as their sites have more chargers. To be honest my experience of the rapid charging network has been very positive (my home charger is far less reliable.) I'm sticking to multi-charger sites that take contactless, and after 12-13? charges on the go, I haven't had a single bad experience yet really - just a couple of slightly slow chargers (30-40kw when I should have got 50) but no glitches and no waits for one to be free.

P.S. I think many people are put off long distances in an EV by rapid charging horror stories. I'm sure it was bad in the past and for sure capacity needs to keep growing, but I honestly don't think it is bad right now (at least in the vast majority of England - there are still a few gaps) - so I like to share a more positive picture.
ID.3 Family Pro Performance (Jan 22), Makena Turquoise / East Derry alloys. Ohme Home Pro charger.
User avatar
Utumno
Posts: 1727
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2021 12:34 am
Location: Oxfordshire

Post by Utumno »

ENEMUK wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 8:34 pm I don’t even try to charge on the public network anymore. It is soooooo flakey as to be untrue. On a charge-test-journey from London to Oxford with seven charging locations (probably over 20 chargers) only two working chargers could be found. A total waste of time. Yes, It will have to improve but not clear when this will happen.

Even with Ionity's 4x350kW rapids at Beaconsfield with Shell Recharge as backup and a further two Shell Recharge points a short journey up the M40 at Wycombe ?
Tesla Model Y Long Range
CANCELLED : ID.3 Tour (long story :lol:)

ID3 Build & Delivery Info Tracker : https://tinyurl.com/id3tracker
Octopus Referral : https://share.octopus.energy/aqua-foal-203
ENEMUK
Posts: 53
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2021 6:41 am

Post by ENEMUK »

Yes, the Wycombe service station was the bright light in the firmament of broken chargers.
ID.3 Life Pro 145ps, 58kw, metallic paint and alloy wheels.
Post Reply