Use of BP Pulse charger with We Charge Plus card

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Bungalowharry1
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2022 3:04 pm

Post by Bungalowharry1 »

Hi,
Does anyone have experience of using the We Charge Plus RFID card with BP Pulse.
Given all the recent price rises, and the relatively sparse Ionity coverage, especially in Wales, using BP Pulse at 35p/Kwhr is becoming attractive.

ajf
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2022 2:21 pm

Post by ajf »

I don't have a Wecharge card (yet) but I am a regular user of BP Pulse.

What I can suggest is that its sometimes worth activating the BP Pulse charger as a guest using your debit/credit card. Recently the rates offered to guests have been lower than for users of the app (similarly might apply to WeCharge card holders).

HTH
iD3 Tour Pro (77kW) in white
Ordered Aug 2021, initially due Jan 2022, arrived 31 May 2022
Scratch
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Post by Scratch »

Another thing to watch. We have some newish BP chargers near us, which were free to use for a month whilst they tested them. They have now changed to 25p/kwh, which is cheaper than I believe the app will give you.
daern
Posts: 110
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 2:05 pm

Post by daern »

Small anecdote: There's an old 50kW charger that I use from time to time, which has apparently been adopted by BP Pulse, but somewhere along the way has become orphaned. It's unmaintained, and needs (honestly!) a good thump on the side before it will start fast charging. But on the plus side, despite needing a credit card to kick off the process, it charges without charging if you get my drift.

There's only a handful of people that ever use it (those that know the thump-on-the-side trick) and all exchange a conspiratorial nod as we swap our cars around, knowing that a few free electrons can brighten even the darkest day :-)
Cupra Born V2 - Vapor Grey
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Dealer order placed in March '22
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ID.3 Family Pro - ordered Jan, optimistically due end of '22. Cancelled in Feb
Scratch
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Post by Scratch »

I can see a lot of BP chargers getting thumped, just in case it's the one you are talking about.
daern
Posts: 110
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 2:05 pm

Post by daern »

Scratch wrote: Fri Nov 18, 2022 11:55 am I can see a lot of BP chargers getting thumped, just in case it's the one you are talking about.
Haha! Yes, best not!

To be fair, the thumping doesn't make it free - the "start charge" button on the fast side of the charger doesn't work and the thump is used just to get the thing going. I assume that had it been properly adopted, they'd have come out and fixed it, so the fact that it's stuck on "free vend" and in a not-quite-working state are almost certainly related.
Cupra Born V2 - Vapor Grey
Lease order placed in Jan '22
Dealer order placed in March '22
Build date confirmed, delivery due late-July '22
ID.3 Family Pro - ordered Jan, optimistically due end of '22. Cancelled in Feb
sidehaas
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Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2021 7:04 am

Post by sidehaas »

I have used my wecharge card at the high power BP Pulse chargers at Stafford services (northbound, at the garage). It worked very well - the process and instructions on-screen were identical to Ionity.
Wanted to avoid using my credit card as I have heard stories of BP charger comms failing and then them not refunding a holding fee for 30 days, and even then not until you chase them.
ID.3 Family Pro Performance (Jan 22), Makena Turquoise / East Derry alloys. Ohme Home Pro charger.
LongMynd
Posts: 95
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2021 8:39 pm

Post by LongMynd »

My experience of BP Pulse chargers with the We Charge (Plus) card is very mixed.
I have had a fail at Forby on an oldish charger and a fail at Longton in Stoke on Trent at a brand new charger. In both cases I got the message that the card was not authenticated. Unfortunately I couldn't find the help number at the time, so I gave up and went elsewhere.
I had a successful charge at Northampton.
When I spoke to the BP Pulse helpdesk she said that if the card is not authenticated it usually means that there is a network problem and they can switch it on from their end.
Charles.
ID.3 Tour with heat-pump
Klaus
Posts: 30
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 7:31 pm

Post by Klaus »

I've had the worst experience with BP Pulse and oddly enough, the best experience with Pod Point.

I have the £2.99 (old price) We Charge subscription and the last 2 times I have tried to use a BP Pulse charger, they both failed (In Bristol & London). I keep getting the message "card not accepted, try a different card"

Yesterday in London visiting family, I called BP Pulse when I got the same message again. They support agent didn't know what We Charge was! I was on hold while they spoke to a colleague. Came back, took my We Charge number then told me it wasn't registered on the BP Pulse network and I needed to call We Charge. There was nothing they could do.

I called We Charge, they confirmed everything was working and told me to call BP Pulse. I ended the call and drove to a Tesco with a pod point. Worked flawlessly and within 5 minutes I was getting 50kw on a 50kw charger, sustained until I hit 70%.

Feels like a waste paying the We Charge subscription
Family Pro, Stonewashed Blue, East Derry Alloys
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IanB
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Post by IanB »

Hi, does anyone have any experience using the We Charge subscription recently? Does the card work for you? I have the card and the app with a subscription but the card is not recognised at Bp Pulse or Shell. I have to call Bp to connect and disconnect the charger. They are saying the issue is with the card. Elli (We Charge) are saying the fault is with BP. Shell recharge does not appear to work at all. Shell say they do not recognise We charge when calling them. Elii say Shell are the issue. The only chargers I have been successful with is Ionity which is plug and go. Elli have advised me to keep trying different chargers until I find one that works. The customer service is unbelievable. . .
AlistairL
Posts: 169
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2022 11:37 am

Post by AlistairL »

IanB wrote: Fri Apr 07, 2023 1:02 pm Hi, does anyone have any experience using the We Charge subscription recently? Does the card work for you? I have the card and the app with a subscription but the card is not recognised at Bp Pulse or Shell. I have to call Bp to connect and disconnect the charger. They are saying the issue is with the card. Elli (We Charge) are saying the fault is with BP. Shell recharge does not appear to work at all. Shell say they do not recognise We charge when calling them. Elii say Shell are the issue. The only chargers I have been successful with is Ionity which is plug and go. Elli have advised me to keep trying different chargers until I find one that works. The customer service is unbelievable. . .
My card is still in the post; I'm planning to give it a try once it arrives.

In the meantime Elli support were kind enough to add it to my account so I can start a charge with the app - on the few that support it!

A.
ID.3 Life Pro Performance
Glacier White & East Derry Wheels
Ordered 17th March 2022
Build Week 10
Collected from Western Volkswagen Fort Kinnaird on 01 April 2023
Klaus
Posts: 30
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 7:31 pm

Post by Klaus »

IanB wrote: Fri Apr 07, 2023 1:02 pm Hi, does anyone have any experience using the We Charge subscription recently? Does the card work for you? I have the card and the app with a subscription but the card is not recognised at Bp Pulse or Shell. I have to call Bp to connect and disconnect the charger. They are saying the issue is with the card. Elli (We Charge) are saying the fault is with BP. Shell recharge does not appear to work at all. Shell say they do not recognise We charge when calling them. Elii say Shell are the issue. The only chargers I have been successful with is Ionity which is plug and go. Elli have advised me to keep trying different chargers until I find one that works. The customer service is unbelievable. . .
Yeah, this is my experience. I have never been able to initiate a charge on BP Pulse or Shell with my weCharge card despite it showing on the map as a weCharge charger.

BP will usually answer your call quickly and start a remote charge. Sometimes, (1 in 5) charges will be free.

Shell usually takes a long time to answer and they can't remote start (or don't want to). I have taken videos of my card not working with both Shell and BP pulse for VW engineers to look at. They still send me random emails in German which google translate says "is your problem fixed now" but it's on a donotreply email. You couldn't make it up
Family Pro, Stonewashed Blue, East Derry Alloys
ID3 ordered 30 Sep 2021
Order no 314846**
Build week 50 (2021) -delayed to build week 44 (2022) (Heritage Bristol)
N21
Posts: 104
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2022 5:48 pm

Post by N21 »

Bizarrely the only issue I've had with BP Pulse chargers is some of them refuse to release the charging cable at the end of a charge, regardless of whether the card is flashed at the end or not. Only happens with their units and requires a call for a remote reboot!
gfoldys
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Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2021 11:28 am

Post by gfoldys »

worked with shell last weekend
AlistairL
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Post by AlistairL »

AlistairL wrote: Fri Apr 07, 2023 5:52 pm
IanB wrote: Fri Apr 07, 2023 1:02 pm Hi, does anyone have any experience using the We Charge subscription recently? Does the card work for you? I have the card and the app with a subscription but the card is not recognised at Bp Pulse or Shell. I have to call Bp to connect and disconnect the charger. They are saying the issue is with the card. Elli (We Charge) are saying the fault is with BP. Shell recharge does not appear to work at all. Shell say they do not recognise We charge when calling them. Elii say Shell are the issue. The only chargers I have been successful with is Ionity which is plug and go. Elli have advised me to keep trying different chargers until I find one that works. The customer service is unbelievable. . .
My card is still in the post; I'm planning to give it a try once it arrives.

In the meantime Elli support were kind enough to add it to my account so I can start a charge with the app - on the few that support it!

A.
So my We Charge card just arrived through the post today and I successfully used one of the BP Pulse chargers in Livingston at Deer Park SF Connect (just off the M8 motorway). This is a 300 kW unit but I only have an ID.3 !

I touched the card against the panel, chose the connector and after usual handshake stuff it worked. I charged up to what I needed and stopped the charging from the car from the charging screen (only needed 45%). By the time I got out of the car it was showing white on the ID.3 and I could remove the cable and returned it to the charging unit.

Summary so far - Plug & Charge at Ionity Polmadie and Alwnick, Through the App at Fastned Wellington Street in Newcastle Upon Tyne and RFID Card at BP Pulse Deer Park SF Connect.

A.
ID.3 Life Pro Performance
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Ordered 17th March 2022
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Collected from Western Volkswagen Fort Kinnaird on 01 April 2023
IanB
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Post by IanB »

Thanks for the replies. It does all seem quite random as to what works and what doesn't. Klaus you are spot in what you say, you could not make it up.
I sat at an Ionity station on the M25 on Sunday. Got in to a discussion with 4 other VW id owners while in the queue. . . (this was when the app said 4 chargers were free and the car app said 2 chargers were free) All have the same issue, all have complained. Both Elli and VW UK saying they are not aware of any issues with the card, app or subscription the problems are with the various networks. Two of us have been told if you do not like it they 'may' look at cancelling the subscription as 'A Good Will Gesture'. . . I think they need to look up what 'A Good Will Gesture' actually is and get there act together.
VW, BP, Shell you are some of the biggest companies in the world. Please act like you know what you are doing.
sidehaas
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Post by sidehaas »

IanB wrote: Tue Apr 11, 2023 8:35 pm Thanks for the replies. It does all seem quite random as to what works and what doesn't. Klaus you are spot in what you say, you could not make it up.
I sat at an Ionity station on the M25 on Sunday. Got in to a discussion with 4 other VW id owners while in the queue. . . (this was when the app said 4 chargers were free and the car app said 2 chargers were free) All have the same issue, all have complained. Both Elli and VW UK saying they are not aware of any issues with the card, app or subscription the problems are with the various networks. Two of us have been told if you do not like it they 'may' look at cancelling the subscription as 'A Good Will Gesture'. . . I think they need to look up what 'A Good Will Gesture' actually is and get there act together.
VW, BP, Shell you are some of the biggest companies in the world. Please act like you know what you are doing.
I'm not sure what your specific complaint is - do you mean the wecharge card didn't work at Ionity? I've never heard of that, it's very reliable. Often there is a single charger down that doesn't work regardless of payment method, but nothing to do with the card.

If you mean the live usage data, yes it's often wrong. I believe this is down to delays and inconsistencies in how the live data is transferred by the operator to 3rd parties like Elli. You see the same issues with other 3rd party apps and with zapmap. Live usage data is only ever reliable (ish) if you use the operator's own app.

The issue with many BP chargers (and also many Chargepoint-operated chargers like the EV Point ones) seeming not to work with 3rd party RFIDs despite being advertised as such does need addressing.
ID.3 Family Pro Performance (Jan 22), Makena Turquoise / East Derry alloys. Ohme Home Pro charger.
IanB
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2023 11:59 am

Post by IanB »

Ionity works fine. It's plug and charge. Card not required. The We Charge card does not work with BP or Shell it seems for most.
sidehaas
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Post by sidehaas »

IanB wrote: Wed Apr 12, 2023 7:09 pm Ionity works fine. It's plug and charge. Card not required. The We Charge card does not work with BP or Shell it seems for most.
The BP issues are all charger specific. The card isn't faulty, it's all down to some chargers not being set up right for 3rd party RFiD cards. Mine works repeatably with some BP chargers and fails repeatably with others.

Plug n charge is only for cars with 3.1 or 3.2, the RFiD card will work reliably with Ionity for anyone. There is actually very little to go wrong with it.
ID.3 Family Pro Performance (Jan 22), Makena Turquoise / East Derry alloys. Ohme Home Pro charger.
smyth1492
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Post by smyth1492 »

The thing that confused me about BP chargers I have used is not to use the guest option. I assumed the other option (can’t remember what it says) was if you have a BP contract but actually covers WeCharge as well.

I have found with an RFID card, holding it too quickly (or at the wrong point in the process) makes the machine not read it. I was thinking there was a problem with an IONITY charger in France but I just lifted the card away and tried again and all OK.

Anecdotally, whilst I am in France I am using my Octopus Electroverse card everywhere that I can’t use WeCharge. I like not having to use an App
ID.3 Family Pro (May 22), Grey / East Derry alloys. Software 3.2. (2.4 dealer / 3.0 OTA / 3.1 dealer / 3.2 OTA).
PodPoint Solo charger / Car linked to Tronity for stats
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