[Norman Elliott]

Are there any EV owners in Carlisle who can offer me some answers?
I am driving a Mitsubisihi Outlander PHEV. It's a fine car, but I am living in temporary accommodation near Carlisle, and therefore do not want to have my Home charger unit fitted now. Hence, I am trying to resort to public chargers, preferably free, not the Master Charger £7.50 for 30 minutes version at Asda, London Road (that really is ridiculous, and Master Charger must have damaged their own business with prices like that)

Do any EV Drivers in Carlisle or North Cumbria know of any free to use public charge sites, close to Carlisle?

I would be very grateful.

I did read in February that Cumbria County Council were building new free to use public chargers, grant assisted by central government, but as yet, their website offers no explanation and seems to be unaware of the very term, public chargers!

 

[Matt Beard]

Actually, the Asda chargers should be free to use - you just need either a Chargemaster card or the iPhone or Android app - and in all cases at least £3 of credit, but as you can't top up less than £20 at a time that is what it will cost you. This sounds like a case where it may be worth paying Chargemaster their one-off amount! I can't believe I just recommended someone use Chargemaster! Is there a CYC point available?

 

[h8ten]

Ask in at the Customer Services desk if they have any cards you can borrow for a deposit. Perth Asda has them, in their 'Lost Property' tin. £10 deposit got me the loan of the card.

 

[Norman Elliott]

Thank you both. Ian, Asda's manager knew nothing about the Unit in his car park. "Never been trained"!

Matt, I succumbed to Chargemaster, and paid their £20 top up. My next question is, how do I know which sites are free to use and which will charge?

Is Asda free? If so, why is is free and why will others charge?

Any answers, very grateful.

Norman

 

[jontracey]

Norman get the polar instant app, click on a charge point and it will tell you if its free or payg

 

[h8ten]

Asda is free to use once you have the card/app to attract customer and give them the edge over other supermarkets in the area.

 

[familymad]

This point was inoperable when I was there last week. How do I report it to Polar?

 

[kin]

Going from your post above, you obviously living in a house with off street parking.
Can't you just charge your car from a 3 pin socket? With a small battery, it only takes a couple of hours, right?

 

[Paul]

Welcome to Speak EV @Norman Elliott I think the above may not be a bad idea, waterproof extension lead and a 3-pin charger? Is that an option?

 

[familymad]

M6 North and South at Southwaite 10 miles from Carlisle. Both Ecotricity Rapids?