[Duncan]

Yeah, doesn’t sound good. It does feel like they may have created a separate back office system for CPS, instead of integrating with the existing Swarco system. Which seems costly and silly to me when their existing system already works and integrates Be.Ev, MFG and other brands on the same system.

Given the mess of untangling the CYC back-end systems from the existing CPS stuff I would really hope the new contract has a condition requiring them to keep the two operations separated. SWARCO may not have the contract for ever so they need to plan for a cleaner exit.

On the other hand as an EV driver it would be nice if existing Swarco accounts just worked with CPS.

 

[Duncan]

There's confusion over what role CPS plays - it does not control the chargers, the network, the app or accounts, or take payments. It is an agency of Transport Scotland, the Scottish version of England's dept for transport (DfT).

It appoints the operator and according to their website the contract is 2years though you can say it is ultimately responsible for the CPS charging network, just from a distance.

CYC (BP Chargemaster) obviously were useless, like, some say, Chargemaster in the rest of the UK , but you can imagine just how big a task it is for any new operator to take over.

Hopefully CPS will have added conditions to Swaro's contract for minimum uptime, helpline availability and what happens if the want out in 2years, etc.

I expect in time, Swaro accounts used in the rest of the UK will also work in Scotland, without you having to have a CPS card as well.

I didn't know it was a fixed 2 year contract but in that case definitely most important for any operator to keep both systems separate.

CYC is a mess, they emailed me around the start of the month to say they had failed to get payment with a 404 error (so their payment system messed up, not my card). I emailed the admin address in their email and it bounced as invalid. I think now BP has lost the CPS operating contract they're just not interested in CYC any more at all.

 

[Duncan]

The new swarco app is live although it doesn't actually list any charging points yet.

ChargePlace Scotland - Apps on Google Play

Find stations and Charge your EV with the ChargePlace Scotland

play.google.com

 

[Duncan]

I don’t see anything on the iOS App Store yet.

They're probably at the mercy of Apple's random approval system. Even if they've approved beta versions of an app they have a tendency to turn round and raise a bunch of objections when you want the live version approved.

 

[Duncan]

Android app not working properly for me, only displaying some chargers then the app rebooting when I click on a charge point. Hey ho it's day one 😊 Instavolt still for me till app is stable

It's not usable but is quite fun playing with it and seeing just how it crashes.

 

[Duncan]

Just to confirm what some above have said: if the charger is a "free to use" and goes out of comms, you can start a charge with any RFID card e.g. I used my Staff Card yesterday morning to start/stop a charge session.

Yesterday I had trouble starting a charge with the app so I tried using my Swarco card and somewhat to my surprise it worked. I assumed they had decided to let Swarco cards work as well as branded CPS cards but perhaps it was just that any card works at the moment.

 

[Duncan]

We're still on holiday in Fort William with my wife's PHEV 225xe so I just took it to plug in at the nearby charging point (Three Monkeys Climbing). When I arrived there was a Zoe in the right hand space and as the cable won't reach the BMW's charge port if I park in the left bay I asked the lady if she would mind moving. She said she was just on the phone trying to get them to start the charge as her card wasn't working. I waited until she gave up on them and suggested she try another card (she had a CPS card) as I'd heard any RFID should work but she just got back in her car and drove off muttering about no working points in Fort William.

I then pulled into the right hand space, tapped my Swarco card and plugged in. Charge started without a problem.

Should I have been more forceful and insisted she move to the other space then started the charge for her? I don't like to bully but she needed the charge a lot more than I do.

 

[Duncan]

Probably would have been worth using your card to start her charge as you are probably not going to be charged for your own charge. (check your account, and also, if the app doesn't work it means there isn't a card registered)

Yes, that's what I think I should have done. I suggested she try another card but should have just offered to start it for her. I'm pretty sure the charger lets go of the cable when your done without needing the card to stop it (it asks for the card but I was able to unplug without using it last time I used that charger).