[StephenH]

Just completed a 600 mile round trip from our home in Devon to the Eurotunnel in our trusty VW e-Up. Each way took approximately 12 hours, and was quite an epic & not sure I'd want to do it again. Maybe in the new e-Up with an increased range. We did a total of 21 visits to chargers, with the following success rates;
Geniepoint 4 out of 4
Instavolt 0 out of 2
Polar 4 out of 7
Ecotricity 5 out of 6
Shell 2 out of 2.
I'm going to send a complaint to Instavolt and Polar, and strongly suggest that all ev drivers do the same. It's really annoying and frustrating when the chargers don't work, and an overall success rate of only 70% is pretty dreadful. When phoning Polar, we were helpfully told that we were number 3 in a queue, and at 30p a minute on my pay as you go mobile adds insult to injury. I gave up ringing Polar - just moved on to the next charger. Recharging in the pouring rain and at night is not nice, as all chargers were out in the open, and I look forward to the day when we can charge undercover with some lighting. Once in France, we had just enough to reach our friends 50 miles from Calais in the pouring rain, at night & into a gale. Our effective range was reduced from 80 down to a bare 60 miles. Finally, I don't think you can use the charging network without a smartphone. I was logged into Zap map nearly all the time.

 

[DBMandrake]

I'm surprised you had any trouble with Instavolt - they're widely agreed on here to be one of the most reliable networks in the UK and I've personally had zero problems with them, and use them 5 times a week during winter for a quick splash and dash on the way home.

What was the issue you had with them out of interest ? Was the site just out of order or did they appear to be working but failed to charge your car ?

 

[StephenH]

I had successfully used the charger before - simply using a credit card, and like you thought that Instavolt was the way to go. This time the unit had been modified and I had to use the app. Logged in OK, connected the car, and the charging process started. After a few seconds, however, red lights appeared, the screen went blank and the system tripped out. It was pouring with rain and pitch black. Not good!

 

[StephenH]

A brief postscript. After two faulty chargers in Basingstoke, we tried a Polar machine in the Holday Inn car park. This one also didn't work (Which made it three in a row.). In our agitation we didn't notice/realise that we should have registered with hotel reception, and even though we were only there for 20 minutes or so while we tried to get the *** thing to work, I received a £60 parking fine through the post a few days ago. I've appealed, but am not hopeful.