[80698]

In the last week or so I have been travelling around on the motorways in a BMW i3. I've used Ecotricity DBT Chargers a lot with it, and I haven't had a single failure, not even the common bug that used to cause charges to end after 6 Minutes.

I've also met e-Golf owners, Model 3 owners, as well as one ipace and one Kona who were all charging successfully and have said similar things that mirror my experience.

As far as I know though, Ecotricity haven't pushed out any updates to their chargers recently. But could it be that it's finally safe to rely on their chargers at long last?

 

[rompik]

Hyundai updated BMS software which "fixed" the problem with old DBTs. Not much credit to EH.
But I see also newer units installed and that helps too. If only there was enough redundancy to prevent queue...

 

[Tooks]

Until they have more than one CCS unit at most locations, they will always be less than able to be relied upon.

I used to defend them on here, but they’ve basically done the sum of zero to move the game on in the prime locations they occupy, which is how shall I put it, less than endearing?

 

[GrahamS]

iPace owner here. First few months of ownership, Ecotricity very unreliable. 90% fail. But in the last few weeks I've done a dozen or so charges on Ecotricity, all worked OK although to be fair one was free vend as the unit was off the air. So OK for me, I got a free charge, but technically it was broken.

So I agree with the OP. Something has gotten better.

Still only one CCS at most per site though.

 

[80698]

Oh absolutely. The fact that they only have one unit with CCS (or none at all in some locations!) is still ridiculous especially given the fact that it's now basically the standard connector for new EVs, and that they aren't bothering to install more, or at least faster chargers definitely isn't something that I can defend.

Still, it's a step in the right direction. And unlike others here I'd be more than happy to see Ecotricity stay if they are willing to meet the needs of the EV world in 2020 now that it goes beyond the novelty of a handful of Nissan LEAFs on the road.

 

[halcyonrichard]

That is good news - but the network really needs at least 6 high power reliable chargers at each MSA. Interesting article from 2018 and the CCS problems dating back to 2014. Also secret monopoly deals that EH will not talk about. EH also promised the installation of 350 kW chargers by 2019.

Analysis: Motorway charge point failings under fire

Electric vehicle owners have been joined by a parliament committee in calling for the Government to intervene amid complaints that motorway charging points

www.companycartoday.co.uk

An Ecotricity spokesman denied that there have been problems with its charging points in the past couple of months, apart from an issues related to one electric model in particular. “Our Electric Highway network experienced a specific issue related to CCS charging, which was identified and fixed back in September,” he said. “Following this fix, we are aware of an ongoing issue with Hyundai’s new Kona and our chargers – but other CCS vehicles are operating without issue.” Ecotricity said it is investigating the Kona problem, and awaiting a response from Hyundai.


“We monitor the performance of our charger network daily – faults are reported and visits by our in-house engineering team are scheduled based on available resource and parts, if required,” the Ecotricity spokesman continued. “We’re excited about the future of the Electric Highway – we’ll be adding high-powered 350kw chargers in 2019, increasing available capacity where needed, and importantly – upgrading our original chargers.”

 

[80698]

They have started to install some of the new Efacec 50kW units. They are coming in slowly but surely. But most of the ones I have seen (for example Woodall North M1) Has left locations with less choice, in this case there is no more AC option for the original Zoe owners. They also don't seem to understand free vend either, so if they lose comms, or Ecotricity has another payment issue and shuts down the app for everyone, those chargers just become unusable apparently.

The high powered ones are still coming 'soon' according to a Tweet I remember seeing fairly recently. Though I still don't think they have even agreed what manufacturer they are opting to use for them yet, unless I missed that news.

While we need more chargers at service stations, this isn't always Ecotricity who are stopping progress from being made to be fair. Durham services on the A1 is a great example. One single unit that only has AC43 and Chademo. No CCS at all. The site owner wouldn't allow for any further parking space or extra power due to limited resources.This still appears to be the situation years later. So it does make me wonder how we move forward as more and more EVs get on the road and need charging at these places.

 

[Tooks]

Don’t get me wrong, I still use them if they’re available, I used them last week, and they supply my electricity at home.

Clearly though, they aren’t about to increase capacity or speed at any of the prime sites they occupy, which is a shame as well as a missed opportunity for them to build something valuable.

 

[starquake]

Don’t get me wrong, I still use them if they’re available, I used them last week, and they supply my electricity at home.

Why? I won't use ecotricity for home electric until they actually provide a decent service on the motorways (which they still dont). I'm with Octopus now who are doing FAR more to promote EV use than ecotricity, and personally look for Polar and Instavolt > ecotricity when out and about.