I have the MG ZS EV and 99.99999% of my charging is done at home. I have only needed to use a public charger a couple of times in my life. But that will change, as I am planning a road trip / holiday in the next couple of weeks. I will travel from Warwick to Cumbria and then on to Scotland, before driving from North to South Ireland and back through wales. There will be plenty of sight seeing and I expect to do a couple of thousand miles or more. I can't guarantee charging at night, as I will stay in random B&B, as well as random / wild camping (nothing booked), so most of my charging will be public (with the exception of staying with friends for a couple of days). I am tempted to sign up for the free 3 months with Polar plus and then cancel when I get back home. Is this my best option, or are there cheaper options?
Is Polar Plus the best deal for me?
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If it’s free, then you may as well have it?
Warwick to Cumbria, at the Cumbria end you’ll have plenty of Instavolt chargers to choose from and they’re pay as you go.
As you venture north from there, it gets more fractured, but Ionity are at Gretna and then there are plenty of ChargePlace Scotland rapids about. You’ll need the CYC App for those.
There are also a few Polar and Instavolts throughout Scotland as well though.
Have a look on Zap Map, and have a poke about near the places you’ll be going to and see what’s around.
I don’t make full use of my Polar subscription, ie I don’t save the £7.99 each month from being a member and the reduced pricing, but I like to have it as a convenience thing. Polar Instant would probably make more sense for me as a low user though, maybe that would be best for you after the trial as well?
Yes it does look like a good deal
Enjoy the trip - fingers crossed for sunshine.
yes but not on the rapids and that's the only charging I will do.
I believe you will need to register for Charge Place Scotland to use their network.
Worth having for the trial if you’ll use it for that trip. You may find some Polar 7kw posts for overnight (or sightseeing) charging that only work with the RFID card. You can stop and start the subscription as you like later on, they reactivate the same card for you.
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Is there a minimum membership period though ?
I haven’t checked lately, but you always could cancel after the 3 month free trial. No penalties and no minimum term.
I did it last year when I got the e-Golf, don’t remember any minimum term clauses.
After both you and your wife have had a free trial, it is then a harder decision. I gave up because I wasn't doing the mileage to make it cheaper. Usually we book a summer UK tour stopping at Travelodges and the like and might see next year if I can book a 1 month membership and then cancel. Has anyone done this?
Hey - we were goi f to do exactly that trip, and stay with family in Ireland - but have settled for just the Lakes this week - we’ll do Ireland when it’s a bit more relaxed.
You do still know that we’re supposed to self isolate for 14 days when arriving in the Republic?
I can’t be arsed with that right now - knowing my luck I’d get caught ;-)
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You do still know that we’re supposed to self isolate for 14 days when arriving in the Republic?
I can’t be arsed with that right now - knowing my luck I’d get caught ;-)
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Maybe you know a little about the charging network in Ireland? I am just about to sign up with EESB ecars for Ireland, and its say if I deposit €20, I get a free card. Do you know if this card is compatible with the ecar NI network? The ecar NI network website says:
"All public charge points on the ecarNI network in Northern Ireland and the ESB ecars network in the Republic of Ireland are interoperable at present and can currently be accessed using the ecarNI Access Card."
Does this mean that the ESB ecars card will work with ecarNI charging machines? Does anyone have any experience of this?
My wife and I have just got back from a Bournemouth-Dundee-Blairgowrie-Bournemouth trip in her Zoe ZE50, and I signed up for both the 3 month free Polar Plus and the CYC app for Charge Place Scotland. I also signed up with Ecotricity.
I have to say that, despite reading about all the issues with Ecotricity, we were actually very lucky with them and used 4 points on the way up.... 2 on free vend and paid for the other 2.
What was disappointing was the Charge Place Scotland charge points we planned to use. The Abington one was broken (hadn’t correctly ended the previous users session) and the lady at the CPS call centre couldn’t reset the unit so reported a fault. The Blairgowrie point was broken and the one we were going to use at “Scotland’s Secret Bunker” was so old you could only start a session with an RFID card, which we didn’t have as we had only planned to use the CYC app.
On the return journey we used 2 Ecotricity sites (one free and the other paid for) and the final 2 stops we used Polar Plus.
Polar Plus were easily marked and really easy to use.
I have to say that, despite reading about all the issues with Ecotricity, we were actually very lucky with them and used 4 points on the way up.... 2 on free vend and paid for the other 2.
What was disappointing was the Charge Place Scotland charge points we planned to use. The Abington one was broken (hadn’t correctly ended the previous users session) and the lady at the CPS call centre couldn’t reset the unit so reported a fault. The Blairgowrie point was broken and the one we were going to use at “Scotland’s Secret Bunker” was so old you could only start a session with an RFID card, which we didn’t have as we had only planned to use the CYC app.
On the return journey we used 2 Ecotricity sites (one free and the other paid for) and the final 2 stops we used Polar Plus.
Polar Plus were easily marked and really easy to use.
Worth it for the 3 month free trial anyhow, though I don't think it has any commitment as others mentioned so should be able to cancel without any issues.
I've noticed a lot of the chargers Polar adopted from ChargeYourCar have been either abandoned by councils or remain functional without support, which is the only shame.
I've noticed a lot of the chargers Polar adopted from ChargeYourCar have been either abandoned by councils or remain functional without support, which is the only shame.
Hey - I signed up with the ESB card - they are interoperable - it’s a shame - charging is still free in the north - chargeable in the South now.
It only takes a couple of days for the card to come (or it did for me).
There’s now an ESB app - I added my card to that - I’m not sure though if you need to have a card to add - or if you can create one on there. I also set up auto top up - to top up when balance drops below 5€.
I’ve used the ESB card in the north too - but I’ve never had a true ECarNI card.
When you call them they appear to be one and the same - there’s a Belfast number and a Republic number - and ECarNI could access my ESB account.
Hope this helps.
Alan
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If you sign up to free Polar then you're stuck with them. Why would you put all your eggs in one basked? You won't be allowed on any other chargers if there are others that turn out to be better placed or available for you. The chargers will recognise your car and that you've signed up to Polar, and refuse to come on.
......
Oh wait, sorry, still had the 'sarc' button on after responding to cah.....
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