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Challenges with public fast chargers

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2019 8:31 am
by EalingMum
I am new to the community and hoping that you can give me some advice.
Having had my Kona Ev for 3 months now I have done a couple of holiday trips in the Uk and am finding using public fast chargers very problematic from the perspective of knowing when I can rely on getting a workable fast charge connection.
First journey down to Exeter the first Electric Highway charger I tried would not maintain a reliable connection and the phone support informed me that there was a known problem due to the speed on the connection with the Kona however the Exeter Services EH fast charger would be compatible - which it was and I used that successfully.
This week in Norfolk I successfully obtained a fast charge at a Genie point charger in Norwich but when I tried to use the same network charger in Chelmsford again the fast charge failed repeatedly but I could get a 7kw charge (so got enough to limp home at 50mph).
I'd really like some information as to how I can determine which fast chargers I can rely upon to get a fast charge and where I can get the details of which are compatible with my Kona SE 64kw. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Re: Challenges with public fast chargers

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 9:23 pm
by Mr t
Hi i have been looking into this and zapmap is a god send but like any thing unless we all post how owe last charge went none of the the web sites we use are any good. lets all keep posting

Re: Challenges with public fast chargers

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2020 12:19 pm
by wja96
I find the Electric Highway chargers fine. I’ve had no issues when I’ve used them. Likewise, the Pod Point chargers at Lidl are really good, as are the Polar fast chargers.

Re: Challenges with public fast chargers

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2020 7:10 am
by Deleted User 481
I picked up my Kona Premium SE EV car on 27th November, though I hired one for a 10-day test 2 months ago. For me, I find that the Electric Highway chargers on the motorway networks are the most unreliable. Locally in Farnborough Hampshire, I find InstaVolt good (they also don't need an app or RFID card, just tap you normal Credit / Debit card) and also Polar seem to work well.

Re: Challenges with public fast chargers

Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2020 2:57 pm
by CRB
Electric Highway have been "interesting" in my experience......but with one exception have always managed to get some charge.

Otherwise haven't had problem getting a fast charge.

The biggest issue is that the Kona will only pull 11Kw/H from a Type 2 connection and so those rated at 22 Kw/H will only charge at 11! We need more 50 Kw/H and above in the UK.

Re: Challenges with public fast chargers

Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2020 7:56 am
by wja96
CRB wrote: Sun Dec 06, 2020 2:57 pm Electric Highway have been "interesting" in my experience......but with one exception have always managed to get some charge.

Otherwise haven't had problem getting a fast charge.

The biggest issue is that the Kona will only pull 11Kw/H from a Type 2 connection and so those rated at 22 Kw/H will only charge at 11! We need more 50 Kw/H and above in the UK.
The 11kW charging issue on AC is common to many EVs, indeed until quite recently the Kona would only charge at 7.4kW on AC chargers. That limitation is imposed by the car and I can see one future ‘tuning’ option being a 22kW AC charger upgrade.

I do agree on the need to have more ‘fast’ chargers. But they can’t be rip-off priced. I pay 15p/kW at home and Polar can manage to charge 15p/kW if I pay then £8/month membership fee (27p for the 150kW super-fast chargers). Pod-points fast chargers are 23.5p/mile so why are everyone else’s 30p/kW+? I just point blank refuse to use the 30p/kW plus chargers. I drive at least 500 miles per week and I can easily manage mainly on free top-ups at supermarkets. ABC!