Skoda Enyaq Forum

I guess a good question to ask is... Can I just rely on contactless payment? Will I be able to use every charger (at a premium rate)?

What I'm really hoping is that when I need to use a public charger, I can just turn up at any charger I see on the map, and as long as its not broken or being used, I can just plug in. A bit like I currently visit any petrol station. Its not the cost that bothers me, just unknown availability.

I think what I'm hearing is that, without the power pass or any subscriptions, I should be able to use most charging stations but possibly not all.

It was mandated that by Spring 2020 all new rapid chargers must have contactless payment: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/all- ... nt-by-2020

I don't know if that was enforced - for example the Tesla ones don't allow this!

snalbansed wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 4:08 pm It was mandated that by Spring 2020 all new rapid chargers must have contactless payment: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/all- ... nt-by-2020

I don't know if that was enforced - for example the Tesla ones don't allow this!

Well that's good to know and to a great extent takes away my concerns. I wonder if that is what people have generally found to be the case (except for tesla which at the moment is a special case and not very practical for enyaq due to cable length and charge port position).

Well that's good to know and to a great extent takes away my concerns. I wonder if that is what people have generally found to be the case (except for tesla which at the moment is a special case and not very practical for enyaq due to cable length and charge port position).

Our experience is not the case. We now have over a dozen apps and 2 websites (including Gridserve) we have had to use to pay - recently we’ve completed a trip of well over 1200 miles.

Our most important advice to pass on is to ensure you are logged into the relevant app before you try to start the charging process - especially for those apps you’ve used before as updates will kindly log you out, leading to frustration at the charging station. Also download as many apps as you can and set up accounts from home/wifi.

All in all, our experience has been very positive and thankfully our co-chargers have been very pleasant and engaging. Long may this continue

AndyH wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 6:56 pm

Well that's good to know and to a great extent takes away my concerns. I wonder if that is what people have generally found to be the case (except for tesla which at the moment is a special case and not very practical for enyaq due to cable length and charge port position).

Our experience is not the case. We now have over a dozen apps and 2 websites (including Gridserve) we have had to use to pay - recently we’ve completed a trip of well over 1200 miles.

Our most important advice to pass on is to ensure you are logged into the relevant app before you try to start the charging process - especially for those apps you’ve used before as updates will kindly log you out, leading to frustration at the charging station. Also download as many apps as you can and set up accounts from home/wifi.

All in all, our experience has been very positive and thankfully our co-chargers have been very pleasant and engaging. Long may this continue

Do you need all these apps because you are subscribed (a paid subscription member) ? Could you have just paid more per kWh without the apps and just use contactless without signing up to anything?

No apps needed, just contactless pay and go nearly always, especially on trunk routes.

Worth getting Pod Point. I rarely use the other cards I have.

Do you need all these apps because you are subscribed (a paid subscription member) ? Could you have just paid more per kWh without the apps and just use contactless without signing up to anything?

Not unless we’re missing something. In Newcastle we couldn’t charge or at pay without the Fastned app, in Perth without the BP Pulse app, in Girvan without setting up an account on the ChargePlace Scotland website (the charger was too old to use their app and we had to call the helpline to start the 50kWh charge), or use any of the free ESB or Vendelectric chargers in Northern Ireland, or the Gridserve Ikea Belfast charger (Gridserve still haven’t rolled out their software upgrade announced a year ago to allow a charger to allow more than 1 charge per unit, so a 22kWh charge can commandeer a unit for hours preventing say a 50kWh charge for another vehicle “it is turning out to be more complicated than we thought” - in most places there was usually only 1 charger). Just our experience, but we’ve found turn up and use contactless very rare.

Recently ,in fact on Friday, we pulled onto a BP Pulse site at Howden to do our first taste of rapid charging which went well apart from finding out we have been charged an additional £15 on top of the £8 that we used in electric so now trying to get this refunded , has anyone else had this problem also I have heard that all charging sites have to offer contactless , is this the case

The £15 will be a pre-authorisation charge to your card which should be refunded in due course. For the 150kW chargers the pre-authorisation for PAYG use is a whopping £30

IanJ wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 10:41 am The £15 will be a pre-authorisation charge to your card which should be refunded in due course. For the 150kW chargers the pre-authorisation for PAYG use is a whopping £30

The pre-authorisation charge is something I haven't heard of before. I'd like to know a little more. Is this something you pay every time when using PAYG or just the first time you you a particular supplier's charger. For example, if I used a BP pulse charger one week and then a few days later used the same charger again would I pay the pre-authorisation fee again?