Skoda Elroq - Charging Issues
Discussion
I've had my electric car for about 2 weeks now and I'm waiting for my home charger to be installed.
I've charged the car locally at the 150kwh MFG connect chargers without a problem.
On the way home from a family weekend away, I couldn't get my car to charge with;
BP Pulse
Chargemaster - High Power
Chargemaster - Medium Power
On 5% battery we eventually managed to find a place to plug the car in using my own cable on a very slow charge, which charged it from 5% to 87% in 19 hours
We got an UBER home from the services which was only 20 minutes away and I collected the car this morning.
Very nervous with two young kids in the car and battery almost being out !
I wonder if anyone else has one of these cars and faced similar problems? I saw other Skoda models charing without issue.
The lady from Chargemaster I spoke to said it appeared to be a car issue.
Can anyone help me understand this?
I've charged the car locally at the 150kwh MFG connect chargers without a problem.
On the way home from a family weekend away, I couldn't get my car to charge with;
BP Pulse
Chargemaster - High Power
Chargemaster - Medium Power
On 5% battery we eventually managed to find a place to plug the car in using my own cable on a very slow charge, which charged it from 5% to 87% in 19 hours
We got an UBER home from the services which was only 20 minutes away and I collected the car this morning.
Very nervous with two young kids in the car and battery almost being out !
I wonder if anyone else has one of these cars and faced similar problems? I saw other Skoda models charing without issue.
The lady from Chargemaster I spoke to said it appeared to be a car issue.
Can anyone help me understand this?
asimpleusername said:
I've had my electric car for about 2 weeks now and I'm waiting for my home charger to be installed.
I've charged the car locally at the 150kwh MFG connect chargers without a problem.
On the way home from a family weekend away, I couldn't get my car to charge with;
BP Pulse
Chargemaster - High Power
Chargemaster - Medium Power
Definitely try different networks. BP are crap, they're not well regarded in EV user circles at all with poorly maintained hardware. It's almost like they want a bad UX.I've charged the car locally at the 150kwh MFG connect chargers without a problem.
On the way home from a family weekend away, I couldn't get my car to charge with;
BP Pulse
Chargemaster - High Power
Chargemaster - Medium Power
Definitely consider MFG, Ionity, Instavolt, Gridserve in future.
I am no expert, but I am guessing that the slow charger you eventually found was an AC charger. The fast chargers would have been DC and use a different part of the car's charging circuitry, I think. So that would point to a car fault.
I hope it wasn't a motorway services that you left the car at or, if it was, you paid the parking charge.
I hope it wasn't a motorway services that you left the car at or, if it was, you paid the parking charge.
One tip that may or may not apply. When using very fast chargers with thick cables, get as close as you can to the charger and hold and support the plug in place in your car until you hear the pin lock. The weight of heavy cables can sometimes pull on the plug and, in Skodas at least, mean it's slightly out of true which stops the pin locking and charge initiating. Don't ask me how I know.....
Edited by Discombobulate on Tuesday 6th May 14:34
barian said:
I am no expert, but I am guessing that the slow charger you eventually found was an AC charger. The fast chargers would have been DC and use a different part of the car's charging circuitry, I think. So that would point to a car fault.
I hope it wasn't a motorway services that you left the car at or, if it was, you paid the parking charge.
It was, I paid the £15 parking fee I hope it wasn't a motorway services that you left the car at or, if it was, you paid the parking charge.
GT6k said:
How were you trying to pay for the charge? With contactless sometimes it just happens your card needs a pin that day so won't work and a few failed charges may falsely trigger fraud prevention on the card.
I tried Contactless and the App but the payments all worked and were shown on my card.Discombobulate said:
One tip that may or may not apply. When using very fast chargers with thick cables, get as close as you can to the charger and hold and support the plug in place in your car until you hear the pin lock. The weight of heavy cables can sometimes pull on the plug and, in Skodas at least, mean it's slightly out of true which stops the pin locking and charge initiating. Don't ask me how I know.....
The lady I spoke to on the phone had me do that, didn't help !Edited by Discombobulate on Tuesday 6th May 14:34
Did help it was bank holiday and these charging stations were all packed.
Chargemaster is a very old name for BP Pulse so they must have been pretty old chargers!
BP Pulse are also generally regarded as crap, so not too surprising to have issues.
A successful charge relies on communication between vehicle and charger, and between charger and charge point operator.
Between the vehicle and the charger it's very simple for AC so you're unlikely to have issues with this, other than locks not engaging as mentioned above (can also happen if cable tolerances don't quite match vehicle tolerances).
DC communication is a lot more complicated but should be OK if the manufacturer has done decent inter operability testing and the charger is decent with up to date software. Abandoned units in old pub car parks are likely to have issues here!
The most likely issue is between the charger and the charge point operator as it relies on the connection to their server, and then some sort of authorisation, either via an app (another Comms link here!), an RFID card (the server stores a list of card IDs that are authorised), or a payment terminal (again, another link).
Unsurprisingly it's this authorisation that's most likely to fail as it has far more pieces in the puzzle. Always good to try another card, or using/not using the app. Getting a couple of roaming RFID cards (Elli and Electroverse) is a good idea too.
BP Pulse are also generally regarded as crap, so not too surprising to have issues.
A successful charge relies on communication between vehicle and charger, and between charger and charge point operator.
Between the vehicle and the charger it's very simple for AC so you're unlikely to have issues with this, other than locks not engaging as mentioned above (can also happen if cable tolerances don't quite match vehicle tolerances).
DC communication is a lot more complicated but should be OK if the manufacturer has done decent inter operability testing and the charger is decent with up to date software. Abandoned units in old pub car parks are likely to have issues here!
The most likely issue is between the charger and the charge point operator as it relies on the connection to their server, and then some sort of authorisation, either via an app (another Comms link here!), an RFID card (the server stores a list of card IDs that are authorised), or a payment terminal (again, another link).
Unsurprisingly it's this authorisation that's most likely to fail as it has far more pieces in the puzzle. Always good to try another card, or using/not using the app. Getting a couple of roaming RFID cards (Elli and Electroverse) is a good idea too.
I've had it on the Polestar before.
A family trip from Surrey to Scotland. The car showed an error at the first stop (Tesla Superchargers) and wouldn't charge.
We tried three different ones there and gave up. We then moved to an Instervolt at a McDonald's a few miles away and got the same thing.
I phoned Polestar, who then organised recovery, locked the car, and went inside to break the news to the family that we were now going to be heading home. There were loads of tears from the kids, etc. So when we went back out, unlocked the car, and tried one more time, the stupid thing just fired right up.
It added around two hours to an eight-hour trip, and to this day, I have no idea why it did it and hasn't done it since.
Moral of the story: turn it off and back on again.
A family trip from Surrey to Scotland. The car showed an error at the first stop (Tesla Superchargers) and wouldn't charge.
We tried three different ones there and gave up. We then moved to an Instervolt at a McDonald's a few miles away and got the same thing.
I phoned Polestar, who then organised recovery, locked the car, and went inside to break the news to the family that we were now going to be heading home. There were loads of tears from the kids, etc. So when we went back out, unlocked the car, and tried one more time, the stupid thing just fired right up.
It added around two hours to an eight-hour trip, and to this day, I have no idea why it did it and hasn't done it since.
Moral of the story: turn it off and back on again.
Avoid BP Pulse and Shell. They are oil companies who want you to have a bad experience with EVs.
If you are with Octopus for your electricity, (or switching to Octopus) you can get a Electroverse card which gives easy access to many chargers, as well as the 7p per KWh off-peak rate.
Evanivitch said:
Definitely consider MFG, Ionity, Instavolt, Gridserve in future.
And Osprey, On The Move.If you are with Octopus for your electricity, (or switching to Octopus) you can get a Electroverse card which gives easy access to many chargers, as well as the 7p per KWh off-peak rate.
gmaz said:
Avoid BP Pulse and Shell. They are oil companies who want you to have a bad experience with EVs.
Apologies in dance completely off topic...They really don't. Suggesting they deliberately spend hundreds of millions every year rolling out chargers to make them intentionally bad is a stretch.
Surely they just wouldn't bother installing them?
Say they are lumbering giants who can't be as slick and as polished in systems compared to companies who only do EV charging is a much more reasonable response.
drgoatboy said:
gmaz said:
Avoid BP Pulse and Shell. They are oil companies who want you to have a bad experience with EVs.
Apologies in dance completely off topic...They really don't. Suggesting they deliberately spend hundreds of millions every year rolling out chargers to make them intentionally bad is a stretch.
Surely they just wouldn't bother installing them?
Say they are lumbering giants who can't be as slick and as polished in systems compared to companies who only do EV charging is a much more reasonable response.
They spend a tiny amount on EV charging to satisfy shareholders and politicians and have neglected it from the very start. Honestly, pick any BP unit on zap!
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