CCS charging in London (and around England)

[sweter]

Hello,

I will be driving my Model 3 to London from Europe on the weekend and staying there for about a month. As UK's Superchargers are not yet getting converted to CCS, I was wondering if somebody could point me towards fast charging solutions around London (especially East London - I will be staying in Bow and occasionally visiting Shoreditch) and outside of London (for a weekend trip).

I saw quite a few chargers all around the city, but never took time to find out network names and ways to charge & pay. What are common charging networks?

When I charge on the street do I also need a parking permit?

Any directions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[theoceanwaves]

Hi there are 4 CCS Superchargers at Bluewater (dartford supercharger) recently installed yesterday apparently

 

[MP3Mike]

It seems like three Supercharger sites in the UK have gotten CCS stalls recently:

• Dartford, UK
• Birchanger Green, UK
• Maidstone, UK

I don't know if those will be helpful for your trip or not.

 

[4EVar]

If you install an app called Zap-map, it'll show you all the chargers and how much they cost.

 

[arg]

If you install an app called Zap-map,

Or just go to Charging points and electric vehicles UK 2019 - Zap Map

You then need to start worrying about the different UK networks and their different payment schemes.

Instavolt are convenient - modern equipment with CCS at every point, payment by contactless bank/credit cards (or ApplePay etc). However, they don't currently have any sites in central London - more an option for your trips out of town.

Polar are mostly useless for a short visit - they strongly encourage you to take out a monthly subscription (giving you an RFID card to access the chargepoints); they also have a mobile app that can in theory be used for one-off access at a higher price, but it has a reputation for not working. However, some of their locations in London are supposed to have been forced to accept contactless bank card payment (as they were grant-funded) so you might strike lucky.

Shell have relatively few sites but I notice there's one on the Whitechapel Road which may be handy for you in Bow. These accept TheNewMotion cards if you have one from your European travels; otherwise they use the SMOOV app.

GeniePoint have several in East London. No mobile app, just a website that is supposedly mobile-friendly. You need to create an account and load credit, but no subscription fee as such.

Ecotricity are in all of the motorway service areas, but maybe not a good choice for you as their CCS coverage is limited - typically two units at each site only one of which does CCS (and some sites with no CCS at all), and their equipment is old with low reliability particularly on CCS and some compatibility issues with certain vehicles. If you do want to try, payment is via their own mobile app "Electric Highway" - on a per-use basis, no subscription or pre-payment.

There's plenty more smaller networks, but those are the main ones likely to be useful to you.

 

[hatrack]

It seems like three Supercharger sites in the UK have gotten CCS stalls recently:

• Dartford, UK
• Birchanger Green, UK
• Maidstone, UK

I don't know if those will be helpful for your trip or not.

Where did you see this information? Didn’t think Tesla has started upgrading UK Superchargers.

 

[Chuq]

Where did you see this information? Didn’t think Tesla has started upgrading UK Superchargers.

All the data is being tracked in a shared Google sheet - Tracker CCS on Superchargers

 

[hatrack]

All the data is being tracked in a shared Google sheet - Tracker CCS on Superchargers

Thanks, great news. Would have expected it to make a bigger splash in news - hence my questioning!

Same process started about 3 months before Model 3 deliveries in Europe. A good sign anyway.

 

[sweter]

Thank you all, this is very informative. Will test on the drive tomorrow!

It seems like three Supercharger sites in the UK have gotten CCS stalls recently:

• Dartford, UK
• Birchanger Green, UK
• Maidstone, UK

I don't know if those will be helpful for your trip or not.

This is very good news, but they don't yet show up on the Model 3 nav

 

[hatrack]

Folkestone is another one that seems to have been upgraded.

 

[MP3Mike]

Folkestone is another one that seems to have been upgraded.

Where are you seeing that information? How many stalls were retrofitted?

 

[hatrack]

Where are you seeing that information? How many stalls were retrofitted?

Nothing more solid than Twitter I’m afraid.

 

[sweter]

Last night (this morning?) I exited the Ferry at 3.30 AM (sic!) with ~55km of battery left. Didn't want to risk driving to Maidstone only to find out it's not yet upgraded (it wasn't showing up on the nav yet). I found a charging station from Ecotricity in Folkestone and just as I started the charging session, Maidstone Supercharger suddenly appeared on the map. I charged for about 45 minutes at the Ecotricity station and then went to full up in Maidstone. That was a nice surprise and success.

Couldn't check Folkestone SuC as that's only available for Tunnel passengers. Didn't go to Dartford either.

After that I was (un)pleasantly hit with Monday morning London traffic... Longest 17km of my life.

Thanks for informative replies to this thread, I will check all these charging options out in the coming weeks

 

[Mark_T]

I was at Brent Cross today and both SC stalls there have had CCS added.

 

[PDB33]

I was at Brent Cross today and both SC stalls there have had CCS added.

Four of eight at Heathrow T5 Hilton have CCS added. Signs beside each stall say 30 mins free parking but 4 hours free parking if you use spa, food and beverage facilities. I declined a small coffee at an eye-watering £4.50 (less the 10% discount for Tesla owners that they are now offering), was told coffee is served only in one size, but the cups on top of the coffee machine did not look big.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I'm guessing that this is a really straightforward MOD, given that they've already done this right across EU, give or take, and M3 only just trickling in ... need to remember that when someone tells me that everyone else is catching Tesla up / competing / "better" ...

.... CCS adaptor arriving soon would be nice

 

[Asterix187]

Birchanger Green...