ChargeFox EV charging Network

[Max Spaghetti]

All comes down to cost structures.
There's a reason the Coke machine can afford a $1000 IP rated credit card reader.

But I suspect you wouldn't like that Gross Margin at your local EV charger.

Most DC chargers already have an IP rated RFID reader. They also already have a network connection. Presumably the only thing stopping credit card tap’n’charge is willingness and software.

If regulation is required to provide the “willingness” then bring it on.

Some chargers cost $0.30. Some even charge up to $1.10. The cost of RFID credit card technology is minuscule in the scheme of things. My daughter had a cookie stall at the last election with an iPhone square reader for those without cash FFS.

 

[Max Spaghetti]

I can see a few good reasons for using the apps: it eliminates the need for preauth holds; it simplifies the idle fee problem (you can't charge more than the preauthorisation so how do you handle the possibility of idle fees?); it lets you alert the customer when charging is finished so they move their car promptly; it lets you show price information without having to have a display on the charger.

1. If you don’t like preauth, use the app. But give me the choice.
2. If you are concerned about the idle fee problem, increase the preauth.
3. If you want to be alerted when charging finishes, use the app. My Tesla tells me anyway, I don’t need a charger app. I can’t speak for other brands of EV’s.
4. Most DC chargers already have displays. If not, put a bloody sign on the charger.

None of these reasons are sufficient to preclude the basic human rights concept of paying for charging the same way we pay for any other service. And I would like to add that this is arguably an “essential service”, because it forms an essential component of mobility of the population, once BEV’s become mainstream (which we want them to become).

 

[Vostok]

3. If you want to be alerted when charging finishes, use the app. My Tesla tells me anyway, I don’t need a charger app. I can’t speak for other brands of EV’s.

None of these reasons are sufficient to preclude the basic human rights concept of paying for charging the same way we pay for any other service.

Nissan LEAF (Gen 1) does not have an App. The only way I know a charge has finished is when the DCFC Network’s App tells me it has finished. That’s not possible with Tap’n’Pay.

There is no “human right” regarding how we pay for services.

 

[Nevyn72]

Would you like a coin slot even better? Even more anonymous

You leave traces of DNA on the coins...

 

[ZeeDoktor]

There's no anonymity in charging anyway. Apart from the credit card number itself, your car shares unique identifiers with every DC charger it connects to.

My personal data is not attached to that unique identifier, yet it is roaming freely and widely with every app you sign up for. You have zero control over what they do with your data. And when (not if) they get hacked, your data is floating freely in the interwebs both dark and light. The best risk mitigation strategy, as @Max Spaghetti points out, is to simply have no memberships, use one CC, and pay it off every month.

 

[aegidius]

Why cant I convert Flybuys points to Qantas miles earned by buying a Whopper at Macca's.??

Like I can convert FlyBuys points to Virgin Velocity points?

 

[OzVic]

The only way I know a charge has finished is when the DCFC Network’s App tells me it has finished. That’s not possible with Tap’n’Pay.

Pretty sure KemPower's can display a QR code for your current charging session. Start charging, scan the code, see your car's current charging status updated in real time! No network app needed.

 

[qldoldun]

The RACQ/Chargefox chargers at the shopping centre on the corner of Beams/Gympie Roads at Carseldine are now operating.

One Fast charger with CCS2 and Chademo at 50kW @40cents with 20% off for RACQ members.

Two Ultrafast chargers (linked with the same station number) at up to 210kW @60cents with 20% off for RACQ members.

If they remain in good working order they will be very handy due to the scarcity of Tesla SCs on the northside of Brisbane - particularly for those driving from the north.

 

[aegidius]

Anyone been past the Rogers St carpark DCFC in Stanthorpe recently? It's been down for a while according to Plugshare, and the app says both "available" and "service personnel booked" for the same stall... I'm going down that way soon and having a charger in Stanthorpe would be handy.

 

[Chuq]

Looks like Chargefox has a refreshed website.

Includes an interactive map - Drivers | Chargefox

Also, if logged in, a record of your charging history - Chargefox

 

[Baymax44]

The map is weird, Euroa site is totally down in the app but the website map somhow shows it is available. :/

 

[Baymax44]

Goulburn South site is finally on

 

[moa999]

Only 80kW listed. Is that low for that Kempower hardware?

 

[leonk]

Maybe supply constraints on site?
it has taken forever to get to this point!

 

[tyrotex]

Only 80kW listed. Is that low for that Kempower hardware?

Pretty normal from my experience. Electric Highway Tasmania uses some 80kW Kempower units (e.g. Oatlands). They share the power more intelligently between the CCS & Chademo plugs.

 

[B3AU]

I think it goes nationwide tonight

It's up to the site owner to enable it.

That's why today's email says "select stations"

 

[Chuq]

Anyone actually found one with idle fees in the app (other than the initial WA sites)

The only other one that I know of is Electric Highway Tasmania’s Kings Meadows site.

(The reason it’s only that site is because the others are mixed kWh/minute fees, so already have that in built disincentive to stop using when your charge speed tapers. Kings Meadows was the one they bought from Chargefox, so they’ve kept the existing rates - no per minute charge.)

 

[Chuq]

(and I just realised this isn’t the Chargefox thread - could you please move the posts, @meloccom?)

 

[Sir Surfalot]

I went for a bit of an explore earlier this morning and charged at the new ChargeFox chargers at North Parramatta (Sydney). It is at the big intersection where James Ruse Drive meets Church St - where there used to be a Bunnings, and now a new Woolworths and some other shops. Sidenote: the coffee shop there makes a decent coffee (Vittoria beans) and is open 6am-6pm.

They have two Kempower DC chargers, so 4 CCS2 charging spots available (and some BYOCable AC chargers too). On my Tesla (400V system) I got 75kW max, $0.55/kWh and no NRMA discount (site is co-branded Woolworths rather than NRMA or just straight ChargeFox branding so i wasn’t expecting a discount anyway).

For non-Teslas without app access to watch the session (say you just have a RFID card and don’t have the ChargeFox app) they have a QR code shown on the charger screen to scan and then watch your session in progress on your phone browser - you may have seen that on various overseas videos with Kempower chargers. Couple of photos below:

 

[Vostok]

I still don’t like how Chargefox pretends to be Australia’s largest charging network when increasingly all they are doing is the session management and billing backend.

If they are not responsible at a given site for responding to site faults and fixing them, then they shouldn’t be allowed to plaster their logo all over the boxes.