At least they planned ahead this time and down-rated the charger, to avoid tripping the entire site. Again.
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ChargeFox EV charging Network
- Thread starter Chuq
- Start date
At the time ARENA awarded the big wad of cash for the "Advancing Renewables" funding round to Chargefox, Chargefox was half-owned by AMS, which is owned by the various states roadside associations. As such they put the local one's branding on their chargers. And gave discounts to members on the few dozen chargers they (half-)owned.
AMS has since bought out the other half.
Zoltrix77
Member
The curse of Tesla not expanding the 6 stall site at Gundagai since its installation in November 2015?
In July 2023 an idle fees trial will commence in some limited locations within Western Australia.
RareEarth
Member
Just got an email out of the blue from Chargefox. It mentions an idle fee trial:
"In July 2023 an idle fees trial will commence in some limited locations within Western Australia.
The trial will feature:
"In July 2023 an idle fees trial will commence in some limited locations within Western Australia.
The trial will feature:
- Changes to the station guidelines (signage and stickers) as well as mobile interface and push notifications to ensure appropriate education for drivers charging at stations with idle fees.
- A ‘grace period’ to allow drivers to return to their car within a reasonable period of time before fees apply.
- A fee per minute of overstay after completion of charging and expiration of ‘grace period’."
Honestly it's just encouraging to see signs of life at Chargefox at all!
I asked on Twitter. They cut the 350 to 45c and are refunding those who used it at the higher rate while it was slow.
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RareEarth
Member
Which highlights ones of the problems with “tap and pay” that a number of people argue is essential. How does a charge point operator push a notification to someone, when they have no idea who they are because all they did was tap a credit card? They have zero identifying information - they don’t know who the person is, what their phone number is, or their email address, or what their credit card number is (secure tokens are used to exchange directly with the financial institution for payment) or anything else that could enable them to identify and contact or notify the owner.
I find having the RFID cards to be just fine. I keep them in the console, and just pull out whichever one I need at the time. It’s close to zero overhead. Plug-and-charge would be better, and is allegedly coming to all the non-Tesla CPOs. Eventually. Still requires you though to have an account with the CPO and a payment method attached.
![[Zombie]](/tmc/data/avatars/l/236/236453.jpg?1658216431){kind=avatar}
[Zombie]
Member
Those people will need to take personal responsibility to get back to their car in time.
No different from pre-paying for streetside parking. If you don't come back before the ticket expires you can expect a fine.
Fortunately most of those seem to be implementing apps now, so you only pay for the time you've actually parked and get reminders etc, but for non-technological people there's still the old ways to pay.
Well, it is different, since paying for streetside parking has a precisely defined end time depending on how much you pay, with that end time printed on a ticket or shown on the meter.
A DCFC charging session can take a random amount of time, as we know, the time taken can depend on a lot of factors.
Then they have to stay nearby & watch it. I think they'll get the hang of it pretty quickly.
What if the charger is offline so the app isn't working? (eg, network failed for whatever reason but can still be started with RFID, or the charger is in free mode)
What if you've got an EV that doesn't have an app?
Some EV’s don’t have “Apps“ or at least not very good ones. My Nissan LEAF used to have an App, but it was rubbish and rarely worked, and then Nissan turned the back-end server off in August 2021 to kill the whole system off. So it is now App-less and has no Telematics.
And even Tesla’s App doesn’t give you a 5-minute warning when you are charging on a non-Tesla DCFC. You only get a notification (if you have turned notifications on) when charging has actually finished.
First I think idle fees should be pretty lenient on AC chargers (potentially none). They are generally for plugging in and going to the shops or other activities.
Second, people will learn eventually that a DC fast charger isn't for "plugging in and going out for the day". It's for plugging in for the bare minimum amount of time possible so you can continue your trip.
And I know charging speeds vary wildly, but you really don't need an app to avoid idle fees, the charging curve generally averages out to the point you can start to learn how long it will be by how much you want to add.
Somebody on twitter was arguing the second point using the justification that sometimes DC chargers are in paid carparks so you should be able to tie up the charger for as long as you have paid to park while you wander around the city or go to work. Which is not strictly wrong, but incredibly selfish and inconsiderate (especially when those same people probably also would complain about not enough chargers). Just be ready to go back and move the car to another spot after 30-40 minutes or so.
Second, people will learn eventually that a DC fast charger isn't for "plugging in and going out for the day". It's for plugging in for the bare minimum amount of time possible so you can continue your trip.
And I know charging speeds vary wildly, but you really don't need an app to avoid idle fees, the charging curve generally averages out to the point you can start to learn how long it will be by how much you want to add.
Somebody on twitter was arguing the second point using the justification that sometimes DC chargers are in paid carparks so you should be able to tie up the charger for as long as you have paid to park while you wander around the city or go to work. Which is not strictly wrong, but incredibly selfish and inconsiderate (especially when those same people probably also would complain about not enough chargers). Just be ready to go back and move the car to another spot after 30-40 minutes or so.
Even worse they can sometimes glitch and stop long before the target % is reached.
You've paid to occupy a bit of land but not to occupy the expensive bit of charging infrastructure.
The real solution to this is: no parking fee payable for the charging spot, idle fees payable though. If your car finishes charging and you want to stay there, find a normal spot and buy a normal ticket.
There are non app solutions for this. Kemppower DCFC systems can show a QR code for a unique URL for your charging session, so you can monitor it from a website on your phone.
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