This thread relates to kerb side parking in UK, specifically Connected Kerb
connectedkerb.com
tl;dr - a largely positive experience with a few caveats and potential cost savings that might save a few pennys for those that like to.
Firstly, they spelled kerb properly, always a positive start!
As a frequent visitor to extended stays to south coast, EV charging has always been at back of our mind. In the past Tesco podpoint with a walk and click watching to avoid overstay fees, or opportunistic free supercharging has always sufficed, albeit at expense of often pretty dire facilities - looking at you Emsworth.
This time however, it became front and centre as a medium length same day trip meant that we would have at a point reached minimum comfortable charge during the trip. So time to look at solutions which didn’t require us going too much out of our way to grab a charge.
Whilst having Octopuses Electrocharge since its inception, we have never actually used it in anger before. So it was the go to app of choice.
Knowing the frequently visited area well, I wasn’t expecting to see anything particularly useful and/or supported by Electroverse. But to my surprise, a handful of conveniently located Connected Kerb sites had appeared since last visit, each with 4-6 charge points. I hadn’t heard of the company before, but a couple of pics on Electroverse app showed what to expect. A recce was in order…
We checked over 3 of the locations. Out of a max of 18 spaces, 3 were EV charging, 2 spaces were unoccupied but somewhat tight (due to inconsiderable parking) and the rest were… ICEd, including several large vans.
Ok, so it was a hot and busy day on the coast, so hopefully not typical.
A few days later, we decided to head off to a nearby town for a few hours. Perfect opportunity to destination charge. And some connected kerb sites a short walk from the town centre.
Once you know what you are looking for, they are easy to spot due to the road markings and this time, a row of 6 empty spaces. So we picked one and tried to plug in. No cigar, the twist locator was stuck in wrong orientation. As the posts were paired we tried the other one.
All ok. Car connected, Electroverse RFID card out, a quick swipe across the payment plate and Electroverse app showed car was charging. Almost as easy as a supercharger.
On short walk into town we decided to detour to another row to check them out. At which point we discovered signage for residents parking. Of the 4, one EV was parked but not plugged in, and the other 3 were occupied by 2 ICE vehicles poorly parked.
As it just so happened, a traffic warden was close by so I asked what the restrictions were with ICE vehicles and more importantly to clarify whether we had parked in a restricted bay even though there was no double lines like surrounding areas and parking restriction signage was just a bare pole. “If there is no signage, it’s unenforceable” they said to my relief. See also update warning on controlled parking zone.
3 hours later, swiped card to stop charge, unplugged and off we went. As easy as supercharging combined with a relaxing stay without any worries about having to rush back to car to avoid any over stay fines or other site fees/fines.
Receipt was already in Electroverse app by time I had checked a few minutes later. Couldn’t have been easier except for stuck first charger orientation ring.
Cost - about £10 for 3 hours charging. Saved a few ££ on in town parking and had a very pleasant 20 minute walk each way.
So, apart from some spaces being ICEd, what else…
Cost:
Electroverse fixed 48p/kwh included IO 8% discount. A fair price.
Connected Kerb app, which I downloaded later showed slightly mixed pricing of between 45p and 52p depending on exact location and time of day - some are cheaper overnight. Very fair pricing and if you don’t have Electroverse RFID card, probably still easy to use as it supported Apple Pay etc as a guest.
And the Bad
Shell Recharge - 7xp - wtf - how can they justify such a markup ?
And the not so good.
A mate of mine just so happens to be a parking warden in the area where 11/18 charge points were out of order. I joked that I could tell him where to find 11 illegally parked cars. “Not enforceable” apparently something about the local authority not applying for enforcement- it also applies to a couple of other spots around town that should be, but arent because the local council let the restrictions lapse or haven’t applied for it - this is in addition to the local resident who also painted their own disabled parking space!
He did however warn me about controlled parking zones which are not necessary obvious, especially if you are concentrating on looking for charge points. These put a blanket set of parking restrictions within certain zones, notified solely by a pair of road side signs.
As for the now reported broken charge point. Connected kerb responded within 24 hours saying it’s been reported to their engineers. Unlike some other companies who seem not to care a damn, I don’t doubt that Connected Kerb will indeed get this sorted.
Well done connected kerb and Octopus, shame on local authorities and Shell Recharge.
PS. I also checked the controlled parking zone. Apart from the resident parking zone ones, all the Connected Kerb chargers where we charged were outside any CPZ, so could have left car overnight to charge if need be.
Connected Kerb | Together, we can change the world for good. One charge at a time.
Hello, we're Connected Kerb. An electric vehicle charging company on a mission to change the world for good. We want to make EV charging inclusive, convenient and reliable, just a small part of our journey to become the UK's favourite charging network.
tl;dr - a largely positive experience with a few caveats and potential cost savings that might save a few pennys for those that like to.
Firstly, they spelled kerb properly, always a positive start!
As a frequent visitor to extended stays to south coast, EV charging has always been at back of our mind. In the past Tesco podpoint with a walk and click watching to avoid overstay fees, or opportunistic free supercharging has always sufficed, albeit at expense of often pretty dire facilities - looking at you Emsworth.
This time however, it became front and centre as a medium length same day trip meant that we would have at a point reached minimum comfortable charge during the trip. So time to look at solutions which didn’t require us going too much out of our way to grab a charge.
Whilst having Octopuses Electrocharge since its inception, we have never actually used it in anger before. So it was the go to app of choice.
Knowing the frequently visited area well, I wasn’t expecting to see anything particularly useful and/or supported by Electroverse. But to my surprise, a handful of conveniently located Connected Kerb sites had appeared since last visit, each with 4-6 charge points. I hadn’t heard of the company before, but a couple of pics on Electroverse app showed what to expect. A recce was in order…
We checked over 3 of the locations. Out of a max of 18 spaces, 3 were EV charging, 2 spaces were unoccupied but somewhat tight (due to inconsiderable parking) and the rest were… ICEd, including several large vans.
Ok, so it was a hot and busy day on the coast, so hopefully not typical.
A few days later, we decided to head off to a nearby town for a few hours. Perfect opportunity to destination charge. And some connected kerb sites a short walk from the town centre.
Once you know what you are looking for, they are easy to spot due to the road markings and this time, a row of 6 empty spaces. So we picked one and tried to plug in. No cigar, the twist locator was stuck in wrong orientation. As the posts were paired we tried the other one.
All ok. Car connected, Electroverse RFID card out, a quick swipe across the payment plate and Electroverse app showed car was charging. Almost as easy as a supercharger.
On short walk into town we decided to detour to another row to check them out. At which point we discovered signage for residents parking. Of the 4, one EV was parked but not plugged in, and the other 3 were occupied by 2 ICE vehicles poorly parked.
As it just so happened, a traffic warden was close by so I asked what the restrictions were with ICE vehicles and more importantly to clarify whether we had parked in a restricted bay even though there was no double lines like surrounding areas and parking restriction signage was just a bare pole. “If there is no signage, it’s unenforceable” they said to my relief. See also update warning on controlled parking zone.
3 hours later, swiped card to stop charge, unplugged and off we went. As easy as supercharging combined with a relaxing stay without any worries about having to rush back to car to avoid any over stay fines or other site fees/fines.
Receipt was already in Electroverse app by time I had checked a few minutes later. Couldn’t have been easier except for stuck first charger orientation ring.
Cost - about £10 for 3 hours charging. Saved a few ££ on in town parking and had a very pleasant 20 minute walk each way.
So, apart from some spaces being ICEd, what else…
Cost:
Electroverse fixed 48p/kwh included IO 8% discount. A fair price.
Connected Kerb app, which I downloaded later showed slightly mixed pricing of between 45p and 52p depending on exact location and time of day - some are cheaper overnight. Very fair pricing and if you don’t have Electroverse RFID card, probably still easy to use as it supported Apple Pay etc as a guest.
And the Bad
Shell Recharge - 7xp - wtf - how can they justify such a markup ?
And the not so good.
A mate of mine just so happens to be a parking warden in the area where 11/18 charge points were out of order. I joked that I could tell him where to find 11 illegally parked cars. “Not enforceable” apparently something about the local authority not applying for enforcement- it also applies to a couple of other spots around town that should be, but arent because the local council let the restrictions lapse or haven’t applied for it - this is in addition to the local resident who also painted their own disabled parking space!
He did however warn me about controlled parking zones which are not necessary obvious, especially if you are concentrating on looking for charge points. These put a blanket set of parking restrictions within certain zones, notified solely by a pair of road side signs.
As for the now reported broken charge point. Connected kerb responded within 24 hours saying it’s been reported to their engineers. Unlike some other companies who seem not to care a damn, I don’t doubt that Connected Kerb will indeed get this sorted.
Well done connected kerb and Octopus, shame on local authorities and Shell Recharge.
PS. I also checked the controlled parking zone. Apart from the resident parking zone ones, all the Connected Kerb chargers where we charged were outside any CPZ, so could have left car overnight to charge if need be.
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