Why This Ionity Installation Is A Little... Odd

Visiting Cullompton Services, there was one thing that jumped out immediately about this Ionity installation. And that makes it rather different to others that I've been to. So to find out what's going on, stick around as Dave Takes It On.
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Tags:
#electricvehicles #evcharging #ionity #davetakesiton

[@MartinYoung-n4d]

There is the same system at Cambridge services. On the payment terminal you swipe your payment card then scroll to the charger you want, they are all numbered, press the one you want then go and plug in. I've got a Mercedes charge card that I didn't have with me the first time I used it. If you have an rfid card you plug in first before you swip the card.

[@jcflippen1552]

Cullompton is often busy but you can get to it going South or North. Good video report. 👍

[@MrDAVIDATKIN]

Used Cullompton several times, used to be only RFID card, plugsurfing, Electroverse work on that for sure. Must have recently added the payment terminal for debit/credit card. They have a similar setup at Beaconsfield Ionity.

[@robertdurn2320]

You are not alone on the confusion. I arrived at Cullompton last May on a very wet day and struggled to make a payment. Better signage would help.

[@G6EJD]

I think they've had to add the payment terminal (external) to comply with the recent change (Nov.23) to the regulations - all EVSE's must support Contactless Payment facilities.

[@rogerphelps9939]

All new EVSE's must have it but it makes a lot of sense to retrofit with contactless.

[@peteglass3496]

I'm guessing there is some way of keying in which unit you are paying for. Dave didn't run a test to see the whole UI.

[@rachelcarre9468]

Yesterday, I used Ionity for the first time. I have to say that whilst it charged quite quickly (it wasn’t 350kW) the process of using their terminal (ABB) was not user friendly. It did not have either an integrated or separate card reader so payment was via a smartphone. Their terminal did have a card reader symbol on the front but I realised after two failed attempts with my credit card that it was not, I finally realised that the small QR code hidden well below sight line and behind the CCS plug was the way to start the app. Overall, it was ok but they REALLY, REALLY need to improve the useablity and instructions of their equipment.

[@clivethomas6864]

I love the sticker saying I they were co-funded by the EU.

[@rogerphelps9939]

Absolutely.

[@prjackson7802]

Great video

[@danielaumlaut]

The CEO of Ionity said in an interview that the payment terminal providers charge per installed terminal. The other reason is that they wanted to come up with a solution to retrofit their stations and that way they don't need to touch the existing hardware and can add contactless in software by adding the payment terminal separately. I think it was the Tesla Björn Interview.

[@EricTheBlue61]

I regularly use the Ionity Chargers at Chippenham and exactly the same type of card reader has recently been installed. Couldn't get it to work the one time I tried so I can't shed any light on the subject I'm afraid. I've since signed up for Ionity membership. It's fairly cheap at £4.49 a month, presumably because they don't have many sites in the UK. Drops the price from 74p to 56p which i think is quite good value.

[@mbak7801]

I remember walking up to a Pod Point charger about 500 yds from my home and this was when they would say what the price was. It was 24p and I walked away in disgust at the rip off charges. A year and a half of really stupid prices and people say 56p is good value. WOW. I charge at 7.5p which is fine for local driving. I concede that 24p is not a bad price but anything above that is just profiteering. My local charger now keeps the price secret and is very rarely used indeed. Plenty of local EVs but I suspect almost all charge from home.

[@EricTheBlue61]

@@mbak7801It's only about a year ago the 7 KW Pod Point chargers at Tesco were free. I used to take an hour over my weekly shop and invariably ended up buying stuff I didn't need 😅. 56p is fairly reasonable for public charging. Gridserve charge 79p. All electricity is a rip off at the moment though, not just EV charging.

[@Hayles6677]

Someone posted on FB that the same system is at Peterborough Ionity so it’s complying with new government regs

[@thefishingbikeruk5112]

A single card payment terminal is quite common at motorway charging stations in Europe with e.g. Ionity or Total. Typically I use my BMW charge card or plugsurfing fob.

[@rogerphelps9939]

It is the EV parallel with going to the shop to pay for the petrol that you have pumped.

[@thefishingbikeruk5112]

@@rogerphelps9939 not that I'm aware of - they have a credit card terminal somewhere near the charging units. With the charge card e.g. plugsurfing you can initiate the charge directly at the unit (rather than the card terminal)

[@1mw2mam]

I've charged here in preference to Exeter services which can get congested getting in and out of the services. Cullompton has the advantage for me that I can drop my caravan in the nearby lorry park area. I have the Skoda Enyaq which has plug and charge which works with the Ionity chargers - just plug in and let it sort itself out and at a discounted rate through the Skoda power-pass. I've used these ionity chargers in Europe and pretty sure the contactless works straight off the unit itself; I wonder if the extra payment console is for some of these units not working or older types? No idea really. Nice video as always.

[@rogerphelps9939]

I also have an Enyaq but plug and charge makes no sense for me given the small amount of public charging that I do.

[@danielsimpson8371]

Got the same ev (also same colour) but our ionity 'deal' is 50or60p. I seem to remember they upped it just before we got ours last July. Oh well ... 😢 I've only used ionity twice and the first time I couldn't get the discount cause the app(or Kia card) wasn't working at the site (Leeds).

[@rogerphelps9939]

Well, most petrol pumps do not have card readers so you have to go to the shop to pay. This is just something similar. It probably saves a few quid having just one terminal.

[@BROOMEngineeringTMIET]

I can also pay cash for my diesel, as I did about 3 weeks ago, when my towns internet fell over. When I went into the bank around 11am the following day, they were still trying to play catch up. Think carefully......many aren't!

[@moragkerr9577]

These are the chargers The MacMaster went to on his way to Land's End last October. Someone was leaving a bay, having got a charge, and he pulled in and tried to start a charge, and the entire Ionity site went down. Still wondering how he managed to pull that one.

[@rayjones9231]

You can use Octopus Electroverse there. Infact all Ionity chargers

[@EricTheBlue61]

Oddly, the last few times I've used it, the OVO app has failed to locate any Ionity chargers, even when I was parked next to one. I assumed they had stopped their deal, but having checked today they seem to be back on the app.

[@rayjones9231]

0.65 kWH

[@Jaw0lf]

Never seen a charger with the one card payment kiosk between them!

[@thisisnumber0]

You mentioned your brother. Come on, Dave, is that airgun Andy?

[@John-FourteenSix]

Why do you need to pre-heat when you’ve just been driving on the motorway?

[@michaeldawson6309]

Is the contactless symbol on the charger for an Ionity RFID's dongle and not NFC phone / cards.

[@iainlroy]

what a lovely looking EV6. Best EV on the market

[@andrewnicholson9857]

I have a Kia EV6 and it is a superb car. It drives as well as it looks. The only real problem is the dealers. The ignorance of the staff is staggering.

[@rivergladesgardenrailroad8834]

​@andrewnicholson9857 yep they are indeed.

[@Lemming1970]

That's a GT-line S ;-)

[@rabidpb]

Every Ionity site is like this. Theres nothing unusual about this location. The shared payment terminal is new to all Ionity sites, they used to be app or RFID only. It serves every charger on the site. But that oddity aside, Ionity are about the best non-Tesla chargers in the country.

[@rivergladesgardenrailroad8834]

used to live 2 miles away...

[@rivergladesgardenrailroad8834]

The train is quiet.

[@MrGMawson2438]

Cheers Dave

[@thisisnumber0]

You like stopping at service areas? Blimey, you do punish yourself, how many services are there between Cullompton and Preston?

[@DavidPlayfair]

Any chademo chargers there?

[@peteglass3496]

No, Ionity is a consortium of OEMs, mostly European although I believe Hyundai joined late and they only install CCS2. Nissan wasn't involved.

[@MrGMawson2438]

Hello mate

[@johnrubber1144]

Quite confusing. A shame you couldn't try it to show how it works.

[@rivergladesgardenrailroad8834]

yep Dave was a bit out of his depth.

[@Lesjaye]

I’ve had an EV for a few years now but don’t need to rapid charge often & when I do I have apps/accounts with the providers so payment is debited automatically. I’ve often wondered if there would be a situation where a debit card would be rejected because the terminal doesn’t have a PIN entry system. Has anyone had experience?

[@rogerphelps9939]

You never spend more than £100 on charging, not yet anyway, so PINs don't come into it.

[@Lesjaye]

@@rogerphelps9939 I was actually referring to when one uses a contactless card a certain no. of times, the point of sale machine asks you to enter your security pin. If I use my phone this never happens since I have Face ID for identity verification.

[@djtaylorutube]

​@@rogerphelps9939It's a bit more subtle than that. Some banks require use of PIN after a certain number of contactless payments, depending on the risk profile. ECB regulations require it for PSD2 compliance.

[@solentbum]

I've had that problem several times when the card I use reaches the point where a PIN input is required by the Bank. Although I carry two credit cards last week both were refused at a charger, I then used one in a pin terminal to pay for a meal, and tried again with contactless, it worked OK.

[@Lesjaye]

@@solentbum Thanks for the “heads up” on that! This must be very frustrating when you find a charger that works & then your card is rejected!

[@janetmorris6792]

If we are the furthest away from the pay terminal and you have just paid can another person arrive and plug in and beat you too it to get the charge plug in or do you state what pump you are at, also No Chademo (Shame)

[@rivergladesgardenrailroad8834]

Stop it....

[@jezsang6484]

That’s a rather poorly executed charging installation. I wonder if that payment terminal covers all 6 chargers or just the 2 closest and the other 4 are all RFID only. (As long as the legislation box is ticked who cares about practicality, right) Surely any designer would realise with both bays in use access to the pay terminal would be severely limited and could well result in cosmetic damage to the vehicles using those bays, never mind how little space there is actually at the payment terminal. I think big lads and lasses may struggle. Even with all 6 bays empty, impossible for disabled access, well done Ionity. EV drivers continue to be a second thought when it comes to the U.K. charging infrastructure.

[@Joe-lb8qn]

A but late to see this, but how annoying that there are so many combinations of the order and way in which you pay plug in ,connect with an app and so forth. This site almost seems to make a game of it, guess what to do. Not helping EV adoption

[@keithdenton8386]

Why have they got the EU flag on them. That's a bit old hat. We get nothing from the EU now, but they are still trying to make out it's got something to do with the EU.

[@peteglass3496]

Afaik, Cullompton was one of the few early Ionity locations, so it may well have gone through approval before 2020 and our exit.