Chargefox have dropped the ball

[rowdyflat]

We recently travelled to Melbourne and back  and it is apparent that Chargefox and perhaps Evie are unable to get their chargers repaired.

Epping ,Airport West , Euroa , Barnawartha and Yackandandah  more than half the chargers are faulty and unusable.

In fact the most important and central chargers, Euroa have 3 out of 4 unusable.One of those chargers has been out for at least 9 months.

Chargefox claims to be aware of the situation but blames Tritium for the lack of spare parts.

I have emailed Tritium who claim they are not responsible and that Chargefox have not informed them .

 EV drivers have been queueing but soon some will be stranded.

[brunohill]

I think part of the problem is that they get grant money for installing new chargers so that gets priority over fixing existing chargers.

[coulomb]

The semiconductor shortage seems set to continue well into next year and perhaps into 2024. I have no idea how much that is affecting repair of Australian fast chargers though.

[rowdyflat]

How is the situation in NSW anyone know whether chargers are not being repaired?

[EVangelist]

Nov 24, 2022 8:16:54 GMT 11 rowdyflat said:

How is the situation in NSW anyone know whether chargers are not being repaired?

I’ve never had a bad experience in NSW but then again I am an assiduous PlugShare user and always, always check chargers that I plan to use are working, either via evidence of recent successful checkins, and for Evie/Chargefox, that their Apps report a particular charging is working and ports available.  I then plan my trip to avoid chargers that look like they are faulty.

I guess the other things is my LEAF never leaves Sydney and close to 100% of its charging is at home.  I only take the Model 3 on road trips, and with its 500 km range, no range anxiety and if I ever got to a charger to find it’s busy or not working, I would just keep on driving to the next one and would have enough range to do it.  And I don’t always use Tesla Superchargers, but I am yet to encounter a faulty Supercharger in 3 years.

[rowdyflat]

NRMA might be keeping a tight rein on Chargefox whereas RACV are totally clueless no one seems to even know they own $30- 50 million worth of chargers.
So far emails, nothing in a month from RACV or Chargefox , Tritium bot reply full of platitudes but no solutions .
May need to be escalated to the politicians with a suggestion that Tritium uses its semiconductors fixing the existing chargers, rather than more greenwashing ,back slapping ,lucrative announcements.
My wife is now reluctant to take the Leaf to Melbourne on Monday.
Unfortunately the apps arent accurate.Chargefox thinks things are working which are faulty ,they cant get off their arses to check.
Makes one very cynical.
I am sure "The Australian" would love a front page about it or Sky" News" would feature it on the TV.
Plays right into their negative EV hating rhetoric.
Thats the last option to get attention.

[rowdyflat]

Further contact with Chargefox .
Nothing will be fixed for months or years until they can get parts from Taiwan or China.
Global supply chain farked and we are a backwater.
Think next car will be a hybrid.

[rowdyflat]

Went from NE Vic to Phillip Island .
Euroa chargers have actually been fixed but Epping and Airport west are hopeless 2 out of 8 chargers are working.

[rowdyflat]

Got stuck in Euroa .
0/4 chargers working.
Could be the internet.
Contacted Chargefox who got 1 going.

[Feng]

That must have been a relief. Really disappointing to hear, are they just in it for the government grants or something?

[rowdyflat]

Yeah we nearly had to stay the night and charge in a motel.

[jin]

The 50kw tritium at BP Karuah (note: run by chargefox not bp pulse) has been out for over 6months now.

This is the only chademo at site.
Estimated fix date just keeps getting pushed back.


They have other ccs2 on 150kw+ working..

[EVangelist]

Initially Chargefox were good and now they are hopeless. Apparently they want to pull back from building a charging network and instead be a provider of backends and billing.

[rowdyflat]

Apart from vandalism ,it seems Tritium chargers arent very reliable .
The problem continues randomly esp Euroa which is still critical but at least there will soon be chargers at Benalla ,Avenel seems more reliable ,Seymour has one so less likely to be stuck.
Unreliable chargers are a worry.

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[brunohill]

Was Konny Reiman electrocuted by a Charge fox charger? Perhaps it was just a case of one Hamburger too many.

[rowdyflat]

About 1 year later now we have Chargers at Beechworth, Yackandandah which is very good once Chargefox got off its arse and fixed the totally new charger not properly installed Wangaratta,Glenrowan only has 1 Chademo on the north side of the Hume ,Benalla near the shops is good ,Avenel,etc
It seems Evie is much more reliable and better at maintenance so we avoid Chargefox.
Euroa is still hopeless I have sent a message to RACV ,yesterday 2/4 working neither of the fast ones only the "Ultrafast" and only at 50 kW .

[rowdyflat]

About 1 year later now we have Chargers at Beechworth, Yackandandah which is very good once Chargefox got off its arse and fixed the totally new charger not properly installed Wangaratta,Glenrowan only has 1 Chademo on the north side of the Hume ,Benalla near the shops is good ,Avenel,etc
It seems Evie is much more reliable and better at maintenance so we avoid Chargefox.
Euroa is still hopeless I have sent a message to RACV ,yesterday 2/4 working neither of the fast ones only the "Ultrafast" and only at 50 kW .

[rowdyflat]

Its a shame that Japanese car makers including Nissan have allowed China to take over because the tech is becoming firmly established and though the Leaf was an excellent car for its day ,the lack of active battery cooling is a problem.
We love the car but charging on a trip is a pain after 2 fast charges in warm weather it slows to 15kW.
Its best to break up a drive into 4 hr days by staying somewhere overnight eg Canberra .
A recent trip to NSW south coast hampered by the poor NRMA app which only works if you join NRMA , as a guest doesnt work and is as slow and clunky as hell.
Compare that to Evie which is now leading the way with a reliable RFID card and excellent chargers.
Chargefox is still lazy about fixing stuff particularly in Vic where RACV has a big investment but is totally clueless and probably wasting members money by not operating the charge system well.
The Leaf as a local runabout and charging at home its great.
I think the Aus charging system rather than Toyota will be the biggest impediment to widespread EV adoption .

[rowdyflat]

Never used the NRMA app before. They claim you can register as a guest and dont need to join but that never worked, so you have to join NRMA and cancel that when you come back.
The NRMA app is very clunky but they claim it is a " seamless charging experience ".You have to get a 6 number code which then covers where you have to put it.
NRMA have installed chargers where there is poor phone and internet reception so I suggested RFID cards " oh no we dont need those" FFS.
After that trip I decided if we go anywhere substantial again, we will take the ICE car, its just not worth the stress.

[EVangelist]

Mar 22, 2024 5:33:52 GMT 11 rowdyflat said:

Never used the NRMA app before. They claim you can register as a guest and dont need to join but that never worked, so you have to join NRMA and cancel that when you come back.
The NRMA app is very clunky but they claim it is a " seamless charging experience ".You have to get a 6 number code which then covers where you have to put it.
NRMA have installed chargers where there is poor phone and internet reception so I suggested RFID cards " oh no we dont need those" FFS.
After that trip I decided if we go anywhere substantial again, we will take the ICE car, it’s He just not worth the stress.

The NRMA App is pretty rubbish, unfortunately.  The worst of all the EV charging Apps that I’ve used.

However we’ll never be taking the ICE car anywhere substantial ever again, because we don’t have one.

[brunohill]

Mar 22, 2024 21:02:12 GMT 11 EVangelist said:

Mar 22, 2024 5:33:52 GMT 11 rowdyflat said:

Never used the NRMA app before. They claim you can register as a guest and dont need to join but that never worked, so you have to join NRMA and cancel that when you come back.
The NRMA app is very clunky but they claim it is a " seamless charging experience ".You have to get a 6 number code which then covers where you have to put it.
NRMA have installed chargers where there is poor phone and internet reception so I suggested RFID cards " oh no we dont need those" FFS.
After that trip I decided if we go anywhere substantial again, we will take the ICE car, it’s He just not worth the stress.

The NRMA App is pretty rubbish, unfortunately.  The worst of all the EV charging Apps that I’ve used.

However we’ll never be taking the ICE car anywhere substantial ever again, because we don’t have one.

 I used to travel into NSW in my EV using the NRMA chargers but it looks like I am unable to do that now. I thought I would download the app and get everything working before my next trip but I might have to find somewhere that I can charge overnight instead. I have got NRMA membership, and it tells me to use the "MY NRMA app" but that only talks about fuel discounts etc and how I can get a discount for chargefox. It does have the terms and conditions for using the "NRMA EV charging app" but after 105 minutes I can not find a "NRMA EV charging app". It will not accept my four number post code because it says it has to have four  numbers. I might have to give up for the night. Just as well I am not sitting at a charger wanting to get home.
 Actually, I am still trying after 3 hours, but their website says it is much more convenient than RF ID cards. 
Perhaps NSW LEAF owners have a better chance at trying to get TESLA to put CHADEMO on their superchargers.
It is 4 hours now, my mobile says it has coverage but I still have not received the 6 digit security SMS. I guess it is a very secure system if nobody can use it.

[EVangelist]

Mar 24, 2024 22:23:01 GMT 11 brunohill said:

I used to travel into NSW in my EV using the NRMA chargers but it looks like I am unable to do that now. I thought I would download the app and get everything working before my next trip but I might have to find somewhere that I can charge overnight instead. I have got NRMA membership, and it tells me to use the "MY NRMA app" but that only talks about fuel discounts etc and how I can get a discount for chargefox. It does have the terms and conditions for using the "NRMA EV charging app" but after 105 minutes I can not find a "NRMA EV charging app"

There is no separate “NRMA EV Charging App”.  EV charging is part of the existing NRMA App.  Tap on “Cars and Driving” (look at the icons along the bottom of the App - “Home”, “Cars and Driving”, “Travel”, “Benefits” etc).

On the “Cars and Driving” page, there is a section “Electric Vehicle Charging” right under the section “Help Me Find Fuel / Parking”.  Tap on that to set up.

Once you have set up a payment method for EV charging, the “EV chargers” option should also appear on the App’s Home Screen.

[brunohill]

I did eventually find it, but I don't understand why it can't be easier to find. My wife who spends 14 hours a day on her phone could not find it. Any way I got in and can not go any further until I enter the 6 digit security code that it sent me which I have not received. I will have to try again tonight if there is another temperature inversion and I have phone coverage again. If they insist on using apps why don't they have Wi-Fi at the chargers?
 Yep 6 digit security code came through (18 hours later) so I am good to go. I am sure glade I am not waiting at a charger. It seams to take a while to go from my WiFi up to the satellite, down to Broken Hill, across to Brisbane, into the internet and onto the mobile phone network sometimes.
 I thought that one of the best things about an EV is that they do not require multi national companies and huge infrastructure to refuel them, but it appears people prefer it that way. I recharged mine last Saturday when the grid was down for 8 hours and the sun was shinning.
 When Optus was out for 6 or 8 hours all I heard was people saying they should sue them, or the government should pass laws to force them to make infallible systems (but I am not paying for it). I did not hear anyone saying we have made ourselves too dependent on them.

[rowdyflat]

Tritium have gone bust.
Main reason could be their unreliable chargers.
They mention that.

[Feng]

What a waste, they had such a clear lead a few years ago. Was it too much effort put into expansion rather than R&D or service? Stories of replacement parts taking months to deliver. I remember feeling proud to see Australian made Tritium chargers pop up everywhere overseas, now I'm just indifferent.