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Post by riddick on Apr 1, 2014 10:47:53 GMT 11
I have applied for a Blink card 6 weeks ago and still have not received their card. When I log on to their website, it says: "Your requested InCard card has been mailed. Please activate upon receipt." A week ago I mailed their support to ask when it was sent exactly, in case it was lost, but I have not got a response from them at all. I wonder if anybody is there on the other side due to their bankrupcy and subsequent takeover. I have been planning to use the Blink charger at the Arts Centre (Melbourne) next week and yesterday I asked the staff about parking/charging costs when I parked there with my eco-friendly diesel (seriously). To my surprise they said, that they are planning to decommission the 2 chargers as in a year it only had supposedly a single use (which must have been Leafboi) and also Blink went bust. It was supposed to be a 1 year trial only anyway and it seems that it hasn't gone well. I am now trying to talk to the manager to see if they have a charging card I could borrow, so at least they will have doubled the number of chargings  Unfortunately, the Arts Centre parking fees just went up, used to be $13 but it is now $16 for Early Bird. Supposedly such a high rise occurred due to significant rise in state taxes. This is bad news for us, everything seems to be going backwards in this country and not forward. This of course is affected by the abandonment of charging stations due to the Better Place/Blink bankruptcies, the current governments attitude to anything environmentally friendly and so on. I am getting very disappointed indeed... |
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Post by markrmarkr on Apr 1, 2014 11:17:12 GMT 11
You guys should organise a protest at the charger. You'd need a friendly reporter to tell the story and take pictures - Charger can't be used because can't get blink cards; please don't take one of the very few fast-chargers in the city/country; how will EV's ever take off with so little support... yada yada.
It could be worth a try.
Cheers,
Mark
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Post by markrmarkr on Apr 1, 2014 11:23:24 GMT 11
Come to think of it maybe we should do something similar in Sydney at the Westfield Better place Fast-charger in Hornsby.
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Post by gabzimiev on Apr 1, 2014 12:23:55 GMT 11
I have one i thought you could use the mobile phone app tool. it took a couple months to arrive
blinks USA operations have be purchased by another company which is working hard at increasing blinks reputation.
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Post by gabzimiev on Apr 1, 2014 12:37:25 GMT 11
If your really keen i can send you mine if you give me a security deposit (because it's linked to my credit card and i want it back for historic reasons more than use) and pay 60c shipping
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Post by leafboi on Apr 1, 2014 13:29:19 GMT 11
I have used it more than once. I use it maybe monthly. The first hour parking is free and when I pick up my partner from work in the city I generally drive in there and wait. Simply to show my support of using the charger.
If they take them out, which will be very disappointing, I hope they do put in ChargePoints. The only company that should have been used in the Vic Gov. EV trial. It's a pity the government let the 'other companies' participate as Better Place is gone and Blink is a waste of time.
On another annoying point with the Art Centre, two of the valet unplugged my car last time so they could 'plug it in' themselves. Which they did about 3 seconds after I walked away from my car. And having the charge timer set and pressing the timer off button to charge only charges the car from the first plug in. So on their attempt it didn't work. So I came back an hour late with no extra charge. I was politely rude to them and advised touching a non valet parked car was not part of they job.
Riddick are you in contact via email or phone with this manager? I'll jump on them too as I don't want to see the points removed. Changed over, yes.
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Post by riddick on Apr 1, 2014 15:14:58 GMT 11
I have just talked to the car park manager, he said that he does not even know if the charger is working. He said that a customer complained recently that it did not work (maybe they referred to you Leafboi?!). He said that since the bankruptcy, no one has contact them and hence they don't know who to talk to.
They are a bit disappointed about the uptake and I mentioned to him that yes we are out there and growing, but with the lack of government support, it just needs a bit of time. I also mentioned to him that they may want to consider Chargepoint chargers instead (based on your suggestion Leafboi).
They have a Blink card that they can lend me when I come in next week, they were really good about it. In fact, they want to see it if works... If I can't recharge, then I may be in trouble as I need to drive out west in the afternoon.
I guess it is not range anxiety we have, but it is more charging station anxiety...
Leafboi, I will PM you the details.
Thanks, gabzimiev, but that would be too complicated.
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Post by eburbsleaf on Apr 1, 2014 19:18:11 GMT 11
I'd tried a single use web based register of the blink charger in the arts centre but it didn't work, so I haven't tried again.
It's a shame they are looking at pulling the charger but they really needed to have backed a better charging infrastructure company than Blink! While the chargers are there the promotion of and ease of access to them just isn't there....
Arts centre - move to chargepoint !!
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Post by gabzimiev on Apr 2, 2014 9:01:44 GMT 11
At the same time it's good the vic EV trial got some diversity in companies the NSW one got all their chargers from better place. so when they went down so did all the infrastructure the trail paid for. imagine how bad it would of been if they went with better place or blink as a sole supplier.
by the way does the blink charger sms or email you like the chargepoint level 2 chargers do ?
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Post by markrmarkr on Apr 2, 2014 9:21:03 GMT 11
Gab,
any idea how many Betterplace or other, Level 3 chargers were installed in NSW? And how many are still working? I believe the only one still in service is the NRMA L3 in Strathfield.
Cheers
Mark
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Post by gabzimiev on Apr 2, 2014 9:37:27 GMT 11
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Post by Phoebe on Apr 2, 2014 10:16:14 GMT 11
Fascinating!
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Post by Feng on Apr 2, 2014 10:19:22 GMT 11
Page 7 shows six quickchargers are installed, three of them with Ausgrid. Anyone know if these still exist?
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Post by leafboi on Apr 2, 2014 10:21:00 GMT 11
At the same time it's good the vic EV trial got some diversity in companies the NSW one got all their chargers from better place. so when they went down so did all the infrastructure the trail paid for. imagine how bad it would of been if they went with better place or blink as a sole supplier. by the way does the blink charger sms or email you like the chargepoint level 2 chargers do ? I've never had an sms or email from either after use, may though be my own personal settings. I usually monitor ChargePoint through the app, the Blink, well it's just a guessing game and luck. |
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Post by gabzimiev on Apr 2, 2014 10:29:59 GMT 11
I've never had an sms or email from either after use, may though be my own personal settings. I usually monitor ChargePoint through the app, the Blink, well it's just a guessing game and luck. If you want to change it log into chargepoint click "My Account" then at the bottom of the page is "Your ChargePoint Notifications" click edit then put your mobile number in or email address. (i'm actually very interested in if the level 3 chargepoint send SMS) I'll come back and edit this when i work out my blink password edit: login to blink and it comes up as the first option with 2 tick boxes 1 for email 2nd for sms (sms does seem to be limited to USA only as Australian numbers don't fit.) Also not good that the Vic blink chargers arn't on the blink map at all.  |
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Post by markrmarkr on Apr 2, 2014 11:19:22 GMT 11
Page 7 shows six quickchargers are installed, three of them with Ausgrid. Anyone know if these still exist? Matt, on page 12 it says they were provided by Better Place: "To support the fleet of EVs, a network of 46 standard charge and six quick charge stations have been deployed throughout Sydney, Newcastle, and the Central Coast, as well as along the F3 Freeway between Sydney and Newcastle. The provider for this network is Better Place Australia. 25 of these standard charge points have been deployed to Ausgrid offices and depots, and four to the offices of SGSC consortium partners, namely Sydney Water, Lake Macquarie City Council, Hunter Water and Newcastle City Council. Of the remaining 21 charging stations, 17 have been deployed in publicly accessible locations by partnering with organisations such as local councils, shopping centres and car park owners and operators. This network will not only support Ausgrid's fleet of 20 EVs, it will initiate the electrification of Sydney and Newcastle roads. The charging stations have been located strategically such that they provide maximum benefit to EV drivers. Quick charging stations have been deployed on the freeway between Sydney and Newcastle, making travel between these two key centres possible in an EV as well as making the Central Coast accessible for EV drivers." So the way I'd read this is that they were all Better Place. I'd expect this to mean they will all be going, if they haven't already.  Is that how you read it Gab? Mark |
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Post by Feng on Apr 2, 2014 11:33:37 GMT 11
I'm curious to know how companies in other countries took over the BP chargers, were they replaced or did they find some way to take control of them? If cloning the RFID tags can't be done, can they be modified to accept other cards? Has Chargepoint ever expressed interest in taking over them or is it competition they want to get rid of?
A bit sad to see the Smart Grid, Smart City page, it looked so full of promise.
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Post by riddick on Apr 7, 2014 20:23:39 GMT 11
Today, I have parked in the Arts Centre car park and used the Blink charger. The staff were really nice, they let me use their card as mine is still not here!! In fact they came out to see if it still worked as they had no way of testing it easily. I have done a full charge and this is what I saw...  Originally, it was 184kms, but I moved it outside before taking the picture... |
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Post by riddick on May 24, 2014 10:53:51 GMT 11
I have received an e-mail from Blink today"
"Good afternoon and Happy Friday! We are so excited to announce that Blink's parent company, CarCharging, has introduced a brand new mobile app that is now available for download via the App Store! ..."
The shame of it is that since February, I have still not received a card from them, even though they have supposedly mailed it and I have also e-mailed their support without any kind of response. Very poor customer support from the new parent.
I realized that the address does not say Australia, it only says AU-VIC, so they may have mailed it to a US address. This is after you select the country correctly. I have now sneaked in the word Australia as address line 2 and requested yet another card. Only time will tell....
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Post by leafboi on May 24, 2014 11:42:45 GMT 11
Did you download their app? I just did. None of the Chargers here in AU are on the map anyway... I'm guessing they are not looking after them at all.
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Post by riddick on May 24, 2014 16:06:53 GMT 11
No, I did not bother. I have no card anyway.
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Post by riddick on Jun 12, 2014 12:02:32 GMT 11
Finally my Blink card showed up in the mail yesterday!! I don't know if it was the response to my February request or it was the subsequent one. Now I just need to test it, before they get taken out  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2014 15:18:14 GMT 11
App doesn't work on 3GS
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Unfortunately, the Arts Centre parking fees just went up, used to be $13 but it is now $16 for Early Bird. Supposedly such a high rise occurred due to significant rise in state taxes.
