Electric Highway

TL;DR - turn off Dark Mode on your phone to fix usability issues. Hyundai models incomplete. As per the other review, when registering the font was white and the spinner selector background is white. Luckily, my house number is single digits, so I counted the clicks as I moved the wheel and got my address right first time. When it came to registering my car, my model isn’t even on the app. Seems like the update made this year didn’t add it. So I went for another model from the same manufacturer that I believe has the same charge plug… and I hope it doesn’t break. When you go to “find a charger” again the white text on the light background makes it insanely challenging to use. I realised why; I am using Dark Mode on my iPhone and the app has not been updated to respect it. After registering, I turned on Light Mode and the white/grey text went black and I could now use the app. Simple update for the dev to make.

The charger I used (M40 Oxford services) worked ok and starting a charge was painless but the app seemingly has never been user tested. I had to register an account at the services and add car, address etc but any time you have to use a drop down menu the page at the bottom is blank (or it’s white text on white background) so setting your car is an exercise in clicking once and hitting “done” to select it to see what you’ve selected then going one click at a time until you get what you want. I tried to just use the defaults but the alphabetical first manufacturer and car in the list does not support fast charging so the app won’t let you use it!! The only bonus this has over BP’s useless non-charging network is that at least the actual charger worked fine and was easy to initiate. The app though, good grief.

Once app account set up, for best results; 1. Dont touch the pump's charger until instructed to by its screen, and after you have used the app. 2. Before opening the app go to settings and turn OFF wifi and rely on your phone's data allowance. 3. In app, dont press the big charge button but the little one in the banner along bottom of the screen. 4. Follow the app instructions until it tells you to follow (the pump's) on- screen instructions. Note: If your phones battery or data allowance is low you may cut yourself off. If you interupt sequence or charging it may all stop. If you enter your bank card security number wrongly or that from a different card to the one your account is registered to, the session will not proceed. The pump id is below scan decal and above the red stop button. It is less complex to just type in the number rather than mess about scanning. Dont use pump wifi hotspot unless you have to, it confuses my phone and crashes it. You are only receiving juice when red light is on on the charger. Many cars will only accept an 80% charge from pumps, not 100%, this is normal. Electricity is only free, I understand, if you have your domestic supply from Ecotricity as well. I have learned all this the hard way, but since doing so my rating goes up to 4 from 1.