Failed to Connect at a Charge Point EV Station

[Illinibird]

The Village of Frankfort has a Charge Point EVSE in a parking lot in downtown historic Frankfort. I wanted to connect to a Charge Point as I hadn't done so before. I drove by the parking lot about 8:45 this morning and there he was; a black Tesla sitting there charging while the rest of the parking lot was empty. Same thing happened last Saturday so I guess I better go another time. Well today I went back a little later and the entire lot was filled with the exception of the EV space. Frankfort demonstrates good etiquette I thought as I pulled in. Got out my new Charge Point card with the RF chip and put it on the area where you scan your card; nothing happened. Then I tried the Charge Point I have in my wallet and called it up and again touched the reader; NADA. IN frustration I called the number on the sign next to the charger. Phone rang for awhile and then somebody picked up. She took all the information and then said for me to try it again; nothing again (can't get the handles off the sides of what looks like a pump. She told me she basically couldn't help me even when I gave her the number of the unit. She stated the owner of the Charge Point didn't join their group. When asked how the Tesla was charging this morning she never gave me a good answer. So there I was with no way to get the charging handles out of the unit. I left feeling defeated and wondered what if this were to happen to Susan and me when we take a short road trip and it was critical that we recharge the battery because it's at 8% and going down. So there you have it, the third time I tried to charge and the failure I had to do it. I've never heard of a labeled Charge Point isn't in their network and thu.s cannot charge. For now, I will forget this One time experience

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[generaltso]

Did you try the app?

 

[shutterbug]

I've never heard of a labeled Charge Point isn't in their network and thu.s cannot charge. For now,

Here several AAA locations have free chargepoints that are off the network, but I can still access them by using the app on my phone and NFC. Make syre NFC is turned on and your chargepoint account is hooked up to a credit card.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Did you try the app?

There are a couple of Chargepoint locations that *used to* work with the little Chargepoint card and/or Apple Wallet that I use pretty much daily. Recently, those went dark. The only way I could access them was to use the ChargePoint app. I suspect their NFC readers either died or somehow disconnected.

 

[Illinibird]

Here several AAA locations have free chargepoints that are off the network, but I can still access them by using the app on my phone and NFC. Make syre NFC is turned on and your chargepoint account is hooked up to a credit card.

Thanks. I have their program and money in the Charge Point “program.” I don’t know how I would “talk” to the program to tell it to release the handles from the unit and start charging my car. I’ve heard people talk about NFC but I don’t know what it is or how to turn it on. Basically, I’ve never run the Charge Point program for using their chargers. I’m going to go back into it and see where I’m going wrong. I was more upset with the women from Charge Point telling me she couldn’t help me because the unit I was at wasn’t in the network. I told her I was a new EV user with very little xperience in using the retail charger networks and I was very concerned that if this were a real world situation where I have my car with a SOC of 10% and I need to charge my vehicle to get to the next charge point. Telling me that you can’t help me on a unit in your company doesn’t give me a good feeling. There is a large sign stating it is a Charge Point unit with a telephone number to call and a number of the unit to relay to the person at Charge Point.

There are a couple of Chargepoint locations that *used to* work with the little Chargepoint card and/or Apple Wallet that I use pretty much daily. Recently, those went dark. The only way I could access them was to use the ChargePoint app. I suspect their NFC readers either died or somehow disconnected.

Where on the app do you "talk" with their charge unit?My list of topics is: Charging Activity; Recently Visited: My Spots; Home Charger; Help; About. I don't see a category that says charge or something like that. What do I click? My Spots? It seems like it lists what you can do at my spots. This particular unit wasn't listed in My Soys so what do I do? The crazy thing here is it's free.

 

[ConejoRed]

Had a similar issue with a ChargePoint station yesterday and neither the card or wallet app would would unlock the charger. Moved to another space and that one worked so suspect the reader has failed. Since the other ChargePoint station is the same lot worked didn’t try starting it from the app itself.

 

[Illinibird]

Had a similar issue with a ChargePoint station yesterday and neither the card or wallet app would would unlock the charger. Moved to another space and that one worked so suspect the reader has failed. Since the other ChargePoint station is the same lot worked didn’t try starting it from the app itself.

I'm gonna scream! How do I use the app to make the unit work? I don't see where to do it? Closest thing I see is "spots" as possibly what everyone is talking about. PS - I really wasn't going to scream. Just a slight whimper. ?

 

[BMT1071]

Thanks. I have their program and money in the Charge Point “program.” I don’t know how I would “talk” to the program to tell it to release the handles from the unit and start charging my car. I’ve heard people talk about NFC but I don’t know what it is or how to turn it on. Basically, I’ve never run the Charge Point program for using their chargers. I’m going to go back into it and see where I’m going wrong. I was more upset with the women from Charge Point telling me she couldn’t help me because the unit I was at wasn’t in the network. I told her I was a new EV user with very little xperience in using the retail charger networks and I was very concerned that if this were a real world situation where I have my car with a SOC of 10% and I need to charge my vehicle to get to the next charge point. Telling me that you can’t help me on a unit in your company doesn’t give me a good feeling. There is a large sign stating it is a Charge Point unit with a telephone number to call and a number of the unit to relay to the person at Charge Point.

Where on the app do you "talk" with their charge unit?My list of topics is: Charging Activity; Recently Visited: My Spots; Home Charger; Help; About. I don't see a category that says charge or something like that. What do I click? My Spots? It seems like it lists what you can do at my spots. This particular unit wasn't listed in My Soys so what do I do? The crazy thing here is it's free.

I selected a station on the map, and swiped up to get this screen.

 

[BMT1071]

I selected a station on the map, and swiped up to get this screen.

I don't have my MME yet so I can't test it, but I'm assuming you just press Start Charge.

 

[shutterbug]

Where on the app do you "talk" with their charge unit?My list of topics is: Charging Activity; Recently Visited: My Spots; Home Charger; Help; About. I don't see a category that says charge or something like that. What do I click? My Spots? It seems like it lists what you can do at my spots. This particular unit wasn't listed in My Soys so what do I do? The crazy thing here is it's free.

Don't need to open the app. Just make sure that NFC is turned on on the phone, turn the phone on, and touch against this icon on the charger:

I selected a station on the map, and swiped up to get this screen.

He can't select the station in the app, since it's not on the network. He should be able to "tap his phone on the station".

 

[Illinibird]

I selected a station on the map, and swiped up to get this screen.

Thank you - that's more like it. You swiped up on a location on the map, correct? What if the charge station isn't listed on the map or in spots?

 

[shutterbug]

Swipe here on the NFC icon:

 

[ConejoRed]

Make sure you have the app set to display ”restricted” locations.

 

[Illinibird]

Don't need to open the app. Just make sure that NFC is turned on on the phone, turn the phone on, and touch against this icon on the charger:


He can't select the station in the app, since it's not on the network. He should be able to "tap his phone on the station".

How do I turn NFC on?

 

[BMT1071]

How do I turn NFC on?

You have an iPhone, right? I think you might need to open the ChargePoint app to activate NFC. I did some Googling and it appears that iPhones turn NFC on automatically when directed by an app.

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