Recently I had a completely new experience in connection with charging. I turned into a gas station, stopped at a charging post, "covered" the card and inserted the connector. So simple - so brilliant!
OKQ8 station on Rasta Håby in Munkedal, Sweden, is one of the company's 100 fast charging stations where you can "cover" the bank card. At our station, the charging posts were placed clearly visible in front of the entrance to the service building - not hidden away out of sight. It was all like refueling a fossil car. Why haven't any petrol stations figured this out before?
As easy as filling up with gas
It is of course nothing new to find charging stations near a petrol station. This is often done, but few petrol companies have thrown themselves into the battle to capture their own charging customers. They have let other operators operate charging stations in the station area. If they, like OKQ8, had set up their own chargers in front of the entrance to the service building, they would not only have been able to hijack customers from other charging operators - they could have been visited by nye customers who want charging to be as easy as filling up with petrol.
Charging operators can be divided into the following 3 groups:
- Car manufacturers (Tesla, Ionity, Free2Move)
- Power companies (Fortum, More, Kople, ABB)
- Gas stations (Circle K, Uno-X, YX, Shell)
In addition, people can use general charging solutions from 3rd party operators who provide charging contacts for several operators. These are offered as member benefits through Electric car association, – as well as free through Elton, Fortum Charge & Drive, Plugshare, Plugsurfing with more.
French TotalEnergies
It looks like the petrol companies (energy companies) are in the process of strengthening their position on the charging market. The French energy company Total has installed new chargers at its stations along the main roads in France. In a few weeks, they have kicked out other operators in favor of their own charging stations - clearly visible and with card readers to be in line with new EU regulations.
Uno-X and YX
Here at home, Uno-X and YX have started to set up charging stations where, among other things, you can pay with a bank card. Norwegian oil companies are unlikely to benefit from kicking other operators out of their stations, but will probably be able to place their own charging sockets closer to the entrance to the service building where the fuel pumps are also located. It is also important to secure the card terminals against skimming and vandalism.
Circle K
Circle K have not yet managed to tighten their grip on their own charging stations. Many connect Circle K w/ Tesla og IONITY. They were early on in offering charging from other operators. In addition, they have their own chargers that are operated with the app Circle K Charge or by scanning a QR code, but no card readers. Unfortunately, the app works so poorly that the charging service appears useless to many *).
The 3rd party apps are struggling
On my way through France, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, I have seen new charging stations and that existing charging stations have gained new operators. A quick review of the charging apps unfortunately shows that many of the changes have not been updated on the maps. In several places where we have stopped to charge, I have seen that the IDs on new charging contacts do not match what the apps show. If you discover a new charging station, it is therefore not certain that it can be found on your app.
False security
Payment by card seems safer than an app, but can also give false security. Twice in the last few days I have tried to pay with local and international payment cards at French charging stations. They read the cards, but the reverse control doesn't work. Perhaps the card reader is mounted for visibility - to satisfy any EU inspectors?
Ideally, you should be able to pay at the register at the petrol station when the card readers are not working - in the same way as when you fill up with petrol and diesel. It is probably the next step in development - and a service that only petrol stations can provide. Hope they see the possibilities.
Fast charging with OKQ8
With 100 stations, OKQ8 is the largest in Sweden for super fast charging from 150 kW and up. The charge can be paid by bank card (Visa and Mastercard). The power supplier Skellefteå Kraft produces 100% renewable electricity based on wind and hydropower, as well as bioenergy. We have previously written about charging problems in Sweden. If you are driving in Sweden this summer, OKQ8 with a charging symbol are good places to take charging breaks.
On the App Store has Circle K Charge received 135 feedbacks with an average score of 2,1 stars out of a possible 5. A search of the latest user comments clearly shows that this is by no means a good app. The expression "useless" is repeated frequently. We have installed the app on 2 mobile phones. On one, the map works, but all functions related to payment and login constantly fail with the message “We are experiencing technical problems. Please try again later." A good app would be able to provide a more in-depth description of what is wrong. On one of our other mobile phones, logging in works, but we have to pay by invoice - not card - and can't find any way to change this.
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