BP Chargemaster/Polar Plus

[advance2020]

Keen to know your experience, if any, of using BP Chargemaster and/or Polar
Updated 27.11.2020

BP have been promoting themselves heavily on twitter, with mixed reviews.
Since they bought up Polar, and launched a new App, I thought I should add the BP Chargemaster App to my collection.
As my local ASDA has a free Polar post, I have now signed up for Polar Plus, and have their RFID card.
This Card does make it very easy to Start & End charge. App logs your stats.

If you subscribe to Polar Plus it is currently FREE for the 3 months.

BP have sent out email to existing Polar Instant users

I wouldn't be surprised if BP aims to push Ecotricity out of their hold on Motorway Service stations.

“I think Dale Vince has lost interest in updating their Chargers”. Their main business is Green Wholesale, not Consumer Energy.
I was wrong. Dale Vince on twitter shares rollout of new installation in Rugby. 350kW Chargers!

Note about these images. I originally Downloaded to my iPad, so these screenshots have a lot of white space. The App is more compact on my phone, although it still lacks much colour.

[keithr]

They want to charge £7.85 per month for Polar Plus, just for the privilege of being allowed to use their chargers at a discount of "from" 12p/kWh (my home tariff is currently 12.96p/kWh)! That's £94.20 a year, which will pay for a whole year's worth of charging from my home charge point, for the mileage I do (it's approximately 2,900 miles worth). There's no way I'd pay that. You don't have to pay a monthly fee for the privilege of being able to buy petrol, and I won't pay a monthly fee for the privilege of being able to charge my car either.

[milligoon]

Almost looks like a clone of the podpoint app

[advance2020]

Almost looks like a clone of the podpoint app

I really like the Pod Point App. It is very simple, responds quickly and keeps a neat and useful history of every charge.

BPs offer is a little bland by comparison.
Let's hope it works as seamlessly as Pod Point.

[advance2020]

They want to charge £7.85 per month for Polar Plus, just for the privilege of being allowed to use their chargers at a discount of "from" 12p/kWh (my home tariff is currently 12.96p/kWh)! That's £94.20 a year, which will pay for a whole year's worth of charging from my home charge point, for the mileage I do (it's approimately 2,900 miles worth). There's no way I'd pay that. You don't have to pay a monthly fee for the privilege of being able to buy petrol, and I won't pay a monthly fee for the privilege of being able to charge my car either.

Yes, I won't be rushing to sign up to Plus either. BP are in this game to earn revenue, as they know EVs are the future, and are staking out their territory early. But of course they are providing Rapid & Fast Chargers. So competing with Instavolt.

[Larbor]

I am struggling to understand why we need those subscriptions. Never seen those with petrol/diesel.

Just charge a rate that’s acceptable and generates a solid revenue.

[milligoon]

the subscriptions are for regular users, it reduces their costs, if you do a lot of travelling it could save you money but you do then tie yourself to particular services.

It's not for me, but I guess car manufacturers could bundle in a few years subscriptions on a new car to tempt people?

[rickwookie]

the subscriptions are for regular users, it reduces their costs, if you do a lot of travelling it could save you money but you do then tie yourself to particular services.

It's not for me, but I guess car manufacturers could bundle in a few years subscriptions on a new car to tempt people?

Great, but you charge where you need to, not because of the brand of charger, surely?

[advance2020]

Great, but you charge where you need to, not because of the brand of charger, surely?

Do you subscribe to EVM on YouTube? Or others?

The situation is complex, because they are many companies in the mix, unless you own a Tesla. There are Companies who actually make the Chargers, and Companies who run the Networks, and then there are the Companies or Councils who own the land where they are sited. Not to mention different Apps, methods of payment etc.

Like all things, when there is lots of choice, they are not all the same. Some are much more reliable and user friendly. So the wise plan their journeys carefully, and get to know where “on the edge of their world” the reliable ones lie.

However the future does look brighter. I have read that New Charger installations are required to provide Contactless payment at Point of Sale. Maybe this applies only to Rapid Chargers, rather than Destination (Fast) Chargers, which are often free.

Meanwhile I continue my own research - getting know the best and most reliable chargers - in my part of South West England. And I am building a Public List on Google Maps.
EV Charging Points South West

[advance2020]

So I thought I would try out BP's new Chargemaster App, given their promise in recent email that encouraged me to download it, and transfer my Polar credit, namely

“We want you you to have a better charging experience”

My hopes were not that high, but today turned out to be a Big Disappointment.
So I have taken to twitter, emailed their “heretohelp” address, and I will pursue them like a tiger.

I plugged in at Warminster ID 21025 - Type 2 - brief Blue light.
The App found the Charge Point ok, but then told me to “Tap my RFID card” on the screen. This is for Polar Plus users. Not Polar Instant.

So I fired up my Polar Instant App. Seemed promising until the App told me that I had “insufficient credit” - of course, as BP had transferred my Credit across to the BP App, my account balance was zero.

Fortunately we had not paid for Parking, so we moved on.

I half thought we might not have a seamless experience, but surely they could do much better. Planned to update my Review on Google Maps, only to find their info had been updated. Not sure why, as the Charge Point appeared to be active.

You can see why I am such a fan of Tesco/PodPoint. Always seamless and free.