Earlier this week, my day started poorly before eventually improving. Having gone out the night before and only recharging on a granny lead overnight, I needed to top up somewhere on my daily commute between two jobs. Calling in at the A34 services at Peartree Roundabout in Oxford, another driver had just hooked up their Nissan Leaf at the Ecotricity charge point. I had to get to work so couldn't wait for them to charge. Strike One. After work, I called back again, but this time, the charge point had an error message on the screen, with no indication of how long it would take to resolve. Strike Two. Next stop Bicester Village Retail Park, after my Renault Zoe R-link system indicated there was a charger there and directed me to it. EV charge point signage around the park was good (which is quite rare, I'm finding) until, that is, the signs ran out before it was clear which of three directions to take at the end of the road - an open-air car park, the top deck of a multi-storey or the bottom deck of the multi-storey. And, by Sods Law, the charge points were in the last of these locations. But once there, there were two charge points free, and it was a covered place so more comfortable than outside, a relief as it was raining lightly at this point. Easy to top up enough juice in ten minutes to make my return home possible without a further search and detour. Happy motorist.
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AVDC redeemed themselves. I went back to their Gatehouse Way car park recently and they had improved the EV charging arrangements. Now, they have separate charging points for their own fleet vehicles. Only a few weeks ago, those vehicles were occupying charge points supposed to be available for public use. Now, the two original charging points are more likely to be available to members of the public. I used one for a morning while I was at work.
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About the BloggerI'm David Calver - an Accountant with a passion for sustainability. Categories
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