[theo2017]

Done my first charge today pretty straight forward I used 120kw insta volt for my id4 although wasn’t happy they pre charged me £45 🫢 im not sure when I’ll get the difference back as the charge cost £19

Topic

[bfoandc]

Hi – you shouldn’t actually be charged the £45 – it has just been ‘reserved’ in case needed. Usually just a day or two, in my experience.

[theo2017]

Aw that’s good news thanks for the reply, how do you go about charging your ev do you use instavolt do they reserve £45 each time you use there chargers I’m new to the ev my first ev car

[MFillingham]

Many of these companies will reserve a pre-authorisation fee.  This can build up if you’re traveling a lot in a short time, like a weekend away.  However, there are cards that can help.   The Motability Go charging card, the Electroverse card and a few others will charge your credit/debit card once and then use that for future payments but without the pre-authorisation taking a chunk out of your bank.  Imagine going for a bank holiday away where you end up charging 4 times, that’s £180 that’ll be unavailable but will be released again in a few days after the bank holiday.

 

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Mark

[theo2017]

Thank you for the advice I’ll keep that in mind from now on and use my motability go charge instead of my debit card I forgot all about my motability go charge card 🙈

[MLH]

If it’s like the hotels in the US I’ve stayed at, they put ‘holds’ on your credit card for incidentals when you check-in.

At some it’s $150 a day, but it releases as soon as you check out. Well, it does from a credit card, but can take a week or so if you use a debit card.

I’m guessing it’s the same these chargers, and can take longer from a debit card. I’ll find out soon enough, I guess.

[Ioniq]

It’s nothing new. Asda used to do that when filling up with petrol.

The business model has just migrated to EV charging.

[DumfriesDik]

Yep, it is a nasty surprise.

The Motability Go card may get you a better price at the pump – the Electroverse card does with many energy companies.

VW ID3 Max is my DD

[UkHardcore23]

theo2017 wrote:

Done my first charge today pretty straight forward I used 120kw insta volt for my id4 although wasn’t happy they pre charged me £45 🫢 im not sure when I’ll get the difference back as the charge cost £19

£19 seems really cheap for Instavolt. From what I’ve seen they are the most expensive out of the lot. Was it just a small charge?

[theo2017]

hi it was on 33% charged to 70% £16 inc £3 vat

[PaulH]

you can also register with instavolt and get there card, which also gives you rewards for using them

[Adrian]

22 kWh ish, maybe 60-90 miles of range?

"Come on BYD Seal!"

[Author]

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