bp pulse (NI)

Orebro

Anyone know if the BP Pulse chargers in Northern Ireland will take a contactless card for payment? They seem to have an app but it's not available to download on iPhone in Ireland.

graememk

Yes but it's a 50 pound pre auth, which is more than 50 euro, so need to use Google pay/apple pay.

Orebro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120930148#Comment_120930148

Excellent thanks! They also seem v expensive per Kwh but good to know they are available as a fallback.

munchkin_utd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120930338#Comment_120930338

would you not be getting a cheaper rate if you had a contract with someone else and get it for that rate at the BP charger.

I thought all Ev drivers had 2 dozen apps, cards and deals aready signed up for that makes driving them so cheap, convienent and pain free compared to filling a tank of petrol and paying with cash/ card in 2 minutes.

dsandson

Perhaps try the Elli card. BP Pulse are essentially the same as Aral Pulse, and are one of the UK 'Selected Partners', so on the Drive Highway tarriff you can get significantly lower rates. The free tarriff will be the same rates, but without the hassle of either using Apple Pay / Google Pay or using the QR code link to pay on their website.

zg3409

You can pay through the website if you have trouble downloading app on ROI phone. It may be possible to set up UK profile on your app store.

Note as said most ROI cards have a 50 euro tap limit so 50 pounds is over that do won't work on most ROI credit cards touch to pay.

Orebro

Just to update in case anyone stumbles on the thread after a google search - the BP Pulse charger worked perfecly with my iPhone using Apple Pay and no pre-auth was taken.

eltoastero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120931163#Comment_120931163

I tried this, and I got charged the full price per kWh (not the "selected partner" price). I contacted BP pulse support and they told me Aral Pulse was their selected partner in Germany but BP Pulse (in the UK) was not a selected partner. On the back of that I cancelled my Elli "drive highway" membership following that.

dsandson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120952676#Comment_120952676

Thanks for getting back. I could have swore I saw a list for the UK and BP Pulse was on it. Apologies for the bad advice!

eltoastero

I had emailed Elli in advance and they confirmed Aural/BP Pulse as being a selected partner, but then a second chain of emails (after I'd signed up for "Drive Highway" and I still saw £0.77/kWh on BP Pulse) they confirmed that it was only Aural Pulse (Germany) that was a selected partner (IONITY is their UK partner). It's a shame, it would have been handy to have a membership giving a discount on both IONITY and BP

SteelyDanJalapeno

So can I rock up to a pulsebp rapid charger tomorrow and pay online to use without signing up? From roi

Orebro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120958465#Comment_120958465

I used my iphone with Apple Pay no issues.

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120958465#Comment_120958465

You can navigate through their site and start a charge without signing up. It's not exactly simple.

dsandson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120958465#Comment_120958465

As noted not as easy as it sounds to use the website link. Best using phone (Apple / Google Pay) or a manufacturer RFID card / Elli RFID card.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Thanks all, revolut on the phone worked a treat

CivilEx

I'm planning a trip in and around Belfast shortly. Can anyone who has used a BP Pulse charger recently confirm that contactless / google pay continues to work ok with an Irish Credit Card via contactless?

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121497942#Comment_121497942

As said above an Irish credit card on its own probably won't work, Apple pay should work, unsure on Google pay. Better to set up your app store as UK before you go and download bp pulse app to be safe. Note there are now a good few non esb options around Belfast, see plugshare app for a full list. There is a non esb maxol hub in kinnegar Holywood, East of Belfast city which may be worth the trip to be sure to get a charge. In general NI is far worse than ROI so plan charging carefully.

CivilEx

Cheers, can't seem to get the app sorted on Android even when setting app store to UK, so I'll take BP pulse out of my plans in case Google Pay doesn't work.

There are plenty of other options as you say, but strangely, some of these seem to close after 6pm. It's not the easiest place to plan for so I'll think I'll try Kinnegar as you suggest.

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121502103#Comment_121502103

I've 2 Google accounts, one set to UK and one set to IRL. Sometimes even a VPN is needed.

Google pay should work fine as it's simply a contactless payment, if it works in the shops it will work there.

NI has got a lot better. Especially east of the bann. The A1 is still lacking a lot.

There is a bp pulse in Banbridge, you could nip in there and check.

When fastned gets built at the boulevard (previously known as the outlet) would be a great stopping point

denismc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121497942#Comment_121497942

I have used a Revolut card with the BP chargers .

CivilEx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121502554#Comment_121502554

I'll try a couple of options including Revolut and see how I go. At 85p/kWh I think BP is the fallback solution, but I'll see what works when I get there.

zg3409

BP PULSE UPDATE - we had a call with BP Pulse today on the current outage, see notes below.

o Looks like the multiple charger outage last weekend was caused by a software update on Friday. Some sites will be back up today, others have been referred to the charger manufacturer (VW) who will visit next week.

o BP Pulse chargers currently have no remote reset capability. So after an issue like this (or emergency stop button used or power cut etc), they require an engineer visit to bring back online.

o Support contract currently only covers 5 days per week (no cover at weekends). This will move to 7 day cover by end Q1 next year.

o In addition have BP Pulse been working with car manufactures to improve compatibility. New firmware is due for these units in February (maybe sooner). Will squash some bugs (could not say if this would sort the MG4 or Tesla Model S issues).

o Up until now "96% up time in NI" (compared to 97% in GB). 99% target for 2024.

denismc

Trying to use BP pulse today but it wouldn't take any of my bank cards but I was able to start the charge by going to the BP pulse website and entering a bank card there.

Might be useful if anyone gets stuck.

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540996#Comment_121540996

It takes £50 (GBP) pre auth which is above the contactless limit (€50) of Irish contactless (without pin)

Google/apple pay don't have this limit. (As you have to have a phone lock to setup)

denismc

I never thought to use my phone of course 😕

CivilEx

Just a quick note to confirm that Google Pay (contactless via phone) works to activate the BP Pulse chargers, with a £50 (€58.17) preauthorisation on my BOI debit card.

One small hiccup was that the bank sent me a text asking me to validate that I was trying to pay the amount on the first try, so once I confirmed that, it worked ok.

I tried via the web as well, but gave up on it after a few unsuccessful attempts.

General FYI - I used the new Maxol hub in Kinnegar yesterday also without issue using my BOI Cr Card (£100 pre authorisation though for the 200kW ultra rapid unit).

zg3409

From EV association ni

Thanks to BP Pulse for our meeting earlier today. Here's a summary...

o Rossdowney site Derry/Londonderry is back up. Delay was down to waiting time on parts

o Loughview site Lurgan - replacement charger required to fix. Should be within weeks

o Still on track to move from 5-day to 7-day engineering cover in Q2 this year

o Will be holding more spares in NI from Q2 meaning faster repairs

o Additional engineer joining team

o Stressed that MG4 incompatibility issue lies firmly with MG and not BP

o Once the battery in BP chargers has depleted & starts to recharge itself, the unit shows a red light & appears as "Unavailable" the app/map.

the_amazing_raisin

Folks, can I just double check the best way to start a BP pulse charger with a Revolut debit card

Since they require a £50 pre authorisation, tapping the card won't work, correct?

So in that case, I need to add the card to Google wallet (which I've done), open the card in wallet and tap the phone against the reader (with NFC on)

Phone should then prompt for PIN or password since it's over the tap and pay limit

Once I've put the correct PIN in, the pre authorisation should go through and charger should start

Did I miss anything?

Does it make a difference if I plug the car in first, or should I pay first?

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122100239#Comment_122100239

For tap to pay with Google pay, you always need to unlock your phone.

You don't need to select the card before hand, phone just needs to be unlocked. If you don't have Google wallet open, it will use the default card

Range on it is pretty decent too, about 3-4cm (doesn't need to touch)

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122100521#Comment_122100521

Thanks, I rarely use Google pay and I always have that moment of unreasonable panic every time I need to 😅

dsandson

Charger will tell you what order to do this in, don't worry. Do you have a manufacturer charge card? That can make life easier on these chargers. Or the Elli card.