IZIVIA 4+

I have never had such a frustrating experience trying to charge my car

I arrived in Chambery last night and was directed to a parking garage with your chargers.

1. I have to use my own cable?? Ok... I pull it out of the trunk, unwrap it from its original packaging (because I've never needed to use it before), close the trunk, plug it into my car, and plug it into your charger. 😐

2. When I scan the QR code, it takes me to your website (which is not optimized for mobile). After some false starts, I read the fine print on the out that I have to press the "filter" icon and then press "rechercher" to show locations in my area. But it's up to me to figure out which garage I'm at by looking at the map of an unfamiliar city. And when I finally find it, I get a list of chargers and prices, but no way to actually PAY YOU SO I CAN CHARGE MY CAR. 😠

By the way: This is after hours of driving and the whole time I really, thereally, REALLY need to go to the bathroom. Just keep that in mind.

3. Ok so I give up on the website and I go to the app store to search for your app. Once I download it (while roaming on my data plan) and install it, I open it and it crashes. Ok I restart the app. Again, I find the garage I'm in and press "charge". Choose "T2" then"next".

4. Now I have to find a number on a sticker on the side of the charger and use that to pick my charger out of a long list in the app. The first one I try doesn't work, but then I realized there's ANOTHER sticker ON THE OTHER SIDE of the charger, with a slightly different number. I chose that one and it lets me continue.

5. Now I need to enter my credit card information. So I copy the number from 1password like I always do, but... I can't paste it in. 😡 So I have to type it in by hand. Ok. Now I have to switch to my bank's app to approve the purchase. Ok.

6. Back in your app, I look at a loading screen for five minutes, reminding me not to unplug my car, like I'm an idiot. And then .... nothing? My car reports that it is still not charging.

7. I repeat this process FOUR 🤬MORE 🤬TIMES 🤬 to no avail. In the end not only have I gone through all this needless frustration and wasted time, but I'm unable to charge my car.

8. I choose the "support" option on the app, and the only option I have is to send an email. 🤯

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Compare this to the process of charging my car at any Tesla facility:

1. Plug the provided cable into my car
2. The car charges

Or at the last non-Tesla charger I used, in Switzerland:

1. Plug the provided cable into my car
2. Tap my credit card on the charger
3. The car charges

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You would think whoever designed this setup was secretly working for the fossil fuel industry and going out of their way to dissuade people from the whole idea of electric vehicles.

I hope this review is passed on to every single person who was involved in building this system: from the high-level design, to the physical chargers, to the signage, to the website and the app. Because you should all be profoundly ashamed of yourselves. Clearly not a single one of you could be arsed at any point in the process to actually try using what you created to see if it was actually something you would want to use yourself.

You had the opportunity to build something good and positive for the world, and you turned it into a miserable, rage-inducing experience. I'm sure you could tell me all about the Dantesque levels of institutional dysfunction that produced this abomination, but in the end institutions are made of people - yes, even Electricité de France - and people make choices. And over and over again each one of you was presented with decisions to make, and every single time, without fail, you chose the laziest option available to you.

May god have mercy on your souls.