Shell Recharge 4+

The app is fairly well designed and intuitive to use, but Shell appears to be one of those companies that doesn't acknowledge or act on customer feedback. I've reported the absence of my EV vehicle from the available list of vehicles from which to choose in the app, to be told that the list is updated only once per year. Worse still, the iOS (iPhone) version of the app does not show the active session banner, rendering it impossible to stop a charging session via the app. The banner does, however, consistently appear in the iPadOS (iPad) version of the app. Bizarre. Shell seem disinterested in fixing both issues.

The pumps don’t seem to have numbers on them that are referred to on the app. Sometimes the card reader takes my debit card, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s not obvious if I should use the app or my debit card.

On my first visit the lady, it was confusing, no real instructions. I asked the lady in the petrol station how to use the charger. She said it was nothing to do with the petrol station ….even though it’s advertised as Shell charger! She was also quite rude.

Unless there are clearer instructions and more FAST 180 kw charging points then I struggle to see how electric vehicles will replace petrol. Every charge point is slightly different, with differebnt apps. I can’t see how the elderly will be able to cope with this as often I need the app. And the charger is heavy. You need to be able to pay in the petrol station - it’s mad that there no help and can’t pay in the shop.

This app seems a bit pointless. Yes, it provides a map showing where charging points are but then my car has that too. I expected it to be able to start and pay for charging like similar EV charging apps. But no, you can’t use it for payment, instead you have to get a plastic card from Shell to do that. That card is currently unavailable.
Some of Shell’s charging points now allow payment by credit card. My experience is this is very flakey, having wasted 20 minutes yesterday failing to get a charging point to accept a credit card payment despite the map on their app saying it would.
It all feels that Shell’s strategy for EV charging is half baked and requires a rethink if they’re to keep up with their competitors. Our local council’s charging points work like a dream and cost a quarter of what Shell charges.