ORA Funky Cat will not charge on Gridserve DC chargers without update

William

William

Active Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2023
Messages
113
Reaction score
52
Points
36
Location
Warwickshire
Driving
CAT Aurora Green
I had my first proper road trip with the Funky Cat this weekend.

I did all my research regarding charging before I went and planned to stop at Oxford Services on the M40 and Clacket Lane on the M25. There are two fast chargers at Oxford which aren't very well signposted but we found them and only had to wait five minutes for one to come free. Unfortunately I couldn't get a charge to start so I went to plan B and charged at Oxford Park & Ride. After charging I continued onto Clacket Lane and the same thing happened again. Both of these charges were Gridserve so I called their help number who told me it it must be an issue with the software in my car.

I have been in touch with Gridserve today to query this and their reply is:

"ORA Funky Cat should be able to charge on the Type 2 AC chargers. However, we're still working on finding a solution so ORA Funky Cat can charge on our DC chargers as well.

We understand that this is frustrating and apologise that we haven’t been able to solve the issue with our charge point manufacturer or the car manufacturer.

We are continuing to explore for solutions with both ABB and GWM. We are also investigating to see if any other charge point manufacturers or operators are having these difficulties. There is a software update for the vehicle, which will be trying on our own ORA Funky Cat."

Hopefully posting this will save you some time one day.
 
I have been told that gridserve in Braintree has sorted out the problem and we can now charge on the DC chargers although gridserve in Norwich did not work, how do we, as mere mortals, get this update to our software? Would be nice to be told, on getting vehicle I was told by the dealership that any updates would be done automatically, without me haveing to do anything.
 
Very frustrating. I used Osprey and Tesla Superchargers as I drove to/from Fully Charged Live last week, as I couldn't count on Gridserve.

Also, to be fair, the 2/3 Gridserve chargers per Motorway Service Area are no where near enough to guarantee a charge when going cross country, so it's easier to avoid anyway.
 
Just got an email from GWM saying they know there is a problem with the Funky Cat and there will be an update for the software, but they don't know when and reminded me it only charges at 64KW, which is plenty if you can get it.
 
I emailed ORA last month asking for a full list of networks/chargers where I should successfully be able to charge as I'm still finding it hit and miss where I can charge. So far despite two follow up emails and a phone call today they are reluctant to answer me.
 
William said:
I emailed ORA last month asking for a full list of networks/chargers where I should successfully be able to charge as I'm still finding it hit and miss where I can charge. So far despite two follow up emails and a phone call today they are reluctant to answer me.
Click to expand...
Yes I am waiting for an answer from them as well, I think all Funky Cat owners should contact the dealership where they got them from and make them sort it as they are selling vehicles not fit for purpose.
 
maylandmale said:
Yes I am waiting for an answer from them as well, I think all Funky Cat owners should contact the dealership where they got them from and make them sort it as they are selling vehicles not fit for purpose.
Click to expand...
I understand what you are saying. I don't actually mind that much that I can't get a charge everywhere because of compatibility issues but I would really like to know where I can charge so I can make plans accordingly. I'm going to a family party at the weekend and the chargers nearby are Osprey. Never having charged with them before and not really having the time to find out I'm having to find alternatives. I shouldn't really be having to do this.
 
William said:
I understand what you are saying. I don't actually mind that much that I can't get a charge everywhere because of compatibility issues but I would really like to know where I can charge so I can make plans accordingly. I'm going to a family party at the weekend and the chargers nearby are Osprey. Never having charged with them before and not really having the time to find out I'm having to find alternatives. I shouldn't really be having to do this.
Click to expand...
Your right, we should be able to plan a journey, I'm going on holiday to crewkerne in a couple of weeks, we went there last year in the MG ZS EV and am going to use the same chargers I used then, fingers crossed.
 
I called Ora on Monday because I hadn't had a reply to my emails, they said I would get a call back - I didn't. I called again on Tuesday and the same happened. I called today and asked for a call back from a Supervisor/Manager. They did call me back and explained a software upgrade 'should' fix this. You have to go to a dealer for it as it's not available for download. I said surely this is a recall and why hadn't I been advised of this? I said I have been treated very badly as an early adopter as we are their ambassadors and right now I don't have anything positive to say. I asked again for a list of networks I should be able to successfully charge with and again they refused to give me this - what are they hiding? They are going to call me back again tomorrow.
 
William said:
I called Ora on Monday because I hadn't had a reply to my emails, they said I would get a call back - I didn't. I called again on Tuesday and the same happened. I called today and asked for a call back from a Supervisor/Manager. They did call me back and explained a software upgrade 'should' fix this. You have to go to a dealer for it as it's not available for download. I said surely this is a recall and why hadn't I been advised of this? I said I have been treated very badly as an early adopter as we are their ambassadors and right now I don't have anything positive to say. I asked again for a list of networks I should be able to successfully charge with and again they refused to give me this - what are they hiding? They are going to call me back again tomorrow.
Click to expand...
I will call my dealership tomorrow and post what they say, surely they should have conntact owners of funky cats, there can't be that many.
 
They didn't call as promised but emailed me this morning and confirmed:

We are unable to provide a list of networks you are able to charge with due to the volume of charging stations and networks across the UK

I have asked them

I understand there are a large number. According to ZapMap these are the Top 10 charging networks in the UK. Can you at least confirm these networks please for fastchargers:
1. InstaVolt
2. MFG EV Power
3. Pod Point
4. Osprey
5. Shell Recharge
6. GRIDSERVE
7. NewMotion
8. IONITY
9. Ubitricity
10. Swarco Econnect

I have also asked:

I was first advised of the software upgrade on the 13th June .... when are you going to contact the other owners and advise them?

Let's see what they say.
 
William said:
They didn't call as promised but emailed me this morning and confirmed:

We are unable to provide a list of networks you are able to charge with due to the volume of charging stations and networks across the UK

I have asked them

I understand there are a large number. According to ZapMap these are the Top 10 charging networks in the UK. Can you at least confirm these networks please for fastchargers:
1. InstaVolt
2. MFG EV Power
3. Pod Point
4. Osprey
5. Shell Recharge
6. GRIDSERVE
7. NewMotion
8. IONITY
9. Ubitricity
10. Swarco Econnect

I have also asked:

I was first advised of the software upgrade on the 13th June .... when are you going to contact the other owners and advise them?

Let's see what they say.
Click to expand...
I phoned my dealership this morning, they said that they have the software and will be downloading to their loan Ora and if it works will contact owners to go in for this update. I'm on holiday till last week in July so will update then.
 
maylandmale said:
I phoned my dealership this morning, they said that they have the software and will be downloading to their loan Ora and if it works will contact owners to go in for this update. I'm on holiday till last week in July so will update then.
Click to expand...
So even the dealers aren't sure if the upgrade will solve this?
 
This is all very frustrating for you and I really hope they sort it with this update. All EV buyers choosing a new car model are at the mercy of it's software (see other forums) and a dealer will probably not know if a software update will sort the problem until they try it themselves. They don't make the software or updates. Look at how computer updates can muck up your phone (yes I'm looking to you Honor) or your PC..... There are numerous videos on YouTube moaning about software and the lack of updates for EVs. Some are laggy, some have oft-used systems buried deep and some radomly shut off or reboot. You have to wonder if the manufacturers properly roadtest their software before putting a car on sale. Again this is not limited to Ora (but several posts in this forum are ab out software issues) but clearly they are not being very helpful in getting to know which charger should charge your car! IMHO it should be every charger. If their EV can't charge on our public charging nwetwork it is their issue, not the buyer's. I look forward to your next post when hopefully you will have an answer......
 
I asked ORA to confirm if I can charge with the top ten charger networks in the UK. Their response is:

Unfortunately, we cannot give a definitive answer on the individual chargers sorry. However we have not had any feedback to indicate that your list of chargers have any problem other than certain Gridserve models.
My response to this is:

This is not acceptable. You are selling a car where you cannot confirm if I can charge with the top ten charger networks (according to ZapMap) in the UK. This limits me to PodPoint, Genie and Ionity as I know I can charge with these networks and don’t have the time when travelling to find out if the others will work. What refund are you going to offer me for selling a car that is not fit for the purpose you sold it for?

I just cannot believe they do not know where I can charge and apparently don't really care. All the staff there have a Funky Cat, I would at least be expecting them to try and get a charge somewhere so they can draw up a list.
 
Spoke to my dealer, haven't done it yet, workshop too busy, probaly been messing about with their petrol ford vehicles. Says he will phone when its done, whether it works or not, I'm not holding my breath.
 
Miles Roberts CG said:
Very frustrating. I used Osprey and Tesla Superchargers as I drove to/from Fully Charged Live last week, as I couldn't count on Gridserve.

Also, to be fair, the 2/3 Gridserve chargers per Motorway Service Area are no where near enough to guarantee a charge when going cross country, so it's easier to avoid anyway.
Click to expand...
Hi
Was the charge ok at Tesla supercharger, as I stopped at one today and a tesla driver said don't use as it will not work, there were about 4 stationss empty and the only other ones were gridserve (M3 Welcome break), so had to go out of my way to find a charger that worked.
 
A reply from ORA HQ:

If you have received the software update, I can confirm you should have no issue with charging at the 10 stations listed and be able to charge whilst travelling in France.
 
AgentKozak said:
As someone looking at this car as a future buy. This isn't nice
Click to expand...
Hi
You could do worse, the only chargers which I have been unable to use are gridserve, my Ora goes in on the 7th of this month for the update to the software, also I have found out that certain Tesla fastchargers are available for us mere mortals to use, just download the tesla Mobile app. Other than the charger problem, which will be sorted soon, the car has not caused any headaches, you have to turn off the Lane Assist everytime you start the car, which is no biggie. I am getting a real mileage of about 180 miles per charge, so all in all not a bad car.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top