Ontario - Flo chargers

[TrevTremaine]

I'm heading up to Horseshoe Valley this weekend where there's a Flo charger available and may need to use. Anyone have any experience using these? Are they reliable at all? Do you need to have an app and membership or can you simply use a credit card on the unit to be able to charge? I see that it's a J1772 connector, which I hope I've got the adapter for.

Any suggestions or recommendations would be appreciated. Yes, I'm aware of chargers in Barrie, but it's more or less a "just in case" scenario.

 

[iMoe]

Last used a flo in 2021 and needed an app and membership. Back then no option for direct payment and I assume that's still the case. They are supposed to be integrated with Chargepoint if you already have the app/membership.

 

[TrevTremaine]

Last used a flo in 2021 and needed an app and membership. Back then no option for direct payment and I assume that's still the case. They are supposed to be integrated with Chargepoint if you already have the app/membership.

Good to know that. I've not done any memberships, but would be more willing to do ChargePoint. Didn't know they had an agreement, so thank you for that info!

 

[Thunderbird 2]

I’ve used Flo for years with our Nissan Leaf and have never had any problems. You can use the Flo, Chargepoint or Electric Circuit apps.

 

[George I]

Let us know how it went.
Flo claims to have the most reliable charging network in North America outside of Tesla.
I have used my Flo RFID card in Ontario, Add Energie in New Brunswick and Electric Circuit in Quebec.
The FLO apps "roams" on associated networks, the RFID card only "roams" on other Canadian netowrks (BC, NB,NS,PQ)

 

[Stirfry]

I used a flo charger in AB. Pulled up without knowing anything about it (found via plugshare app). Downloaded flo app and created account in 2 mins. Pretty easy.

Needed the J1772 adaptor but that should have come with the car.

Charging speeds were slow (~6kW) compared to Tesla SCs but good if you are staying for a while.

 

[wayner]

The Flo app isn't bad, but the probablem with any of these apps is that you have to install them, then often add funds and tell them what charger you are using. It takes several minutes and is a bit of a pain in the butt if you are in a hurry. And if you only use that app every once in a while you may have stranded cash if you have to preload the app with $20 or whatever.

 

[Tony_YYZ]

I used Flo for the first time a couple weeks ago near Toronto City Hall. They unfortunately don’t have a tap/charge setup like Chargepoint for example. I had to go into the app, find the location I was at then look for the charger ID. Then I had to start the charge from the app. Not a bad experience otherwise. But I mainly find myself at ChargePoint stations which a very convenient with being able to tap my watch or phone to start charging.

They have a physical card you can tap but you have to order it in advance from them. It costs like $10 as well I believe.

 

[wayner]

Why didn't you go across Bay Street to the SC in the Eaton Centre? Were you going to be there for several hours?

 

[Tony_YYZ]

Why didn't you go across Bay Street to the SC in the Eaton Centre? Were you going to be there for several hours?

I parked at the Bell Trinity Square parking lot, it was right across city hall. I wasn’t low on battery but the EV spots were empty and the parking lot was super full so I basically paid to charge to get a better parking spot.

I was only there for like two hours.

 

[TrevTremaine]

Well, unfortunately, I was unable to even test the Flo chargers - they were all blocked at the times I went by them. That was something I thought might happen since they're the closest spots to the resort. Thankfully, I never allowed the car to go low enough to worry about being stranded - the Barrie Superchargers were about 25-30km away. That said, for a round trip to Barrie (about 50km total) I ended up using close to 150km of range - seems rather high.

I'll probably go and do a test to see what happens at another time.

At least the skiing was good!

 

[TrevTremaine]

Finally got a chance to use the Flo charger at Horseshoe this past weekend. I used the ChargePoint app. It went off with almost no hitches - just that the image has the chargers flipped on the 3-4 stalls (3 was 4 and 4 was 3). It took a couple of minutes to figure that out, then tried charging - no issues. Made for an easier trip in the long run. Anyone off the top knows exactly how much $15 gets you in kW output?

 

[cdswm3]

Most FLO chargers are 50KW maximum. The good thing is most are working. IVY is a different story as most are broken.

 

[Qaazon]

Most FLO chargers are 50KW maximum. The good thing is most are working. IVY is a different story as most are broken.

Most FLO chargers are level 2.

 

[rraj2k81]

Most FLO chargers are level 2.

The FLO chargers that are installed at Canadian Tire and Ikea parking lots across Ontario are 50KW L3 DCFC stations.

 

[nogoro]

Maybe I am just griping here, but I am not thrilled with a Flo charger newly installed in a City of Toronto parking lot. Specifically Lippincott near Bathurst/Bloor. There are 10 stations, and they are labelled 16A. The lot charges $10 to park overnight and the charger $6 for the same period. Alas, my model 3 only got 4kW speed and charged to 60% by the next morning.

Is the city being too cheap with infrastructure? Will 16A chargers satisfy future EVs? Yes I can go to a supercharger, but if I can get 6-8 at this lot I'd pay the $16 as it's more convenient and less strain on my battery. If the city puts up a bunch more of these and people are not rushing to use them, they will decide not to invest into more chargers.

 

[richyrich]

Most FLO chargers are level 2.

Yeah their map looks great until you turn on the "Available" and "Fast DC" filters, at which point vast numbers of locations disappear - FLO Network. The Fast, Reliable EV Charging Station Network | FLO

 

[George I]

As someone who got their EV in May 2016 the problem is as follows. If you remain stuck in a mid 2010 mentality where there are 2 major electric cars; Nissan Leaf for the "real" EV owners and Tesla Model S for the spoiled rich people, then 16a 240v (4kw) charging will fill your 24-30kwh battery overnight. "Oh your battery is much bigger that means you can afford the house with charging and more so you don't need any of this other stuff."
The decision of what kind of charging to put where should only be made by people who own an EV. Examples of stupidity includes: a)what is described by RIchyrich one entry above where 6kw should be the minimum b)6+kw charging at long term airport parking when a NEMA 5-15 or 5-20 is all you really need ideally for every (or at least almost every) parking spot. In really cold climates long term parking might want a 6-15, 6-20 or TT-30 c)similarly GO train stations and other longer term parking lots need similar to b above with options for some faster 10kw for those who will not be gone the whole day d)restaurants, shopping malls need DC fast Charging-unlike on the highway it does not need to 150-250kw fast charging as you will be staying longer, 50-100kw charging will often be sufficient. A fast food restaurant might want faster DC charging however

 

[Soul Surfer]

Most FLO chargers are 50KW maximum. The good thing is most are working. IVY is a different story as most are broken.

Right on! Was in Petawawa a few weeks ago and the only 2 IVY DC chargers had one broken. The remaining one would not work with the Tesla CHAdeMO adapter.

 

[KevinT3141]

Right on! Was in Petawawa a few weeks ago and the only 2 IVY DC chargers had one broken. The remaining one would not work with the Tesla CHAdeMO adapter.

We tried to use a 150 kW Ivy charger with our CCS adapter at an ONroute stop during our recent trip to Tremblant. I couldn't figure out how to get their app to start the charger, so I scanned the QR, logged in with my account, manually entered the credit card details, and the charger enabled. We watched it negotiate for a minute or so, then gave up watching and did our quick rest stop while trusting the equipment to take care of itself in the meantime. When we got back out, both car and charger reported that negotiation had failed. A Polestar 2 that was pulling up to the charger beside us when we went in was already gone, so I assume that they couldn't get theirs work either. We just stuck to the Superchargers after that...