EV Charging Stations (CS)

[Andrew Dwyer]

4 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Haven’t tried to route plan with the ReverSharger app but i don’t see this option there is “ Plan trip “ but doesn’t appear to allow a stop inbetween so in effect is like the “ Navigate “ button.

 

I would use either Google Maps, Waze or ABRP ( A Better Route Planner ) to plan your route from your phone via Android Auto ( I believe you have gone Samsung now ).

 

The Seal Navigation is pretty poor imho:

Initially i liked it as the interface was great and the shortcut button to bring up chargers was very handy. But it did struggle to find places and I reverted to Google Maps.

 

Recently the car has had a dealer update ( 2407 now ) and the SIM has been changed, along with this the Seal Navigation had an update.

Gone is the charger shortcut button, it is now buried in settings, the interface has changed but is neither better nor worse imho.

Worse though is the actual Navigation functionality:

On a recent road trip i typed in The White Temple in Chiang Rai whilst in Chiang Mai , drove some 180 km and the little lady exclaimed “ turn in here “ ! while the Navigation claimed i had 13 km to go !! putting it down to an error in my typing ( maybe i was headed to the White Temple café or Hotel ? ) i let it slide.

The next tourist stop was Wat Huay Pla Kang, stopped at a traffic light the Navigation was sending me 5 km to the right when the actual Wat 

 

 

was there to the left ( hard to miss ) !, curious i followed the Navigation and it took me away from my intended destination, announcing “ you have arrived at your destination “ in the middle of a random street  some 5 km away.

Needless to say i used Google Maps from then on with zero problems as the BYD Seal Navigation seems to be somewhat “ off “ !

Since my recent road trip and my adoption of the EV Station Pluz chargers in future i will be concentrating on using them only.

As stated they are plentiful and saw a couple of PTT stations yesterday without the large EV signs but clearly had chargers in operation.

 

The booking system is the only downside imo !

As i have taken advantage of the free electrons since Aug i thought it time to do a <10% to 100% charge on AC when arriving home ( 8% to 100% overnight took 12 hours on my ABB wall charger ).

So i did some mental calculations to charge at Kamphaeng Phet  to 58% arriving home with less than 10%.
 

It was 4.15 pm when i perused the app and both 120 kw chargers were available but booked for 4.00 to 4.30 and 4.30 to 5.00pm ( okay 4.27 and 4.57 but you get the idea ) so i decided to book the 5.00 to 5.30 slot .

Arriving around 4.50 pm neither charger was in use so i guess someone had booked 4 slots ( 80 baht ) and not shown up !

Why they adopted the booking system, and subsequent reduction to 1/2 hour slots, I don’t know. !

[Pib]

1 hour ago, Bandersnatch said:

ReverSharger gives me a list of charging stations on it's suggested route but when I selected a BYD dealership, it creates a trip to that location and it seems I have to repeat the exercise for my next stop.

 

Yeap....appears that's the way it works....just shows all the ReverSharger chargers along the way and when you select one of the chargers it just navigates you to that charger if desired.   Then repeat when it time to charge again.    No way I know of to select multiple chargers like Stop 1, Stop 2, etc., along the way.   

 

But one thing it does do when using the trip planner is it points out there are a "LOT" of Reversharger locations along the way...can gives a person a good feeling especially when you know you have only looked at "one" of the charging networks/apps you may be signed up/registered with. 

 

Like for me I'm registered with the following 6 charging networks/app which includes Reversharger.   If you are not signed up with PTT and PEA I would recommend such since they have a lot of chargers but with the PTT app be sure you can get a debit/credit card loaded/accepted into your app profile as the PTT app only allows payment via card.   PEA allows card or Wallet payment with wallet top-up via QR code.....and maybe also straight QR payment.  I used the PEA app just today as a periodic test since I had Bt200 in the wallet that I added via QR code top-up.  Here's the 6 charging networks/apps I'm registered with to include have payment options(s) setup in the apps.  After registering always be sure you can add a payment option to your profile...no use just registering and then not having a way to pay for a charging session.

1.  PTT  EV Station PluZ  (PTT stations are everywhere....and many have a EV charger...more being added)

2.  PEA Volta  (PEA has lots of chargers in the provinces...not many in Bangkok)

3.  EA Anywhere  

4.  ReverSharger

5.  Altervim

6.  EleXA

 

Note:  And a charging test today using the Elexa app (i.e., Electric Generating Authority of Thailand - EGAT) confirmed why I list it last....will post a short story why later today probably.   I rarely need to actually use a charger on a trip due to the range of my Atto and where I have went so far...actually only "needed" to do it twice in the 14 months I've owned the Atto, BUT,  I still do charging tests (i.e., charge for a few kilowatts/a few minutes) at least every year with all the charging apps I registered with to ensure I can indeed charge, see if any new payment options have become available (like maybe an app adding payment option via Wallet, QR code, mobile banking, etc., versus just offering only payment via debit/credit card.

[Bandersnatch]

32 minutes ago, Pib said:

Yeap....appears that's the way it works...

 

Appreciated, I thought I was missing a trick.

 

As for your charging list, I have all but #5 and I have loaded payment methods into all of them. 

 

I took your advice and installed the new version of EV station + app when you posted about it so thanks for that.

[Pib]

11 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

Appreciated, I thought I was missing a trick.

 

As for your charging list, I have all but #5 and I have loaded payment methods into all of them. 

 

I took your advice and installed the new version of EV station + app when you posted about it so thanks for that.

The old PTT EV station app no longer works at all...can't even log in per my test about a week ago.  Expect it died on 1 Jan 2025.  So I uninstalled it. But I setup the new PTT app in early Dec and it works fine now although it had numerous glitches for a few days after going online according to social media ctossfeed and a few tests I did in mid Dec.

 

Now the Elexa app has been running painfully slow over the last week and today/right now it's running extremely painfully slow with server errors...at least on my phone a Samsung S24+. How about for you right now?  The other charging apps are running fine.

[Pib]

16 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

As for your charging list, I have all but #5 and I have loaded payment methods into all of them. 

With 5 charging apps setup you probably have access to a DC charger about every 5km (or less) along your trek.   

 

And once you get close to/in Bangkok it will be like every 100 meters for a DC/AC charger....kinda like a 7-11 being on every other soi....or a 7-11 every few hundred meters on major sois/roads.   😁

[Andrew Dwyer]

12 minutes ago, Pib said:

The old PTT EV station app no longer works at all...can't even log in per my test about a week ago.  Expect it died on 1 Jan 2025.  So I uninstalled it. But I setup the new PTT app in early Dec and it works fine now although it had numerous glitches for a few days after going online according to social media ctossfeed and a few tests I did in mid Dec.

 

Now the Elexa app has been running painfully slow over the last week and today/right now it's running extremely painfully slow with server errors...at least on my phone a Samsung S24+. How about for you right now?  The other charging apps are running fine.

Just tried Elexa, took about a minute to load then another minute to login and as i hadn’t used it since registering ages ago it asked for my phone number to send an OTP.

All that is not promising at all 

[Pib]

9 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Just tried Elexa, took about a minute to load then another minute to login and as i hadn’t used it since registering ages ago it asked for my phone number to send an OTP.

All that is not promising at all 

Thanks for the confirmation of it being painfully slow....and looking at a phone for a minute waiting for an app to complete an action (like just to login) can seem like 10 minutes.  Even 15 seconds can seem like minutes. 

 

Oh, almost forgot: after logging in the upper right hand corner of the app do you see a icon along the lines of "e-KYC" for Electronic - Know Your Customer verification?  I think it has a explanation mark also in front of it.  And when tapping on that icon is starts an Identity Verification process.

[Bandersnatch]

22 minutes ago, Pib said:

Now the Elexa app has been running painfully slow over the last week and today/right now it's running extremely painfully slow with server errors...at least on my phone a Samsung S24+. How about for you right now? 

 

I don't charge away from home except for doing a quick test charge when I find a new charging company local to me.

 

I also have the Samsung S24 Ultra so will be testing it with a few charging stations over the next couple of days.

[Andrew Dwyer]

25 minutes ago, Pib said:

Thanks for the confirmation of it being painfully slow....and looking at a phone for a minute waiting for an app to complete an action (like just to login) can see like 10 minutes.  Even 15 seconds can seem like minutes. 

 

Oh, almost forgot: after logging in the upper right hand corner of the app do you see a icon along the lines of "e-KYC" for Electronic - Know Your Customer verification?  I think it has a explanation mark also in front of it.

No icon as you described.

 

 

I did try the route planner with a route i use often but with no start button i wasn’t sure how to get it to “ start “ !!

I guess that’s it. ?

 

[KhunLA]

49 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

Appreciated, I thought I was missing a trick.

 

As for your charging list, I have all but #5 and I have loaded payment methods into all of them. 

 

I took your advice and installed the new version of EV station + app when you posted about it so thanks for that.

I peeked at Gmap, and both routes have plenty of CSs.  You can almost, probably make without charging, especially if 580 is WLTP range, as it's only 460 kms (using hwy # 539), although about 7 hrs.

[Andrew Dwyer]

7 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

No icon as you described.

 

 

I did try the route planner with a route i use often but with no start button i wasn’t sure how to get it to “ start “ !!

I guess that’s it. ?

 

Tried a few longer locations ( 600 km ) but not an Elexa charger to be seen , what am I missing ?

Tried the Home Screen also which works as expected showing nearby chargers and search for chargers etc that you can then navigate to but the trip planner without any charging stops seems a bit surplus to requirements !!

 

Also get a few Format Exception messages so something amiss .

[Pib]

3 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

I don't charge away from home except for doing a quick test charge when I find a new charging company local to me.

 

I also have the Samsung S24 Ultra so will be testing it with a few charging stations over the next couple of days.

Over the past 14 months of owning my Atto and using DC chargers in quick & short tests of around a few minutes/few kilowatts (probably around 30 times) and  also another 80 times using ReverSharger chargers to get free electron of the expired BYD free/reduced rate electrons promotion, it has resulted in a good amount of charger QR code scanning to start/stop the charging session using my Samsung S24+.   

 

What I experienced is usually the QR code scans just fine but maybe 20% of the time it can "appear" the phone is not able to scan the QR code on the charger because of app in-action/non response.  And you think to yourself you've never had a problem in scanning any other QR codes in your daily activities where QR codes are used.   

 

What is really happening when it "appears" the charger code is simply not being scanned by your phone, well, it not that the phone is not able to scan the QR but it because the charging app can be very slow in giving you any indication it was able to scan the QR code because the charging app and the cloud servers it connecting to along with the cloud server communication with the charger can sometimes be painfully slow. 

 

Makes you think there is something wrong with your phone...makes you thing the phone is not scanning the QR code.  But what is really happening is the charging app is simply communicating slowly thru the charging network's cloud servers to the charger.   Quite a few times, especially at Shell chargers listed in the ReverSharger app, it sometimes take close to a minute for the scan of the QR to cause the charger to stop or start OR the app to take the next step/show the next screen in the app use process.   

 

Can make you think your durn expensive phone can't scan simple QR codes on a charger until you remind yourself your phone scans QR codes just fine every where else that you scan QR codes at, but for some reason QR code scanning at "some" chargers using certain charging app seems to be a hard thing to get to work "sometimes" like it's an intermittent problem.  Well, I've come to the conclusion from testing it's a case of simple "slow/corrupted" communications between your phone to the app's server in the cloud who is linking to the charger...and of course the charger talking back to the cloud server which in turns talks to your phone's app. 

[Pib]

18 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

No icon as you described.

 

 

I did try the route planner with a route i use often but with no start button i wasn’t sure how to get it to “ start “ !!

I guess that’s it. ?

 

 

 

You are looking at the wrong screen....I should have been more specific....my bad. 

 

Press the "Other" icon at the bottom which takes you into your Profile area/menu and then look for the "e-KYC" icon at the top right if your ID has not been verified.  If you did the ID verification process already and maybe forgot you did it in the past there will still be an icon but the icon will just show the image of a head & shoulders with a green check mark next to it which means you have completed the ID verification process.

[Andrew Dwyer]

12 minutes ago, Pib said:

 

 

You are looking at the wrong screen....I should have been more specific....my bad. 

 

Press the "Other" icon at the bottom which takes you into your Profile area/menu and then look for the "e-KYC" icon at the top right if your ID has not been verified.  If you did the ID verification process already and maybe forgot you did it in the past there will still be an icon but the icon will just show the image of a head & shoulders with a green check mark next to it which means you have completed the ID verification process.

Okay, am with you now, yup it’s requesting a passport photo ….. and gone into slow mode again !

[Andrew Dwyer]

12 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Okay, am with you now, yup it’s requesting a passport photo ….. and gone into slow mode again !

Apparently after more than 50 tries my face comparison does not match ……. given up 😞

[Pib]

3 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Apparently after more than 50 tries my face comparison does not match ……. given up 😞

OK now!!!!...now you are just exaggerating to the extreme (doing a Donald Trump) or you are so "hansum" Elexa just can't believe your face scan.  50 face scans would have required 17 complete verification attempts where your passport/Thai ID is also scanned along with typing in some info.    But I do understand what you meant as I feel like I've done 50 face scans over the last few days in trying to pass the "e-KYC" verification.    😜😉

 

And guess what, I did finally pass the "e-KYC" verification this afternoon.  Here's my detailed (long winded) story in using Elexa for a short charging session for a few kilowatts/a few minutes just to do a periodic test to ensure I can still use the app, see what changes might have occurred, etc. The last time I used Elexa for a quickie test was Dec 2023.  And then finally passing the verification.

 

The wife and I go visit her Mom in Nakorn Pathom  province...a weekly visit...around 60km from our Bangkok home.  I drop her off at Mom's house while I go off to visit the Global House hardware store and do a couple of quick/short charging tests at PEA and Elexa chargers.  Quite a few chargers from various charging network pretty close to Mom's house to include PTT, EA Anywhere, ReverSharger, Elexa, etc...etc...etc.  

 

Arrive the PEA charger...do a quick test for a couple of kilowatts....works like a charm...charger QR code scanning to start or stop no problem....pay balance I have in my wallet.  Easy....successful...no drama.  

 

Now I move on to a 180KW Elexa charger about a kilometer away at PT station I think it was.  Now the drama starts.   I start using the Elexa app which is operating very slowly like taking 30 seconds just to log on compared to other charging apps that only take a second or two....or when the Elexa app seems to be working normally.   After getting logged on just movement between menus/tasks is just slow...too slow...slow communications to its cloud server probably the problem....and probably the charger communicating with the cloud.   But for the last week or so it has just been very slow even when playing with it at home on high speed Wifi or 5G mobile connection...painfully slow.  When playing with it home that is when I noticed that "e-KYC" alert icon which I don't remember seeing before.  Maybe that icon has been there from the get-go of signing up over a year ago.  I just not sure how long it's been there.    

 

OK, I scan the charger's QR code, the charger connects to my EV, but when pressing the Start Charging icon a "e-KYC" screen pops up saying I need to complete e-KYC verification first...and I couldn't get past the e-KYC screen...it was either complete the verification or go-away.

 

OK, although I had tried to complete the e-KYC verification the previous day numerous times at home using my actual passport where the app first takes picture of your passport page or Thai ID front side which then causes a menu to pop-up containing "most" of the scanned info but you still need to manually enter your birthdate and passport expiration date if the scan didn't pick that up.  After entering or correcting the scanned info you press continue and now it's time for the face san to attempt to match that to the picture on your passport main page (or Thai ID if Thai national).    Now I did not have my passport with me but I did use a high quality paper copy of my main passport page and current visa in my wallet just in case I ever get stopped and need to produce my passport.

 

You are given 3 attempts to get your face to match the photo....after 3 attempts it basically says Sorry Dude the face scan process has failed....try again.  And when it says Try Again that means repeat the whole verification process from scratch. That is, taking another scan of your passport, enter/correct any necessary info from the passport scan, and then try the face scan process again.  Well, it failed again.   I try the whole process a third time with no success.....a total 3 attempts consisting of 9 failed face scans....got no joy...no success.  But this time I think I pressed Help and another screen pops up giving a phone number, a LINE address, and an email address to Elexa Customer Service if having verification problems..  

 

I try calling the customer support number....end-up hearing an interactive system in Thai except at the end it says press 9 for English which I do. . A few seconds later I'm now listening to a recording saying they will be with me soon and I'm number 1 in the queue.  But after listening to elevator music for at least 5 minutes no one ever answered.  I hung-up and tried again with same results....always number 1 in the queue, but after at least 5 minutes of waiting still no human answers.  I hang-up.

 

I then send a message to their LINE address explaining my problem figuring I'd probably never get a response.   The Global House hardware store is nearby so I go there to look around....I just love looking at stuff in hardware stores.  After coming out of store about an 30 minutes later I check LINE and see I have a response from Elexa that is quoted below:

 

QUOTE:

Here are the steps for charging when identity verification is unsuccessful:

 

1. Close the application, clear application, and reopen it.

 

2. When the "Verify Identity" pop-up appears, click "Skip" on the left-side select box.

 

3. Start charging by scanning the QR code or entering the 9-digit number of the charger.

 

4. You can send all related documents to the officer via Line or Email (Email address removed for approval) for verification:

     - Copy of Passport

     - Face Picture

     - Registered Email

 

We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your cooperation.

END QUOTE

 

OK, I decide to go back to the Elexa charger to give it another try....more than happy to press any Skip icon, but I was pretty sure I was never offered the "Skip" selection when the e-KYC verification message popped-up before....I am pretty sure the only a Continue button was offered.    Anyway, I clear the app, I get back to the charger, plug in, press start to start the charging process and this time "no e-KYC" screen (a.k.a., roadblock) pops up...charging starts.    I charge for a few kilowatts/a few minutes, press stop charging and scan the QR code to stop the charging and it takes over a minute before the charging actually stops and a Payment menu pops up.  That "over 1 minute" felt like over 10 minutes.  

 

Anyway, I see I'm being offered 4 payment methods....1 via the card I had loaded, a 2nd via QR payment, and two more methods if I had certain wallets like True Money or something.  On my first use of Elexa around a year ago I was only offered the 1 payment method of the card I had loaded and no e-KYC challenge (roadblock).    I scanned/saved the QR, went to my Thai bank app to complete the payment, and had no problem in my Thai bank app sending the payment...a quick & easy payment using the bank app.   I now switch back to the Elexa app expecting to see they received the QR payment...all is good---but, No that didn't happen.  

 

The Elexa app just seemed to be stuck on that Payment page....like it was waiting to receive payment...and I couldn't get out of that Payment page.  But after repeated tries to get out of that page I somehow got the whole app to close.  I opened it again and instead of being taken to the app's home page it would always go right to the Payment page like it had not been paid yet and the app was not going to let me do anything else until it received payment.   Somehow I got out of the app again...cleared the app's Cache again...went back into the app around two more times....still taken right to and stuck on the Payment page.   I decide to just close the app for around 10 minutes hoping it's just slow in recognizing it been paid. 

 

Then after that 10 minutes and going back into the app I was taken directly to a page regarding "did I want a receipt?"  OK, maybe a little progress has now been made.   This indicated to me Elexa was now agreeing it had received payment.  But until I answered if wanted a receipt that receipt page would not go away.  After pressing the give me a receipt button numerous times over a minute that page  finally went away and a  receipt hit my email inbox within a few seconds.  Now the Elexa app was back at the home screen....apparently now happy....but still operating very slowly....but ready to start a new charging session if desired.  And the payment history showed the payment. 

 

As mentioned when coming back to the charger for the second try planning to press the "Skip" e-KYC button I was "not" challenged with having to complete  e-KYC verification.   But when checking my Profile the "e-KYC" icon was still there in needing to complete the verification.   OK, the wife calls...she is now ready to head back to Bangkok...I go pick her up and we get back home about an hour later.  

 

It's around 3pm.  I check the app and it still shows the "e-KYC" icon.  I decide to try the verification process one more time but this time outside in the daylight.   I scan that paper copy of my passport again and try the face scan again....face scan fails.....I now move to where I'm standing against the wall of my house which is kinda a tan-brown color....attempt another face scan...the face scan fails.  Ok, one more scan allowed before it would make me try again from scratch.  But on this final 3rd face scan still standing again the wall it "seems" to accept/pass the test by flashing a green line around my face but absolutely no words saying Passed, Good Face Scan, Success, etc.   

 

I now go to my Profile area and that "e-KYC" icon is gone and has been replaced with an icon showing a head & shoulders with a green check mark as shown below.   Apparently after numerous attempts over several days I finally passed their "e-KYC" verificaiton....my identity has now been verified....I'm no longer a national security threat to Elexa.  😜

 

So, my recommendations is check the Profile area in your Elexa app to see if you have the "e-KYC" icon showing.  If so and can't pass the face scan verification then try the instructions Elexa Customer Service sent to me....maybe when trying to charge and that "e-KYC" screen pops up there will be a Skip button some where that I just didn't see.  Also maybe just email in the docs for verification per their instructions above.   And if the face scan can't be passed under good light indoors with a solid background color behind you then give it a try outside in the daylight like I did this afternoon.  As mentioned before I'm using a high Samsung S24+ phone with great cameras but even great cameras will not help if the Face Scan verification needs "just right" lightning and a certain background..   Good luck and hope this long winded post didn't hurt your brain too much.  😁

 

Signed

Elexa e-KYC Verified Pib

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bandersnatch]

4 hours ago, KhunLA said:

I peeked at Gmap, and both routes have plenty of CSs.  You can almost, probably make without charging, especially if 580 is WLTP range, as it's only 460 kms (using hwy # 539), although about 7 hrs

 

Yes, you're right I can drive from Surin to BKK without stopping to charge, but will have to on the return.

 

I really wanted to treat it as a road trip and test out the apps, booking a charger, planning the route etc. 

[Andrew Dwyer]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

OK now!!!!...now you are just exaggerating to the extreme (doing a Donald Trump) or you are so "hansum" Elexa just can't believe your face scan.  50 face scans would have required 17 complete verification attempts where your passport/Thai ID is also scanned along with typing in some info.    But I do understand what you meant as I feel like I've done 50 face scans over the last few days in trying to pass the "e-KYC" verification.    😜😉

 

And guess what, I did finally pass the "e-KYC" verification this afternoon.  Here's my detailed (long winded) story in using Elexa for a short charging session for a few kilowatts/a few minutes just to do a periodic test to ensure I can still use the app, see what changes might have occurred, etc. The last time I used Elexa for a quickie test was Dec 2023.  And then finally passing the verification.

 

The wife and I go visit her Mom in Nakorn Pathom  province...a weekly visit...around 60km from our Bangkok home.  I drop her off at Mom's house while I go off to visit the Global House hardware store and do a couple of quick/short charging tests at PEA and Elexa chargers.  Quite a few chargers from various charging network pretty close to Mom's house to include PTT, EA Anywhere, ReverSharger, Elexa, etc...etc...etc.  

 

Arrive the PEA charger...do a quick test for a couple of kilowatts....works like a charm...charger QR code scanning to start or stop no problem....pay balance I have in my wallet.  Easy....successful...no drama.  

 

Now I move on to a 180KW Elexa charger about a kilometer away at PT station I think it was.  Now the drama starts.   I start using the Elexa app which is operating very slowly like taking 30 seconds just to log on compared to other charging apps that only take a second or two....or when the Elexa app seems to be working normally.   After getting logged on just movement between menus/tasks is just slow...too slow...slow communications to its cloud server probably the problem....and probably the charger communicating with the cloud.   But for the last week or so it has just been very slow even when playing with it at home on high speed Wifi or 5G mobile connection...painfully slow.  When playing with it home that is when I noticed that "e-KYC" alert icon which I don't remember seeing before.  Maybe that icon has been there from the get-go of signing up over a year ago.  I just not sure how long it's been there.    

 

OK, I scan the charger's QR code, the charger connects to my EV, but when pressing the Start Charging icon a "e-KYC" screen pops up saying I need to complete e-KYC verification first...and I couldn't get past the e-KYC screen...it was either complete the verification or go-away.

 

OK, although I had tried to complete the e-KYC verification the previous day numerous times at home using my actual passport where the app first takes picture of your passport page or Thai ID front side which then causes a menu to pop-up containing "most" of the scanned info but you still need to manually enter your birthdate and passport expiration date if the scan didn't pick that up.  After entering or correcting the scanned info you press continue and now it's time for the face san to attempt to match that to the picture on your passport main page (or Thai ID if Thai national).    Now I did not have my passport with me but I did use a high quality paper copy of my main passport page and current visa in my wallet just in case I ever get stopped and need to produce my passport.

 

You are given 3 attempts to get your face to match the photo....after 3 attempts it basically says Sorry Dude the face scan process has failed....try again.  And when it says Try Again that means repeat the whole verification process from scratch. That is, taking another scan of your passport, enter/correct any necessary info from the passport scan, and then try the face scan process again.  Well, it failed again.   I try the whole process a third time with no success.....a total 3 attempts consisting of 9 failed face scans....got no joy...no success.  But this time I think I pressed Help and another screen pops up giving a phone number, a LINE address, and an email address to Elexa Customer Service if having verification problems..  

 

I try calling the customer support number....end-up hearing an interactive system in Thai except at the end it says press 9 for English which I do. . A few seconds later I'm now listening to a recording saying they will be with me soon and I'm number 1 in the queue.  But after listening to elevator music for at least 5 minutes no one ever answered.  I hung-up and tried again with same results....always number 1 in the queue, but after at least 5 minutes of waiting still no human answers.  I hang-up.

 

I then send a message to their LINE address explaining my problem figuring I'd probably never get a response.   The Global House hardware store is nearby so I go there to look around....I just love looking at stuff in hardware stores.  After coming out of store about an 30 minutes later I check LINE and see I have a response from Elexa that is quoted below:

 

QUOTE:

Here are the steps for charging when identity verification is unsuccessful:

 

1. Close the application, clear application, and reopen it.

 

2. When the "Verify Identity" pop-up appears, click "Skip" on the left-side select box.

 

3. Start charging by scanning the QR code or entering the 9-digit number of the charger.

 

4. You can send all related documents to the officer via Line or Email (Email address removed for approval) for verification:

     - Copy of Passport

     - Face Picture

     - Registered Email

 

We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your cooperation.

END QUOTE

 

OK, I decide to go back to the Elexa charger to give it another try....more than happy to press any Skip icon, but I was pretty sure I was never offered the "Skip" selection when the e-KYC verification message popped-up before....I am pretty sure the only a Continue button was offered.    Anyway, I clear the app, I get back to the charger, plug in, press start to start the charging process and this time "no e-KYC" screen (a.k.a., roadblock) pops up...charging starts.    I charge for a few kilowatts/a few minutes, press stop charging and scan the QR code to stop the charging and it takes over a minute before the charging actually stops and a Payment menu pops up.  That "over 1 minute" felt like over 10 minutes.  

 

Anyway, I see I'm being offered 4 payment methods....1 via the card I had loaded, a 2nd via QR payment, and two more methods if I had certain wallets like True Money or something.  On my first use of Elexa around a year ago I was only offered the 1 payment method of the card I had loaded and no e-KYC challenge (roadblock).    I scanned/saved the QR, went to my Thai bank app to complete the payment, and had no problem in my Thai bank app sending the payment...a quick & easy payment using the bank app.   I now switch back to the Elexa app expecting to see they received the QR payment...all is good---but, No that didn't happen.  

 

The Elexa app just seemed to be stuck on that Payment page....like it was waiting to receive payment...and I couldn't get out of that Payment page.  But after repeated tries to get out of that page I somehow got the whole app to close.  I opened it again and instead of being taken to the app's home page it would always go right to the Payment page like it had not been paid yet and the app was not going to let me do anything else until it received payment.   Somehow I got out of the app again...cleared the app's Cache again...went back into the app around two more times....still taken right to and stuck on the Payment page.   I decide to just close the app for around 10 minutes hoping it's just slow in recognizing it been paid. 

 

Then after that 10 minutes and going back into the app I was taken directly to a page regarding "did I want a receipt?"  OK, maybe a little progress has now been made.   This indicated to me Elexa was now agreeing it had received payment.  But until I answered if wanted a receipt that receipt page would not go away.  After pressing the give me a receipt button numerous times over a minute that page  finally went away and a  receipt hit my email inbox within a few seconds.  Now the Elexa app was back at the home screen....apparently now happy....but still operating very slowly....but ready to start a new charging session if desired.  And the payment history showed the payment. 

 

As mentioned when coming back to the charger for the second try planning to press the "Skip" e-KYC button I was "not" challenged with having to complete  e-KYC verification.   But when checking my Profile the "e-KYC" icon was still there in needing to complete the verification.   OK, the wife calls...she is now ready to head back to Bangkok...I go pick her up and we get back home about an hour later.  

 

It's around 3pm.  I check the app and it still shows the "e-KYC" icon.  I decide to try the verification process one more time but this time outside in the daylight.   I scan that paper copy of my passport again and try the face scan again....face scan fails.....I now move to where I'm standing against the wall of my house which is kinda a tan-brown color....attempt another face scan...the face scan fails.  Ok, one more scan allowed before it would make me try again from scratch.  But on this final 3rd face scan still standing again the wall it "seems" to accept/pass the test by flashing a green line around my face but absolutely no words saying Passed, Good Face Scan, Success, etc.   

 

I now go to my Profile area and that "e-KYC" icon is gone and has been replaced with an icon showing a head & shoulders with a green check mark as shown below.   Apparently after numerous attempts over several days I finally passed their "e-KYC" verificaiton....my identity has now been verified....I'm no longer a national security threat to Elexa.  😜

 

So, my recommendations is check the Profile area in your Elexa app to see if you have the "e-KYC" icon showing.  If so and can't pass the face scan verification then try the instructions Elexa Customer Service sent to me....maybe when trying to charge and that "e-KYC" screen pops up there will be a Skip button some where that I just didn't see.  Also maybe just email in the docs for verification per their instructions above.   And if the face scan can't be passed under good light indoors with a solid background color behind you then give it a try outside in the daylight like I did this afternoon.  As mentioned before I'm using a high Samsung S24+ phone with great cameras but even great cameras will not help if the Face Scan verification needs "just right" lightning and a certain background..   Good luck and hope this long winded post didn't hurt your brain too much.  😁

 

Signed

Elexa e-KYC Verified Pib

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for that, I don’t mind a long winded post but am sure others will skip it !.

 

Seriously it did let me try continuously to take a selfie 50 times, each time it did reject it as my face didn’t match my passport photo !, on occasion I got the green circle round the photo and a faint glimmer of hope but was not to be.

 

Just went back to the app to start the process again and passed the passport page, the information page popped up with my passport number already in but the other info a little off.

1st time it says i have a Thai id card with 8 digits made up of my birthday, the 2nd time it has 28 digits and made up of my birth date/passport number/expiration date !!

All very strange !!

 

Then the selfie, gives me 3 tries ( unsuccessful attempts ) then goes to the page that has phone number/LINE/email which says at the bottom “ try again “ pressing this takes me back to the selfie page and round we go ( hence the 50 tries !).

Never saw a “ skip “ option .

 

Will try again tomorrow in daylight as light was fading here.

 

Tbh, probably don’t need Elexa but now you mentioned 180 kWh chargers i would like to give that a go, my RWD Seal supposedly can charge at 150 kWh contrary to the charging curve on EVKX site.( so far have only used 120 kWh.

 

It is definitely one of the buggiest and more intrusive app so far though !!