Ayala adds more EV charging stations - now with GB/T plugs

If you own a Weltmeister W5, a BYD Dolphin or Tang, and have to top-up a charge, fret not. Ayala has recently rolled out a few more EV chargers in its offices, estates, hotels, and industrial centers in various areas of Luzon. 

And unlike the other mall chain that started the trend, Ayala Malls, Ayala Land, and AC Industrials all had the foresight to include GB/T plugs in their EV charging station set-ups. 

The active locations of Ayala EV charging stations include:

• Baguio Technohub

• Tower 2

• Ayala Triangle Gardens

• Solaris One

• One Ayala Avenue Carousel

• Nuvali

• Vertis North 

• Greenbelt

• Glorietta

• Alabang Town Center

• Trinoma

• Seda BGC

And soon to go online are:

• Laguna Technohub

• Vermosa 

• Circuit Makati

Unfortunately, as we found out firsthand, not all locations have the GB/T plugs just yet. We visited the Glorietta charging station, and the personnel operating the spot said they received the wrong cable and connector. One of the two wall chargers was supposed to have a GB/T plug, but now, both have the Type2 and CCS plugs for European cars.

So we checked out the Ayala EV charging station, which we knew beforehand had the GB/T plug, Greenbelt 3. And true enough, there was a GB/T cable and plug, and it was a perfect fit for the AC charging port at the rear of the Weltmeister W5 test unit. Just follow the labels on the charging plugs - one goes into the charger unit and the other to the vehicle. 

To activate the charging process, one has to download the Place to Plug app, register your email address and vehicle details, and input the location of the charging hub and wall charger unit into the app. If the system were online, it would activate once you press the start charging button in the app and show a battery icon with an electric symbol—all handy-dandy in theory. Unfortunately, the wall charger would not cooperate.

The security head on duty manning the chargers said that the two units have been experiencing errors lately. Quite early considering they've just been there for about a month, right? He said if the wall charger doesn't have a green outline light, then it is offline. The EV owner can then request the guard onsite to activate the charging process with his RFID card. 

So after a bit more tinkering with the now-naked wall charger using an RFID card, the system finally showed moving voltage numbers. The tech support personnel who our guard on duty called said that if the numbers are constantly changing, the vehicle should be charging. 

But upon checking the Weltmeister W5's front logo bars, which blink when the batteries are charging, they were all off. And the status display inside the car only showed 79%, with no other indication of whether it was charging, at what rate, or how much the time remaining to full. These are part of the charging information displayed when the car is plugged in, and the information was incomplete.

Whether there was a communication issue between the charger and the W5 is unknown. And it would probably take tech support personnel from both products to sort it out. Hopefully, as Ayala Land continues to roll out the charging stations, they can guarantee their availability, compatibility, and ease of use. 

One day, an EV owner will depend on these chargers to reach their destination. And like a guy with a bum stomach looking for a bidet-equipped restroom, nothing's worse than discovering the toilet won't even flush.