FAQ’s

There are two ways to create an OpenLoop Account. You can do this through the customer portal on the website (by clicking the ”Sign-up” button), or you can sign up within the OpenLoop app.

If you’re using the mobile app:
Step 1: Plug-in your car into the EV Charger
Step 2: Scan QR code at the EV Charger in the OpenLoop mobile app
Step 3: Select the connector you’d like to use for the charging session
Step 4: Hit “Start Charging”

If you’re using the RFID Tag:
Step 1: Plug-in your car into the EV Charger
Step 2: Tag onto the EV Charger

There are multiple ways to stop a charging session, the most common one is to stop charging by pressing the “stop” button on the charger unit, if there’s one.

However, if you started the charging session using the RFID tag, you could also stop charging using the RFID tag or mobile app, in addition to pressing “stop” on the charger unit.

To stop charging using the RFID Tag:
Step 1: Tag onto the EV Charger
Step 2: Unplug the connector from your car and put it back into the EV Charger

To stop charging using the mobile app:
Step 1: Go into the active charging session in your mobile app
Step 2: Press “Stop Charging”
Step 3: Unplug the connector from your car and put it back into the EV Charger

If you started the charging session using the mobile app, you can either end the session by using the mobile app or by pressing “stop” on the charger unit.

Openloop has  a pay-as-you go payment system which allows our customers to charge their EVs using a saved credit card on their account without needing a minimum balance on their app.

At the moment, this is standard practice across the industry. Given demand for EV chargers is increasing, the per minute charge encourages EV owners to be considerate of other users and charge efficiently. For example, if an EV uses an AC charger (slow charging), then taking 5 hours of a high-powered DC public charger may not be the most considerate option.

A note for EVs with only AC connectors: we are seeing some charge point owners move away from the per minute charge and disable or disconnect their AC charges. Charging options for EV owners with only AC connectors may become more limited over time. We are monitoring this and will update tariffs and connectors in the mobile app as this happens.

Customers considering an EV purchase should carefully consider charging options available and adapt their EV usage to suit.

Charger locations that utilise the OpenLoop platform can be viewed on on the mobile app

If you’re a tourist and looking to charge at an OpenLoop connected EV charging station, we’re here to help. While OpenLoop primarily caters to customers from New Zealand and Australia, we understand that as a tourist from another country you may want to get connected. Here are a few options you can take:

Option 1

Go to our customer portal on www.myaccount.openloop.co.nz and sign-up an account, register a credit card. This can help tourists unable to access the app store in New Zealand.

From here you can either

1.  Call our OpenLoop Support Helpdesk on 0800 OPENLOOP and they will be able to remote start a session for you using your Openloop account. Please be advised the credit card loaded onto your Openloop account will be charged through a remote session.

2.  Register an RFID tag that you may have from your home country by entering in the UUID of tag*. In the customer portal, click on “Charge Tags”, “Activate Tag” and Type in UUID e.g. AABBCCDD and hit “Activate”. You can now use your RFID tag to activate charging stations on OpenLoop.

*you can find your UUID by following the steps in the FAQ titled “I have an RFID tag from another provider, can I use it with your chargers?”

Option 2

Change your app store region from your home country to NZ, please see instructions below for changing your region on IOS and Android.

Apple: https://support.apple.com/en-nz/HT201389

Google: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7431675?hl=en-GB

This will allow you to download OpenLoop from your app store to sign up an account, register a credit card (if you are using a paid charger) and start charging via your mobile app.

Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do here except purchase a Prezzy card or other alternative and use that as your saved credit card. Please see below for the list of credit cards supported by Stripe (our payment gateway provider):

https://stripe.com/docs/payments/cards/supported-card-brands?locale=fr-CA

OpenLoop partners with enterprises such as Counties Energy, and fleet partners such as Custom Fleet to install their chargers and to provide the software used for charging and billing. The chargers are owned by these enterprise partners, and we provide customer support through a call centre for charger users. Please call 0800 OPENLOOP if you need help. If we can’t resolve your issue, we will then contact the relevant enterprise partner before getting back to you.

RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. An OpenLoop RFID tag is a microchipped tag that allows the RFID reader on an OpenLoop charger to communicate with it. Essentially, your RFID tag acts as an identity tag that enables you to start and end charging sessions quickly.

You can order an OpenLoop tag through the customer portal or through the OpenLoop mobile app (click on app- menu item, charge tag, request tag, fill details).

Yes, you can. All we need is your Unique User ID (UUID) of the charge tag; you can enter this during the tag registration process in the mobile app or we can add this for you. Please follow the steps below to enable another RFID tag to be used on the OpenLoop network.
Step 1: Download NFC Tools on Android phone with RFID reader
(if you have an iPhone you will need to find someone with an Android phone or get an RFID reader)
Step 2: Open NFC Tools on Android phone
Step 3: Press “Read”
Step 4: Place RFID Tag on the back of the phone (on RFID reader)
Step 5: Press “…” on “Serial number” attribute and then press “Copy to Clipboard”
Step 6: Go to “Charge Tags” in your OpenLoop mobile app or via the login page on https://www.myaccount.openloop.co.nz/login
Step 7: Press “Activate Charge Tag” > Press “Enter ID” >Long press and paste the tag number here and delete all the “:”’s > Press “Done” or “Enter” on your keyboard

Sometimes due to bad weather or because of damage, the QR code may not scan when you are using the mobile app. If this happens, press the “enter ID” button on your mobile app and type in the OPL ID# for the charger, then press “enter/done” on the keyboard.

No, besides the mobile app for EV users, we also have a web-based customer portal and a web-based admin portal. For customers without smartphones, a web-based customer portal provides online access to services such as new user sign-ups, account management, live updates of sessions, and transaction history. RFID registration and top-ups can still be carried out on the customer web portal. A separate administration portal is available to charge point owners to configure chargers remotely, set charging tariffs, monitor usage, and access data for reporting. Proactive fault alerting is also available via this portal, as is fleet admin, user, and RFID management.

Octopus Energy offers an Add-to-Bill with OpenLoop, if you’re interested in connecting your usage and energy bill, please email charging@octopusenergy.nz. If you already have an OpenLoop account, you will need to contact Octopus energy with your details to pair the account together.

You may need a lead at some of our sites to start a charging session, these are normally provided with the car. If you don’t have one, consider purchasing one from an EV cable supplier or your local EV manufacturer.

Our EV Chargers are electrically well protected and should automatically disconnect if a fault is detected. But if they don’t and it is safe to do so, hit the E-Stop button. Otherwise, please call “111” for fire, ambulance or police. If it is not a dangerous fault, i.e. no one is in danger, please call the 0800 OPENLOOP helpdesk and we can remotely attempt to troubleshoot the EV Charger.

A DC (Direct Current) charging station provides faster charging speeds. Most of OpenLoop’s public charging network has DC Charging stations. These stations can vary between 25kW DC – 300kW DC.
An AC charger relies on the vehicle’s onboard EV charging system to convert power from AC to DC, which is what the vehicle’s battery uses to charge. These EV chargers range from 7kW – 22kW AC.
Please note that if your car’s onboard charging system can only handle 3kW AC, and you plug into a 22kW AC charger, it will only charge at 3kW. This principle also applies to the DC chargers also.

If you arrive at a charging station and the screen displays E-Stop or “Out of Order”, this means that the previous charger user had depressed the red emergency stop button to end their charging session. This means that the charger is offline. To bring it back online so that you can start your charging sessions, “twist the red button” right to unlock it. It can take up to 5 mins for the EV Charger to become available on the mobile app again. Once available on the mobile app, you can start charging as normal.
The E-Stop button should only be used in an emergency to stop a charging session or to make the EV Charger unavailable. Pressing the E-Stop button to stop a charging session takes the charger offline, which means other users will not be able to use the charger. Please use the mobile app or RFID tag to stop a charging session.

Yes. Through the administrators’ portal, we provide various levels of reporting on carbon off set-by user, charge point, user fleet or even by individual charging session.

We work with commercial entities that have electric cars in their company fleet. For the employees of these commercial entities, we provide chargers in home locations as part of the connected journey experience. Unfortunately, we do not install chargers for residential customers.