Probably done to death - Charge point cards/apps
Discussion
It's looking likely that there's an EV in my near future and I wondered if there was an app or charge card that groups all/most of the various different charging point companies together. Any suggestions? Last time I had an EV for a short while I ended up with 101 different apps set up to enable me to charge the car.
Any suggestions?
Any suggestions?
Depends on the car and whether it has its own preferred app or charging sites it prefers.
I have a Polestar 2 and have the Polestar Charge, Electroverse, Tesla, Gridserve and Ionity apps. I pay the Tesla subscription and try and stick to superchargers where I can because it is roughly half the price of most other fast chargers. After that it's probably the Gridserve or Ionity, they are slightly cheaper if you use their own app, with the Electroverse and Polestar picking up the oddballs.
I have a Polestar 2 and have the Polestar Charge, Electroverse, Tesla, Gridserve and Ionity apps. I pay the Tesla subscription and try and stick to superchargers where I can because it is roughly half the price of most other fast chargers. After that it's probably the Gridserve or Ionity, they are slightly cheaper if you use their own app, with the Electroverse and Polestar picking up the oddballs.
LeeM135i said:
Depends on the car and whether it has its own preferred app or charging sites it prefers.
I have a Polestar 2 and have the Polestar Charge, Electroverse, Tesla, Gridserve and Ionity apps. I pay the Tesla subscription and try and stick to superchargers where I can because it is roughly half the price of most other fast chargers. After that it's probably the Gridserve or Ionity, they are slightly cheaper if you use their own app, with the Electroverse and Polestar picking up the oddballs.
That's the question I can't answer at the moment as it depends on what's available when I start my new role. Do the above come with discounts (as per Tesla) or benefits as opposed to just paying contactless?I have a Polestar 2 and have the Polestar Charge, Electroverse, Tesla, Gridserve and Ionity apps. I pay the Tesla subscription and try and stick to superchargers where I can because it is roughly half the price of most other fast chargers. After that it's probably the Gridserve or Ionity, they are slightly cheaper if you use their own app, with the Electroverse and Polestar picking up the oddballs.
Fast Bug said:
LeeM135i said:
Depends on the car and whether it has its own preferred app or charging sites it prefers.
I have a Polestar 2 and have the Polestar Charge, Electroverse, Tesla, Gridserve and Ionity apps. I pay the Tesla subscription and try and stick to superchargers where I can because it is roughly half the price of most other fast chargers. After that it's probably the Gridserve or Ionity, they are slightly cheaper if you use their own app, with the Electroverse and Polestar picking up the oddballs.
That's the question I can't answer at the moment as it depends on what's available when I start my new role. Do the above come with discounts (as per Tesla) or benefits as opposed to just paying contactless?I have a Polestar 2 and have the Polestar Charge, Electroverse, Tesla, Gridserve and Ionity apps. I pay the Tesla subscription and try and stick to superchargers where I can because it is roughly half the price of most other fast chargers. After that it's probably the Gridserve or Ionity, they are slightly cheaper if you use their own app, with the Electroverse and Polestar picking up the oddballs.
Tesla and Ionity offer a discount if you pay a subscription, the Tesla discount is around 12p a kWh for a monthly £8.99 fee so if I use it a couple of times a month it makes it cheaper. I currently use it a couple of times a week so save a good chunk of cash it just depends on whether you need to charge on the road and whose chargers are along your routes.
Gridserve offer a discount if you pay using their app but they are still expensive.
Electroverse have an occasional extra discount, if there's extra electricity around but its always at odd times which don't really work for me.
You are probably best waiting until the car turns up, then figure out which ones you will actually need.
It is all well and good when people say just tap and go, but if you need a receipt, using an app is much easier.
After a quick add-up on my phone, I now have over 36 apps, including cars, parking, and charging.
That said, I've only used three charging apps in the last 12 months: Tesla, Charge Place Scotland, and ChargePoint.
Be careful with apps like Electroverse; it is often much more expensive than going direct.
It is all well and good when people say just tap and go, but if you need a receipt, using an app is much easier.
After a quick add-up on my phone, I now have over 36 apps, including cars, parking, and charging.
That said, I've only used three charging apps in the last 12 months: Tesla, Charge Place Scotland, and ChargePoint.
Be careful with apps like Electroverse; it is often much more expensive than going direct.
If my recent experience is anything to go by, Tesla are bloomin good value anyway without any apps and just contactless. 48p/kWh mid sat afternoon seemed very fair to me. I don’t know if it’s cheaper still if I had a Tesla and a subscription, but for the very occasional time I need to public charge that seemed plenty good enough.
Thanks all, some good info 
Tempted to order the Polestar 2 rather than any of the PHEV options on my list. If I use the Tesla subscription, does that open up all Tesla superchargers? I've read that not all Tesla charging points are open to non-Tesla cars, and annoyingly the ones near me don't seem to be on the open charger list I've seen.
Tempted to order the Polestar 2 rather than any of the PHEV options on my list. If I use the Tesla subscription, does that open up all Tesla superchargers? I've read that not all Tesla charging points are open to non-Tesla cars, and annoyingly the ones near me don't seem to be on the open charger list I've seen.
Fast Bug said:
If I use the Tesla subscription, does that open up all Tesla superchargers? I've read that not all Tesla charging points are open to non-Tesla cars, and annoyingly the ones near me don't seem to be on the open charger list I've seen.
No. You just pay the same price as a Tesla driver.Why would you need to use the close to your home?
If you can’t charge at home, don’t get an EV.
TheRainMaker said:
No. You just pay the same price as a Tesla driver.
Why would you need to use the close to your home?
If you can’t charge at home, don’t get an EV.
I'm waiting to hear back when a home charger can be fitted, so there may be an overlap between starting the job and being able to charge from home.Why would you need to use the close to your home?
If you can’t charge at home, don’t get an EV.
Fast Bug said:
I'm waiting to hear back when a home charger can be fitted, so there may be an overlap between starting the job and being able to charge from home.
Can’t you just use a granny charger for the interim? It will depend on your usage of course, but most drivers can cope with the speed a granny charger can top you up overnight.Assuming your home charging it's a no brainer to go with octopus as your energy supplier, and then their electroverse card works with nearly all rapid chargers you'd likely want to use, typically gives a small discount and bills the charge direct to you home energy account.
That's literally all I use, I don't have any apps - just the electroverse card to tap to start the charge. If you find a charger that doesn't accept it (rare) just tap any payment card - all new rapid chargers have been required to accept appless payment for years now.
If you intend to use public chargers often the Tesla app and account makes sense as it's cheaper, but if you're only going to occasionally use public chargers, just use whichever is most convenient and pay as if you were paying for petrol with any card you have on you
It's interesting that the media have banged on about 'confusing charging apps' for so long now that people new to EV still worry about it despite the fact there's literally no requirement to use an app! Not unless you find some ancient old slow charger without tap to pay at least.
That's literally all I use, I don't have any apps - just the electroverse card to tap to start the charge. If you find a charger that doesn't accept it (rare) just tap any payment card - all new rapid chargers have been required to accept appless payment for years now.
If you intend to use public chargers often the Tesla app and account makes sense as it's cheaper, but if you're only going to occasionally use public chargers, just use whichever is most convenient and pay as if you were paying for petrol with any card you have on you
It's interesting that the media have banged on about 'confusing charging apps' for so long now that people new to EV still worry about it despite the fact there's literally no requirement to use an app! Not unless you find some ancient old slow charger without tap to pay at least.
10 years a full EV driver, I’ve had multiple cards and apps over the years but now I’m down to
- my contactless credit card
- in Scotland, charge place Scotland
- for historical reasons I still have a Tesla app and occasionally use those chargers
It’s just not worth the hassle of others unless you’re a road warrior
- my contactless credit card
- in Scotland, charge place Scotland
- for historical reasons I still have a Tesla app and occasionally use those chargers
It’s just not worth the hassle of others unless you’re a road warrior
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