Charge Card Advice Pls...

[Knarf]

Greetings. My first post. I had one of the original Gen1 22kw EV's a decade ago, but a lack of public infrastructure (and an unreliable onboard charger) made it practically impossible to use. Long story short, I ended up back in an ICE.

Accordingly everything I know about public charging is ten years out of date (think Ecotricity free chargers!)

So what cards or app's should I be arming myself with?

I will be picking up my MG5 from Bucks and driving it back to Cornwall on the M25, M3, A303, and A30.

 

[5teep]

Most newer chargers now take contactless so that's an improvement. If you're not sure where you'll be travelling I'd start with signing up to podpoint so you can use the chargers in Tesco car parks. After that see what is near where you travel.
Of course get yourself a home charger if you can, then there's a good chance you'll rarely need to use a public one.

 

[Jomarkh]

If are an Octopus customer then check out the Electroverse app.
Zap-map is useful to findi chargers as you can use the filter for9 certain operators.

 

[Knarf]

Thanks. Sadly I'm not with octopus, and I'm not sure there are many Tesco chargers on the route which I've described in my original post.

Just really wanted advice on charging on that route. Luton, M25, M3 to Basingstoke, A303/A30 down into Cornwall.

Is just carrying a debit Master/Visa card sufficient?

 

[Gomev]

If are an Octopus customer then check out the Electroverse app.
Zap-map is useful to findi chargers as you can use the filter for9 certain operators.

Thanks. Sadly I'm not with octopus, and I'm not sure there are many Tesco chargers on the route which I've described in my original post.

Just really wanted advice on charging on that route. Luton, M25, M3 to Basingstoke, A303/A30 down into Cornwall.

Is just carrying a debit Master/Visa card sufficient?

You don't need to be an Octopus customer to have an Electroverse card (free). You just add a payment card to it.

 

[GaryMG4]

Thanks. Sadly I'm not with octopus, and I'm not sure there are many Tesco chargers on the route which I've described in my original post.

Just really wanted advice on charging on that route. Luton, M25, M3 to Basingstoke, A303/A30 down into Cornwall.

Is just carrying a debit Master/Visa card sufficient?

Try planning a route on ABRP or use ZapMap to check out the chargers, it will tell you if contactless will work, if there are open Tesla chargers on your route its worth having their app so you can use them.

 

[Grriff]

It's not cards you need necessarily, except the Electroverse card is useful, but apps. The Tesla app is useful to use their chargers where available for all (as noted above), the Fastned app can be used to set up automatic charging when you plug in, the Believ app is useful for their London street chargers and the ABRP map seems to show most chargers. You can set up payment details on some of these apps which may be more reliable than contactless. Not all map apps seem to show all chargers. Google maps is good, set to search on EV chargers but make sure you tap 'Search this area'.

 

[dragon2611]

Electroverse and Elli (free tier is fine) is worth having.

The Elli card will often start the BP pulse A/C chargers you sometimes find in various car parks. (If the chargers are actually working that is)

 

[EVsince2016]

Thanks. Sadly I'm not with octopus, and I'm not sure there are many Tesco chargers on the route which I've described in my original post.

Just really wanted advice on charging on that route. Luton, M25, M3 to Basingstoke, A303/A30 down into Cornwall.

Is just carrying a debit Master/Visa card sufficient?

You need to switch to Octopus for the best EV leccy rates.

You need the Electroverse card, no need to be with Octopus for many chargers.

Visa card covers Gridserve / Instavolt & others.

Pod-point / Tesla need apps

 

[slmorgan42]

My thoughts as someone who relies 100% on public charging there is no one simple go to payment method for price.

Unfortunately for the same charger you will pay quite different amounts depending on what method you choose. It’s a pain but I check ones a month to make sure I using the right payment method to get the best price for my local charger.

E.g. right now the lamppost charger near me is 46p/kw via Credit Card or 93p/kw via Bonnet. Bonnet used to be 40. For reference ElectroVerse is 46p/kw

That said I have narrowed my normal go to options as ElectroVerse (Octopus), OVO (formally bonnet), and Credit Card Contactless.

Also never use debit card as the hold amounts can take a while to get removed. So I always use the credit card which means by the time the bill is due they have cleared.