Do you agree with these charger operator rankings?

[gnutrino]

My favourite charger is a 7.4 kW Podpoint at a local nature reserve, 3 hours wandering around enjoying nature, 20kWh added for £5, bargain.

Alright for some, my local 7kW Podpoints are 62p/kWh (!) - presumably looking to tap into the famously lavish Yorkshire spending habits. Funnily enough they're very rarely in use.

Thankfully I have a drive and am able to charge at home without bankrupting myself.

 

[GaryMG4]

I’ve just plugged in to a Podpoint at Tesco South Queensferry. I’ve ordered a bite to eat and a coffee then get some supplies.

Until recently our local Sainsbury's had 4x free Podpoints, cost me way more than if id charged at home, by the time I'd 'got a few bits', grabbed a coffee in the cafe or worst of all decided to have an all day breakfast, to make the most of my 'free' charge!

 

[Archev]

Until recently our local Sainsbury's had 4x free Podpoints, cost me way more than if id charged at home, by the time I'd 'got a few bits', grabbed a coffee in the cafe or worst of all decided to have an all day breakfast, to make the most of my 'free' charge!

Used to be free here too but that was in the olden days ?

 

[GaryMG4]

Alright for some, my local 7kW Podpoints are 62p/kwh (!) - presumably looking to tap into the famously lavish Yorkshire spending habits. Funnily enough they're very rarely in use.

Thankfully I have a drive and am able to charge at home without bankrupting myself.

Yes 25p is an outlier, other podpoints around here are Curry's 40p/3kW, Tescos 44,49,62p for 7/22/50 kW. Like you I very rarely use public charging, I have enough range to cover my longest day trip, even in winter.

 

[Rolfe]

I’ve just plugged in to a Podpoint at Tesco South Queensferry. I’ve ordered a bite to eat and a coffee then get some supplies.

Point of nitpick. It's Queensferry. You don't talk about "South Berwick" do you?

 

[Archev]

Point of nitpick. It's Queensferry. You don't talk about "South Berwick" do you?

What about North Queensferry ? - I still think of the ferry slips either side of the river?

 

[Rolfe]

Yes, North Queensferry and Queensferry. Like North Berwick and Berwick.

 

[Archev]

Yes, North Queensferry and Queensferry. Like North Berwick and Berwick.

Nah ?

 

[tsedge]

Do Podpoint mainly do destination fast chargers or do they have rapid DC ones too? I have only really seen them in supermarkets down here.

 

[Archev]

Do Podpoint mainly do destination fast chargers or do they have rapid DC ones too? I have only really seen them in supermarkets down here.

Podpoint have both ac and dc at Tescos in Dundee and Oban

 

[Gadget Geek]

Do Podpoint mainly do destination fast chargers or do they have rapid DC ones too? I have only really seen them in supermarkets down here.

50kW chargers at various Lidl stores. Activate with the app, and a reasonable price (well it was when I last used one).

 

[Rolfe]

Nah ?

Yaaaasssss......

 

[Archev]

What do these cartographers know though ?
Just try going for a sail on the Forth, to Inch Garvie Island, under the bridges etc - the “Maid of the Forth” boat sails from South Queensferry, it says so in their adverts. ??

 

[Rolfe]

Well, you're not the only misled person around, you know.

 

[Drakon]

Good point. Tesla is conspicuously absent too.


By the way, apparently Chargeplace Scotland was top for customer support and price but not overall.

I believe Tesla is absent due to not all of their network being open to non-Tesla vehicles

 

[Tonych]

This isn't new, but I was looking at the last set of Zapmap charger provider rankings from November 2023 and wondering if these rankings reflects your experiences?

Zapmap unveils the best rated en-route charging networks in the UK - Zapmap

Find the most recent network rankings here: Best EV charging networks UK 2025: Zapmap driver satisfaction rankings revealed.Zapmap, the UK’s leading charge...

www.zap-map.com

Zapmap reveals the best rated en-route charging networks in the UK

Zapmap, the UK’s leading charge point mapping service, has released its annual satisfaction rankings for high-powered, ‘en-route’ public charging networks in the UK with Fastned coming in first place. Now in its sixth year, the league table derives from Zapmap’s annual EV charging survey...

electriccarsreport.com

For my part, I have yet to find a FastNed charger near me but I can say that both MFG and Osprey (whom I have used a lot) just work and are very simple to use. (But not the cheapest, clearly).

What are your experiences?

My ranking would be very different, but based on availability/frequency used, whether they work, and customer service. I've never even heard of Fastned let alone had a chance to use one. Last would be Geniepoint based on the fact that every single time I have tried to use them over the last 2 years they have been out of order or seemed to be working and then failed to start

1. MFG - I now actively look for these as there are more and more of them, they work and customer support has been good

2. Shell - again more of them but they are not reliable. There are 2 Shell charging sites near me - one never appeared on Zap map, was flaky when it opened a year ago and is now completely dead. The other was one charger so always in use, even at 1am - and was taken out and now 12 months later it seems Shell are building multiple chargers

3. Gridserve - work, more of them, but not enough as I often have to queue

4. Ionity - used to be higher for me but failure rate has worsened and cost has always been high

 

[Rolfe]

MFG seem to be putting shelter over all their new chargers as standard. I think that is a huge plus. Of course Fastned do too as far as I can see.

 

[Drakon]

My first experience with Fastned was pretty poor, the charger didn’t have any identification on it so Electroverse was the only option. Not great when I was trying to setup plug & charge which requires their app and to know which charger I’m at.

 

[Rolfe]

I got on OK setting up Fastned although I remember it was pretty dark and I had difficulty seeing the numbers on the chargers.

 

[Davn]

It will be interesting to see if the prices come down in April ?