First public charging - nervous?

[Pebble]

In June, I'll need to make a return journey of 350 miles (without the wife as a passenger) but have never needed to use public chargers on shorter sub 200 mile trips. TBH, I'm bricking it.
I know I shouldn't worry but having never done it before, it's the unknown that gets me. Zap Map has helped me somewhat, having set filters for fast (>50kW) chargers., so at least I have some options on the way back.
You've all been there before, so what was it like the first time you used a public charger and should I be concerned?

 

[Gadget Geek]

My best advice is; go and do a test charge at a local charger to get the hang of it. If you post your route, I'm sure you'll get lots of options from poeples favourite charging sites. Don't forget to set the filter for contactless payments, or you might have to order RFID fobs and register for apps.

Edit: Also, try A Better Route Planner to plan your route.

 

[Jomarkh]

Before my first weekend trip away I checked apps of Instavolt and Osprey for sites that I hoped to stop at to see if they were busy at roughly the times that I would be there. One Macdonalds was always busy so I picked a different one with more rapids.
Just have a plan A and B.

 

[smokie]

Just have a plan A and B.

This.

 

[tsedge]

Yes and plan to charge well before you get low so that you can reach alternative chargers easily and without stress.

 

[EVsince2016]

Expect problems, then you will be mildly surprised that it's easier than you thought.

Avoid BP pulse & Genie (useless), careful with Gridserve / Ionity (very popular) look for Intsavolt, MFG, Osprey excellent.

 

[Brianlescargot]

I do a 650 miles round trip regularly between Motherwell and Cheltenham and have no issues charging. The more often you do it the easier it gets as you will know exactly where are the best places to charge.

Expect problems, then you will be mildly surprised that it's easier than you thought.

Avoid BP pulse & Genie (useless), careful with Gridserve / Ionity (very popular) look for Intsavolt, MFG, Osprey excellent.

I am now on an Elli charging (Powerpass) subscription and use BP Pulse regularly and have yet never failed to get a charge. Both they and Osprey are only 35p per kw and Ionity 29p. GeniePoint are now extortionate (98p) so I wouldn’t touch them ever.

 

[Jonoffun]

In June, I'll need to make a return journey of 350 miles (without the wife as a passenger) but have never needed to use public chargers on shorter sub 200 mile trips. TBH, I'm bricking it.
I know I shouldn't worry but having never done it before, it's the unknown that gets me. Zap Map has helped me somewhat, having set filters for fast (>50kW) chargers., so at least I have some options on the way back.
You've all been there before, so what was it like the first time you used a public charger and should I be concerned?

Same issue, sadly the stress for me is not worth the pleasure of using the car, so using the Prius instead. Already suffered from a journey where I only just got home with 1% battery left, at 19mph top speed with a queue of cars behind me!

Same issue, sadly the stress for me is not worth the pleasure of using the car, so using the Prius instead. Already suffered from a journey where I only just got home with 1% battery left, at 19mph top speed with a queue of cars behind me!

That last 2 miles is not available

 

[Radders]

Same issue, sadly the stress for me is not worth the pleasure of using the car, so using the Prius instead. Already suffered from a journey where I only just got home with 1% battery left, at 19mph top speed with a queue of cars behind me!

Sorry jonof, bad planning, I rarely have to use public charging and I do 18k a year, (say 5 times in 20mths) but would never risk the flat bed of shame. give it a go, I'm sure you'll mess up but gets easier 2nd time onwards

 

[Scoobydoo]

I do a 650 miles round trip regularly between Motherwell and Cheltenham and have no issues charging. The more often you do it the easier it gets as you will know exactly where are the best places to charge.

Hi Brian, have you had any issues with chargeplace Scotland fast chargers? Only the 7kw or less work for mine. I've used faster chargers with Genie and Evolt.

 

[rob g]

Same issue, sadly the stress for me is not worth the pleasure of using the car, so using the Prius instead. Already suffered from a journey where I only just got home with 1% battery left, at 19mph top speed with a queue of cars behind me!

I would look around for a quiet charger that is contactless nip in and have a quick go just a couple of quids worth if you can connect your home charger its no worse its got to be less stressful than driving at 1% ! .

 

[Shrink Proof]

Hi Brian, have you had any issues with chargeplace Scotland fast chargers? Only the 7kw or less work for mine. I've used faster chargers with Genie and Evolt.

Something sounds amiss there. I've used Chargeplace Scotland chargers at 7kW and above everywhere from the Borders to Shetland and from Aberdeen to Oban with only a couple of problems - once a 7kW machine, once a rapid charger. The speed of the chargers hasn't been a factor for me, in fact generally I've found CPS OK.

 

[Jonoffun]

Sorry jonof, bad planning, I rarely have to use public charging and I do 18k a year, (say 5 times in 20mths) but would never risk the flat bed of shame. give it a go, I'm sure you'll mess up but gets easier 2nd time onwards

Yes - it has to be conquered. My problem was 2 non-working chargers and one phantom one that did not exist - then I just had to get home without any further diversions. The journey was 68 miles home from there and the car had 60 available - so it was 40mph home and we made in spite of the 2miles of non-existent range. I really want to use the car for longer journeys. If you know a good planning app - I also use Zapmap and I want to see 4 or 5 recommended charging points at each stop - not one. Also the Tesla chargers are coming online.

 

[Robf]

Yes - it has to be conquered. My problem was 2 non-working chargers and one phantom one that did not exist - then I just had to get home without any further diversions. The journey was 68 miles home from there and the car had 60 available - so it was 40mph home and we made in spite of the 2miles of non-existent range. I really want to use the car for longer journeys. If you know a good planning app - I also use Zapmap and I want to see 4 or 5 recommended charging points at each stop - not one. Also the Tesla chargers are coming online.

Best planning app.. Electroverse (Octopus, download and test it). Next ABRP

 

[Gadget Geek]

I tend to use Google maps to get the best route, miles, etc, and click on the "EV Charging" button or use Zap-Map to see where the chargers are, using payment and/or network filters. Lately, A Better Route Planner seems a bit "clunky" to me.

 

[smokie]

I don't do much public charging but agree with you re ABRP. Until recently I used ZapMap but on the last journey I used Electroverse and was quite happy with it.

 

[Gomev]

I use WattsUp to put my journey in and then look at the 'overview'. This lists every Rapid charger along the route within a mile or so of it, and how far along the route it is . It also show how many chargers there are on each site and how many are available/in use/broken/don't know.
Once I've established roughly how far I want to go I just look for a large number within a few miles of each other.
I then use either Google maps or Waze via Android Auto to navigate directly to them.

Here's a couple of screenshots of journey from Leeds going north.

Clicking on a charge site in the route plan gives all the details such as power/cost payment method etc.

The Overview

 

[m senior]

Had a bad experience with Gridserve, their older charger wouldnt connect to the car ( mg5 zs lr ) but fortunately at the next services there where the newer ones and they worked perfectly.

 

[greeiig]

I finished my third big trip in April - down to south of France. I used ABRP live data - via an annoying OBD connector. Few teething issues, but it did help a bit - updated the route to let me know I could drive a bit further to the next charger, which saved time on a 400+ mile journey. It also showed availability on each charger which was really helpful.

Absolutely agree with previous comments - just get familiar with as many different charging providers as you can so you can connect easily. I have a dozen different apps - Chargemap, Ionity, Fastned, Tesla (although can't get Tesla chargers to work) Engie, Liberty Charge and more.
I know the costs can vary a lot, but because I rarely do long trips - when I do I just want convenience and don't worry about the cost. It'd be different if I was regularly doing a long trip.

 

[greeiig]

I use WattsUp to put my journey in and then look at the 'overview'. This lists every Rapid charger along the route within a mile or so of it, and how far along the route it is . It also show how many chargers there are on each site and how many are available/in use/broken/don't know.
Once I've established roughly how far I want to go I just look for a large number within a few miles of each other.
I then use either Google maps or Waze via Android Auto to navigate directly to them.

Here's a couple of screenshots of journey from Leeds going north.

Clicking on a charge site in the route plan gives all the details such as power/cost payment method etc.

Those screenshots look good - I might try that app.
It'd be great if it all worked easier in real time. My ABRP kind of does and I used it instead of Google Maps on my last big trip. I found it pretty good - especially as my wife is no help at all in doing any searches for chargers whilst on route.
ABRP Live connected to my MG5's OBD dongle that I attached, but it kept disconnecting.
I think that's where Tesla has it sorted - all this stuff works easily - we shouldn't have to faff about with different apps and buying dodgy dongles to tell our routeplanner how much battery is left..