Occasional public charging

[Geoff22]

I'm just getting my first electric car, and I'll mostly charge it at home with a granny charger. We only did 2000 miles a year with our old car, but we may do a tad more with the shiny new one. We may even get away from home and want to charge from a public charger, but I doubt we'll need to do this more than 3 or 4 times a year. Given the low usage, I doubt it's worth paying a membership in order to get a lower price for charging. Or, is it?


So far, I have installed ABRP, Zapmap, and Electroverse. Tesla seem to have some particularly fast chargers. Do I need to pay a membership fee to use those?

So, the question is what is a sensible way to do this?

 

[Jomarkh]

If you do rapid charge so little then just use a credit card and save the hassle.
If you are on IOG then Electroverse will give you a bit of a discount and covers a number of networks.
I got a Tesla subscription for a month while away for two weeks and that paid for itself.
Enjoy your trips.

 

[EvTek23]

In your scenario, you've only mentioned fast DC charging, those that need memberships to attract the best prices. There is also the option of AC charging from various suppliers. This would be in the form of up to 7kW for your MGS5. While these take longer, if you're parked and they are available then maybe consider using these instead.
Pod Point (they also have an app) is the supplier I use. The cost varies but where I go it's 44p/kWh. Most are untethered so you'll need to have a 32A single phase type 2 cable, and there may be restrictions on the length of stay that will limit the amount of charge. Up to 3 hours the maximum where I normally go will give me around 18kWh.

 

[salty]

To the forum. Congrats on your new motor... Enjoy.

 

[TimothyN]

There is also the option of AC charging from various suppliers. This would be in the form of up to 7kW for your MGS5. While these take longer, if you're parked and they are available then maybe consider using these instead.

As a simple example, I am going to CenterParcs shortly and, even with 100% charge, I would get back with <10%, so, for the first time since new, I shall charge overnight at one of the 7kW chargers there, at 59p.

Once in a while, it's fine.

 

[Kenp1]

As a simple example, I am going to CenterParcs shortly and, even with 100% charge, I would get back with <10%, so, for the first time since new, I shall charge overnight at one of the 7kW chargers there, at 59p.

Once in a while, it's fine.

Surely you only need about an hours charge.

 

[TimothyN]

Yes, but my understanding is that I can just set a charge level and there's no loiter charge at that location, as they have so many chargers.

 

[Ian Key]

@Geoff22 welcome to the forum.

I suggest you practice at a couple of fast chargers before you need to.You only need to put a kW in so it won't cost a lot. Also get an Electroverse card. They are free, you don't get a pre-authorisation charge and you don't need to be an Octopus customer to have one.

 

[Geoff22]

Thanks. I particularly like the idea of just practicing. That’s an awful lot better than arriving at a charger in some remote location and then finding I really don’t know what to do.

I haven’t bought a car for over 16 years (Volvos last a long time) so there’s a real learning curve to get up to date with ADAS. Then add in the electric charging and it’s all a bit daunting.

Thanks all for your help.

 

[5teep]

Thanks. I particularly like the idea of just practicing. That’s an awful lot better than arriving at a charger in some remote location and then finding I really don’t know what to do.

I haven’t bought a car for over 16 years (Volvos last a long time) so there’s a real learning curve to get up to date with ADAS. Then add in the electric charging and it’s all a bit daunting.

Thanks all for your help.

You'd be surprised at how many times I've been at a charger and see a tourist in a rental or someone with a new car standing there scratching their head trying to figure out how to use the charger. So a couple of practise sessions close to home are an excellent idea.
It's just like self service tills, when you've done it once it's a breeze.

 

[Archev]

You'd be surprised at how many times I've been at a charger and see a tourist in a rental or someone with a new car standing there scratching their head trying to figure out how to use the charger. So a couple of practise sessions close to home are an excellent idea.
It's just like self service tills, when you've done it once it's a breeze.

Maybe twice ? Please?

 

[Julian Edwards]

I'm just getting my first electric car, and I'll mostly charge it at home with a granny charger. We only did 2000 miles a year with our old car, but we may do a tad more with the shiny new one. We may even get away from home and want to charge from a public charger, but I doubt we'll need to do this more than 3 or 4 times a year. Given the low usage, I doubt it's worth paying a membership in order to get a lower price for charging. Or, is it?


So far, I have installed ABRP, Zapmap, and Electroverse. Tesla seem to have some particularly fast chargers. Do I need to pay a membership fee to use those?

So, the question is what is a sensible way to do this?

I charge more than 50% on rapid chargers and cover more than 20,000 miles a year. I have found that it's worth getting RFID cards, so much easier to just plug in and present the RFID card. But because I have ten different cards and each brand mostly accepts just their own card, it's not worth paying a subscription. On the continent chargemap seems to work with most chargers, but in the UK this is not currently the case. We live in Cornwall and there are not that many options, so I can't wait for a specific brand before charging. Other parts of the UK are better and perhaps it would be possible to only use electroverse for example. But really if you only drive 2000 miles it's not worth subscribing any way.

 

[Chris H]

I charge more than 50% on rapid chargers and cover more than 20,000 miles a year. I have found that it's worth getting RFID cards, so much easier to just plug in and present the RFID card. But because I have ten different cards and each brand mostly accepts just their own card, it's not worth paying a subscription. On the continent chargemap seems to work with most chargers, but in the UK this is not currently the case. We live in Cornwall and there are not that many options, so I can't wait for a specific brand before charging. Other parts of the UK are better and perhaps it would be possible to only use electroverse for example. But really if you only drive 2000 miles it's not worth subscribing any way.

If you use Intelligent Octopus Go you can request an RFID card which gives you 8% discount on the displayed rate and the charge just gets added to your electricity bill. I have only ever charged outside the home <10 times and all but 2 I have been able to use the Electroverse card, even at one which didn't appear on their app as a compatible charge point. The Electroverse app works on Android Auto, so you can see where the nearest charge points are, how much it costs and if they are currently available.
Don't be daunted, for the most part you just plug in the cable and follow the prompts on a screen. Don't bother with a subscription, clearly not worth it for your low usage and you can just pay with a credit card or Electroverse card.

 

[stevedee]

If you use Intelligent Octopus Go you can request an RFID card which gives you 8% discount on the displayed rate and the charge just gets added to your electricity bill...

Now that's interesting, because I'm with Octopus & have Intelligent Go tariff, but when I used my Electroverse card recently it was charged directly to my credit card.

Have I boobed in the way I've set this up?

 

[Hugo A Go Go]

Now that's interesting, because I'm with Octopus & have Intelligent Go tariff, but when I used my Electroverse card recently it was charged directly to my credit card.

Have I boobed in the way I've set this up?

Nothing you’ve done wrong. They just no longer allow new customers to charge the payment to their electricity account.

 

[stevedee]

I was talking to Al (my imaginary friend) & he/she/it says that people have reported that this option doesn't always show up in the app/website, so suggested I email them to sort it for me ...let's see if anything happens.

I'm not a new Octopus customer.
Looking at a few Trustpilot reviews, it looks like people have been able to still do this during the last few days. So, we will see.

 

[stevedee]

I just got a reply from Octopus regarding linking Electroverse billing. Looks like a tech issue:-

I'm sorry, but you're not able to link energy accounts as a payment method at the moment - we're working hard on getting that feature back up and running, but don't have a timeline we can promise at the moment.

I have added the 8% discount to your Electroverse account manually. In the next 1 - 2 hours you should be able to see a banner appear on all partner charging locations. It will display that 8% has been discounted off the rates you see on the charger.

 

[Geoff22]

I tried a public charger at Tesco. Zapmap wanted me to give them a minimum of £30, so I used the native app for that charger.

 

[TimothyN]

Using my long and massive experience of having charged my car at a public charger exactly once, the Monta app also took authority for £30, but only charged me the £6.49 I owed.

 

[Jomarkh]

I set up my Zap Pay on my Zapmap account as I won some credit.
I used three different chargers and it took a few attempts to get the charge started. I think I ended up with 8 pre-authotiation fees. All eventually were refunded so nothing to worry about.