Tesla Supercharger Open to all ---contactless???

[CuriousIslander]

Do the Tesla superchargers open to all take contactless or MUST I have the app?? In particular I am looking at the chargers at Amesbury in Wiltshire.
TIA

 

[Rolfe]

The older chargers don't have any means to take contactless payments so if you want to use one of these you'll need the app. Why wouldn't you, anyway? It doesn't cost anything to install it. If you don't, you'll only be able to use the newer design chargers.

 

[Tight Git]

Only the V4 chargers are contactless, the earlier ones need the app. I don't think there is any way of telling which type they are.

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

If the supercharger looks like this, you need the app.

If it looks like this, it has a card reader.

A google image search shows that Amesbury has the upper type of supercharger, so install that app.

 

[DixieTGS]

Only the V4 chargers are contactless, the earlier ones need the app. I don't think there is any way of telling which type they are.

The website supercharge.info gives all kinds of information about each site.

It is maintained by enthusiasts and not Tesla, so how up to date and accurate it is I don't know. Some recent changes appeared pretty quickly so probably useful for verification at least.

You need to use the dropdowns to select other EVs, and it also has dropdowns to display sites in progress, or with planning etc.

Sadly most of the future info suggests they are Tesla only developments, but I wouldn't be surprised if that is because they don't actually know if they are Tesla only or not.

 

[CuriousIslander]

Why wouldn't you, anyway?

'cos at the moment I don't possess a smartphone!

 

[Rolfe]

Ah, that does put a bit of a crimp in the idea!

I was just musing yesterday how much more I have become dependent on my phone since I got my MG4. Not only do I use the app for the car itself, I'm using apps for route planning and charger access, and now using Google Maps with Android Auto to get wherever I want to go. The reason I was doing the musing is that I left my phone in the theatre, and due to one-way streets and pedestrianised roads got comprehensively lost trying to back-track a half-mile walk from theatre to restaurant in the car. (Of course if I'd thought of plugging my friend's phone in to the car rather than listening to her clueless directions I might have got on better.)

When I got the car I did have a smartphone and I could operate the MG app and chargers, but it was a simple-minded model that couldn't do Android Auto. When that died while arguing with an Ionity charger in Stafford, I bought a phone capable of running Android Auto and my life has been transformed. Just speaking my destination to the car and having the route come up on the screen is frankly amazing.

Maybe you don't need all this, having a Trophy with its extra bells and whistles, but honestly, if I were you I would think about getting a smartphone.

 

[fnegroni]

'cos at the moment I don't possess a smartphone!

Then you can do what my ex did. She didn’t have the app so she just texted me from her phone and I started the charger remotely.
If you have someone who you trust to do that for you and you pay them afterwards it can work.

 

[Rolfe]

It has to be someone who has the Tesla app on their phone and an account set up with Tesla to pay for it though. You can't just ask any random friend to do it unless they're prepared to set up an account with Tesla.

 

[CuriousIslander]

Maybe you don't need all this, having a Trophy with its extra bells and whistles, but honestly, if I were you I would think about getting a smartphone.

Yes - it's on the agenda, just haven't got round to it yet as I don't often do longer journeys. Most of my driving is local here on the Isle of Wight.

 

[Rolfe]

I was literally gobsmacked when I found out what a phone and Android Auto can do. As these things improve and become integrated it might be possible to find chargers as well without leaving that screen.

It's also possible to run ABRP on the AA screen if you have a paid subscription, which I don't have, so I don't know how well it works. I don't know if its real-time traffic works as well as Google's does (that is to say, spookily well), because again that requires the subscription. I'm happy enough checking which chargers are available on my route in advance, and taking responsibility for finding something before it all goes pear-shaped. If it gets better though, I won't complain.

 

[fnegroni]

It has to be someone who has the Tesla app on their phone and an account set up with Tesla to pay for it though. You can't just ask any random friend to do it unless they're prepared to set up an account with Tesla.

Hence why I specified ‘whom you trust’

Heck if you want I can charge your car for you in emergency: £20 is neither here nor there for me.

 

[Tight Git]

'cos at the moment I don't possess a smartphone!

I'm coming back to Freshwater for the last 2 weeks of September - if I get stuck trying to find a charger I'm sure we can come to a deal and I'll sort you out on a Tesla charger using my app! ?

 

[Rolfe]

Hence why I specified ‘whom you trust’

Heck if you want I can charge your car for you in emergency: £20 is neither here nor there for me.

I was mainly thinking about the reaction from someone who might have no experience in downloading apps like that, never mind setting up an account.

 

[DixieTGS]

I can't work it out from the app but the new ones just opened at Preston South are probably contactless too.

The South bit doesn't seem to mean South bound only as they are just off J29 for the A6, (not J29 for the M65). They are however to the South of Preston.

I might just make it in one go when I next go up to the Stranraer area ?.

Edit: it has a temporary closure already. Perhaps they've just noticed it hasn't had the recent price increase applied ?

 

[Robf]

Can I just clarify that the Tesla contactless units can still be started via the app (I do not have a Tesla card)?
Also regarding running the ABRP app from android in the car, I think you can also send the route to the car and google maps via the app? I seem to remember this function in Electroverse app.

 

[Daedalusminos]

Can I just clarify that the Tesla contactless units can still be started via the app (I do not have a Tesla card)?
Also regarding running the ABRP app from android in the car, I think you can also send the route to the car and google maps via the app? I seem to remember this function in Electroverse app.

Yes...or via the website

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

I can't work it out from the app but the new ones just opened at Preston South are probably contactless too.

The South bit doesn't seem to mean South bound only as they are just off J29 for the A6, (not J29 for the M65). They are however to the South of Preston.

I might just make it in one go when I next go up to the Stranraer area ?.

Edit: it has a temporary closure already. Perhaps they've just noticed it hasn't had the recent price increase applied ?

Those are V4 superchargers, so they will take contactless payment.

 

[Rolfe]

Can I just clarify that the Tesla contactless units can still be started via the app (I do not have a Tesla card)?
Also regarding running the ABRP app from android in the car, I think you can also send the route to the car and google maps via the app? I seem to remember this function in Electroverse app.

Yes. I use the app for all Tesla chargers.