Using Zapmap.

[Buster72]

Up to now I have been doing all my charging at home.
But we are soon to go on a longer journey and so I have downloaded the Zapmap app and linked it to my bank card.
I will do a practice charge first. But I don't want to end up making a fool of myself. The local supermarket has a number of Podpoint charging stations and I was going to try there.
So. When I get ready to plug the charging cable to the car, do I just offer my phone to the machine and it should work?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[siteguru]

Each charger station/area may have different requirements. Some may require an RFID card - some may require you to enter the charger ID into their app - some may be straightforward contactless. There's no single answer to your question.

 

[KH11]

Up to now I have been doing all my charging at home.
But we are soon to go on a longer journey and so I have downloaded the Zapmap app and linked it to my bank card.
I will do a practice charge first. But I don't want to end up making a fool of myself. The local supermarket has a number of Podpoint charging stations and I was going to try there.
So. When I get ready to plug the charging cable to the car, do I just offer my phone to the machine and it should work?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

The one near me at the Lidl supermarket requires you to download their app.

 

[Jomarkh]

You will need the Podpoint app to Confirm the charge within 15 of plugging in

 

[Les burrows]

We’ll never used zap-pay but Jomarkh right you need the podpoint app to start a charge it’s dead easy download the app register you card details and place some money on the account as much as you like and when you plug in just open the app there is different names on all the chargers just select the one you at and confirm the charge and it will do its thing no problems I use podpoint quite a bit and never had any problems with any of my EV cars I have owned.
They are not the fastest they is but can be just a little bit cheaper than others good luck
Les

 

[Ian Key]

Also get an Electroverse card from Octopus Energy. You don't have to be a customer but you can use it at a lot of different chargers.

Octopus Electroverse

One-tap access to 651,325 EV chargers across the UK & Europe

electroverse.octopus.energy

 

[Buster72]

Each charger station/area may have different requirements. Some may require an RFID card - some may require you to enter the charger ID into their app - some may be straightforward contactless. There's no single answer to your question.

Thank you for this. Pretty much what I was concerned about.

 

[Buster72]

You will need the Podpoint app to Confirm the charge within 15 of plugging in

Thank you.

 

[Buster72]

Also get an Electroverse card from Octopus Energy. You don't have to be a customer but you can use it at a lot of different chargers.

Octopus Electroverse

One-tap access to 651,325 EV chargers across the UK & Europe

electroverse.octopus.energy

Thank you.

 

[Buster72]

We’ll never used zap-pay but Jomarkh right you need the podpoint app to start a charge it’s dead easy download the app register you card details and place some money on the account as much as you like and when you plug in just open the app there is different names on all the chargers just select the one you at and confirm the charge and it will do its thing no problems I use podpoint quite a bit and never had any problems with any of my EV cars I have owned.
They are not the fastest they is but can be just a little bit cheaper than others good luck
Les

Thank you Les.

 

[Buster72]

The one near me at the Lidl supermarket requires you to download their app.

Thank you.

 

[ukslim]

I'm only just learning, but ABRP - ABRP - appears to be ZapMap on steroids. I haven't used it for a real trip, but the routes it plans for journeys I know well on ICE seem right. It can answer questions like "where can I charge on the way near a cafe, so I've got x% charge left when I arrive"

 

[KH11]

Also get an Electroverse card from Octopus Energy. You don't have to be a customer but you can use it at a lot of different chargers.

Octopus Electroverse

One-tap access to 651,325 EV chargers across the UK & Europe

electroverse.octopus.energy

When I looked the other day it didn’t cover podpoint though

 

[Buster72]

I'm only just learning, but ABRP - ABRP - appears to be ZapMap on steroids. I haven't used it for a real trip, but the routes it plans for journeys I know well on ICE seem right. It can answer questions like "where can I charge on the way near a cafe, so I've got x% charge left when I arrive"

Thank you.
The thing is that there are so many different apps and different systems that you can spend all your time downloading them and using loads of your phone memory. I was half hoping that if I downloaded what I thought was the most popular site I would have covered most of the types. And I was not too keen on linking my bank card to lots of them.
Anyway I very much appreciate all of the responses.

 

[RichardC]

Up to now I have been doing all my charging at home.
But we are soon to go on a longer journey and so I have downloaded the Zapmap app and linked it to my bank card.
I will do a practice charge first. But I don't want to end up making a fool of myself. The local supermarket has a number of Podpoint charging stations and I was going to try there.
So. When I get ready to plug the charging cable to the car, do I just offer my phone to the machine and it should work?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

A good idea to have a practice. When I got my ZS EV we had a drive to Alnwick from Sheffield planned. I thought that I would try out a local Instavolt charger. I just turned up, plugged in and used my debit card to start the charge.

 

[KH11]

Thank you.
The thing is that there are so many different apps and different systems that you can spend all your time downloading them and using loads of your phone memory. I was half hoping that if I downloaded what I thought was the most popular site I would have covered most of the types. And I was not too keen on linking my bank card to lots of them.
Anyway I very much appreciate all of the responses.

As mentioned previously octopus electroverse card covers a lot of different charger brands but not all. You don’t have to be an Octopus energy customer but in that case you will have to link your bank card. If you are an energy customer of theirs then you can just connect it with your energy bill and pay it at the same time by direct debit.

 

[Buster72]

A good idea to have a practice. When I got my ZS EV we had a drive to Alnwick from Sheffield planned. I thought that I would try out a local Instavolt charger. I just turned up, plugged in and used my debit card to start the charge.

Brilliant. That is exactly what I would like to do instead of getting thoroughly confused with apps and charging types.

 

[Buster72]

As mentioned previously octopus electroverse card covers a lot of different charger brands but not all. You don’t have to be an Octopus energy customer but in that case you will have to link your bank card. If you are an energy customer of theirs then you can just connect it with your energy bill and pay it at the same time by direct debit.

Understood thank you.

 

[Rolfe]

I'm at my destination having done my first long trip yesterday. The chargers on the motorway all took contactless and were easy to use. I thought the big Gridserve at Southwaite had latched on to my car and wasn't going to let go, but realised I had been too slow and it thought it had a new customer hooked. I just offered it my card again then pressed "abort charge" and it let me go.

The Instavolts at Kirkby Lonsdale also took contactless. No problem with that, but paying for the parking (£1.40 but you get it refunded if you buy something from the Booth's shop) practically took a degree in logistics (and an elderly lady in a hurry telling me what to do).

When I got to my destination it was more fun. There are type 2 chargers right beside my friend's house (at a rip-off price, but it's only for a couple of days), but they don't take contactless. I couldn't see a way to get a card for them in advance, although they did keep demanding a card when I got there. However I had been able (with some difficulty) to download their app before I started my journey and I eventually got the app to make the charger work. I dread to think what it would have been like if I'd arrived there with no app, no usable card and no clue though. At one point I phoned the number on the charger and it was answered and the girl on the other end was helpful. (The main problem was that there was strong evening sun which prevented me seeing what was displayed on the screen of the charger.)

So I would advise looking at all the chargers you think you might need to use and see if they take contactless payment. If they don't, get either a card they will recognise or a phone app that will let you control charging and pay, and do it before you set out. Don't rely on being able to download an app right beside the charger when you need the charge, in darkness or in pouring rain or in such strong sun you can't see the screen. It might all work out but a bit of preparation can save on stress.

 

[Mojomarm]

I'm only just learning, but ABRP - ABRP - appears to be ZapMap on steroids. I haven't used it for a real trip, but the routes it plans for journeys I know well on ICE seem right. It can answer questions like "where can I charge on the way near a cafe, so I've got x% charge left when I arrive"

The settings are amazing on ABRP but after using it yesterday for the first time proper, it tried to send me down a city centre road that was converted to buses only almost a year ago so I’m not going back to it. Nothing like trying to get a different satnav up and running asap whilst stuck in an unfamiliar city desperately looking for the car park you’ve already paid for.