Speak EV - Electric Car Forums banner

What charging cards do I need ?

8K views 31 replies 12 participants last post by  JeffG 
#1 ·
New leaf owner here , Havent a clue what I need for out and about charging in towns and on motorways ,

Can anyone point me in the right direction or offer advice please :)
 
#2 ·
Download zap map (or look on https://www.zap-map.com/live/), if you want rapid chargers then filter for "Chademo" which is the bigger charge socket on the leaf. Look on zap map at where you want to go, see who operates the chargers on that route. Many are different companies so you just sign up with the ones you need.

Its good to have a test at a local one prior to a long journey, so you get used to how it works. Expect to pay about 2 or 3 times as much for the electricity at a public charge point than you do at home.

Cheers.
 
#3 ·
New leaf owner here , Haven't a clue what I need for out and about charging in towns and on motorways ,

Can anyone point me in the right direction or offer advice please :)
Worth remembering that many Nissan dealers will let you use their Chademo free of charge. Only problem is that many of them are getting old & tired so best to ring ahead and check a particular one is working.

Shame that other manufacturers don't seem to have similar policies.
 
#4 ·
Charge Your Car or Charge Place Scotland is a good place to start. They are both effectively the same network throughout the UK. RFID card costs £20 per year.

Shell Recharge (was called New Motion and still run by New Motion where you access your account). Expanding network of charge stations throughout UK. RFID card is free. Download the app and order the card from there.

Genie Point also useful. You can use any existing RFID card - just register it when near a charger. Alternatively you can buy a separate RFID card for £9.

Ecotricity chargers are often found at motorway service stations. App access only.

Engenie and Instavolt are accessed using a bank card, no need to register.

Polar Instant also useful. Access only via an app. They have another scheme Polar Plus which is a monthly subscription giving a cheaper electricity tariff.

As mentioned, download Zap-Map or use the online website. In the app you can set up the above networks you decide to use. It will then only show your preferred charging stations. You would also set up the socket type of your EV as G.a.r.y mentioned.

That should get you started!
 
#5 ·
Arguably, your local charge point operator isn't necessarily the most useful (as you'll probably charge at home, if you have off street parking). You should see what type is popular wherever you drive to.
 
#10 ·
One size does not fit all ! Yes you need different cards/apps.

The government are slowly encouraging charge point operators to accept contactless credit/debit cards but its a slow process ! You usually just get the apps for the operators you need based on where you will travel.

Cheers.
 
#9 ·
#11 ·
At the moment the Chargeplace Scotland card works for me as a single card as every town in the area has a rapid charger and all are free for the moment. The Scottish Government gave grants to each council area to install and maintain the free chargers. As EV use increases here they will no doubt start to charge for the electricity and to help fund the doubling or tripling etc. of charge units in each location.

Shell Energy appear to be accelerating their integration with other network operators so its worth getting their free Shell Recharge/New Motion card.

Then if either of the above are not covered in your area, just get that as your preferred card/app. If you are only driving locally it does not follow that you need a whole bundle of cards.
 
#12 ·
If you do most of your driving away from home on motorways, you'll want the Electric Highway (Ecotricity) app. They have an exclusive deal with most Motorway Service Areas. You'll be OK with the Leaf - the CHAdeMO on their units is pretty reliable. Other cars which use the CCS standard often have problems with Electric Highway - either they don't work or they don't have a CCS connector in the first place. Not your problem, fortunately :)

As with all new drivers, I recommend you visit your nearest rapid from home when you don't really need to charge to practice. That way you won't be caught out not knowing what to do when on your first long distance trip.

As others have said you need the Zap-Map app which is a comprehensive map-based directory of charging points. You can also go to their web site on your PC at https://www.zap-map.com
 
#14 ·
I just checked to see what charging apps I have on my phone. In no particular order: Electric Highway, Charge Your Car* , Polar Instant, GeniePoint (web shortcut)* , Chargemap (not sure why:)), Shell Recharge* , ChargePoint, Electric Highway web shortcut (belt and braces).

Plus Zap-Map and PlugShare.

* Have RFID card too.

PS: I don't know where the italics came from - something to do with the asterisk/comma combination.
 
#17 ·
Cards...Shell Recharge, GeniePoint, Polar, InCharge

Apps - Pod Point, Genie Point (web link), Electric Highway

At the moment, based on my local area my usage is mainly Polar (Polar Plus) & Pod Point (supermarket carpark). Everything else in the area are free 7kW destination chargers.

Also check out https://www.zap-map.com/charge-points/ for a good explanation of the terminology (rapid Vs fast etc)
 
#19 ·
I forgot to include the PodPoint app which I also have. I'm going to be using their rapids next week on a trip, as the two CYC go-to chargers on my route are both out of action.
PodPoint is well worth having - their 7kW posts in Sainsburys or Tescos are usually free as indeed are some in out-of-town shopping centres but unless you're logged in , you may be disconnected after 15mins. Even when you have to pay for a rapid, theirs are usually amongst the best rates - e.g. Lidl now charge 23ppu

You don't strictly need the PodPoint app - you can operate a charger from their actual webpage htpps://charge.podpoint.com which I found handy in the summer when their app was giving problems.
 
#23 ·
I use my Polar Plus a lot as there are plenty of rapids round here installed at Lincs Co-ops and a 7kW post at my work car park that is free to use with the card. It really depends what chargers are available to you on likely routes. I started with Polar and have since added Electric Highway, Podpoint and Alfa Power apps when these had chargers that suited particular journeys that I needed to make.
 
#30 ·
If I understand PodPoint's web site correctly, the 15-minute thing only applies to their 7kW AC posts. It says on the web site full instructions that charging on a rapid will only start when you confirm the charge on the app.

@Carty I've found that the latest version of the Polar Instant app works just fine, and since they changed the pricing structure it's a lot cheaper (25p/kWh) than paying a monthly subscription unless you are using them frequently i.e. several times a week.
 
#31 ·
Thank you for the info !.
Polar have fitted a rapid charger on the car park of a hotel ( only about 2 months ago ) it is only 3 miles from my home address via a shortcut through a country lane !.
When my EV arrives I will be charging from home, but it is really handy to have a new rapid almost on my door step should I need a fast turn around charge !.
I fancy the idea of having RFID card, but not paying the subscription charges every month in order to get one !.
It would not be cost effective for me.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top