Best Car Charger App for new EV owner

davidivad

Hi, I am awaiting delivery of my first EV (polestar 2) and I'm just wondering about the best app to get for public charging. I plan to do 95% if not more of my charging at home, but i'm wondering what app is the easiest to use for public charging.

I have heard of ESB ecars, plugshare, plugsurfing etc, but I don't want to download them all. Which one is easiest to use/cheapest chargers/most suited to Ireland? I would defo not want one with a subscription service seeing as I will do so little charging publicly.

Thanks in advance

CMOTDibbler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058360172/best-car-charger-app-for-new-ev-owner

Get eCars app and charge card (it's free). Also useful to get EasyGo (EasyGo are cheap - 50c/kW - in Lidl car parks). Worth getting the Freshmile card as this works on eCars chargers and if you only use the fast >100kW chargers it's cheaper than eCars - .30c/min + .30c/kWh. Once the charge drops down below 80kW stop because you're not saving money any more.

After that it's up to you. Maybe look around and see what are the faster chargers near you and get an app for them. But only get apps if it saves you money. AppleGreen for example, cut 5c off the price if you use the app.

I have a P*2 and here are a few tips for easy charging. Watch out for the little rubber cord that connects the DC cover to the charge port. Sometimes that can get twisted and block access to the AC port. Really frustrating if you don't know that's happened and you're trying to connect in the dark.

The unlock button beside the charge port is the best and easiest way to end a charge session. Never had a problem with it, even when there's a problem stopping the charge from the charger.

You can get the PlugShare and ABRP apps, but these are also available on the car and the Google maps app is probably the only one you will actually use. If you are using the same Google account on the car as on your phone (highly recommended), you can look up a destination on your phone and send it to your car. That will then give a very accurate SoC there and back and also allow you to pick charge points if you need to top up.

crl84

ESB have the most chargers countrywide, so that would be the most useful. However you're severely limiting yourself if you only download that.

It's like saying "I'm only going to use Applegreen filling stations".

I would get EasyGo aswell, and ionity/Tesla apps too.

Plugshare is an app that shows the location of chargers, and isn't used for paying. That is probably the most useful of all EV-related apps IMO.

CMOTDibbler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122394571#Comment_122394571

Not sure about PlugShare any more since they've confirmed that their filters don't work particularly well and the data underlying them is missing in many cases.

ChargeFinder seems to be more accurate in that respect, but Google maps in the P*2 also seems pretty accurate as is ABRP.

In any event, you can install all of the above on the Android Automotive system in the car.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058360172/best-car-charger-app-for-new-ev-owner

I have heard of ESB ecars, plugshare, plugsurfing etc, but I don't want to download them all. Which one is easiest to use/cheapest chargers/most suited to Ireland? I would defo not want one with a subscription service seeing as I will do so little charging publicly

My list of apps/cards

ESB E-Car connect - free card and app - Covers about 60% of my needs

Easygo - €6 card (they sent 2) and app - Covers about 30% of my needs

Standard credit card - covers the remainder of my needs for Circle K

Apps/Cards I have no use for but are handy to keep around just in case

Applegreen - Chargers accept credit/debit card but 7c/kWh discount and no pre-auth with app

Ionity - Ability to buy subscription on the fly, useful if charging more than 20kWh in a month

Freshmile - Using ecars chargers price is per minute and per kWh, sometimes cheaper, haven't had a use-case for it yet

Monta - Most private car parks use this service

ShellRecharge/Plugsurfing/Chargepoint/epower - All small use

CMOTDibbler

I've used the Freshmile card a couple of times. You do need to check what the rate is for the particular charger. Most eCars ones will do the 30c/30c rate, but you need to be careful as others (Ionity for example don't and it's very expensive). And of course watch the charge rate - best way to use it is at low SoC because you'll get the best value.

Monta app has never worked for me. Just got stuck in the verify email loop of despair, so gave up on it. Any of the Monta chargers I've been to are very expensive and slow. They are usually destination chargers (hotels etc.) so might be useful ans could be discounted for hotel guests, but I'm just guessing on that one.

zg3409

Public charging can be a fight pain with queues and broken chargers. To make life easier plan trips and stop to charge before you need it.

For finding chargers I recommend plugshare app, filter by CCS chargers and plan to have a few back up options. This app shows all brand chargers out there. There are loads of other apps for specific chargers you may need. You often can charge without their app. Apps to pay for charging include ESB ecars, ionity, easygo, Tesla etc. There are dozens more. You need multiple options as at many sites the ESB ecars can only charge one car at a time and you may be waiting 40+ minutes for the charger to be free. This is a bigger problem at peak times such as Friday evenings on main routes.

CMOTDibbler

Touch wood, I've never had to queue or encountered a broken charger so far. Starting to think it's an urban myth at this stage.

But the individual apps will tell you of the status of their chargers, whether they're out of action, being repaired or in use. You'll know well before you get there.

witnessmenow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122395124#Comment_122395124

You may be pretty lucky so! The day I bought my car we stopped in Kells on the way home from Belfast and there was a queue in the petrol station, there was at least one car ahead of us in the queue

I knew there was another one around the corner in a car park and it was showing as free, so I went there instead, and there was some form of an Audi SUV thing in the left of the two Ev spots ac charging , which was on the right of the unit. The CCS plug was on the left and since my port is on the back of the car on the passenger side, I couldn't park anywhere that the cable could reach.

Ended up going back to the petrol station as there was a couple of chargers up there, did get charging in about 15 mins or so

Have only publicly charged a few times since and have had no issues, but it can definitely happen

CivilEx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122394827#Comment_122394827

The only time I find Freshmile cost effective is on ESB 200kW chargers if you start at a low soc and your charging speed is above 150KW, which works out at about €0.41/kWh. Once you are charging below 100kW the cost gets very close to standard ESB rates.