Let's say you're not at home, and--your smart phone breaks or you lose it. How do you charge your EV? (In your answer, include info if you've ever charged your EV away from home without a smart phone.)
I ordered the RFID cards for the charging networks that offer them. Once, I spent 45 minutes trying to get the Blink phone app to work without success. That experience convinced me to avoid Blink charging stations, but when I got home I ordered the Blink RFID card for no-other-choice situations.
My vehicle is capable of Plug 'n' Charge so I can use that at Electrify America. Similarly I signed up for the EVgo Autocharge+. I also have RFID cards for Chargepoint, EVgo, Shell Recharge, and Blink and use those as my first option. Even when my phone was working fine, if the cellular service communication through the app had a hiccup, then the RFID card was a backup.
I have used a credit card swipe at chargers to activate, but I'm now seeing more and more chargers that only have app and (maybe) RFID card activation.
They all need to support sensible alternatives to apps. And accomodate the slightly older vehicles that can't do ISO15118 plug-n-charge. Insisting that customers use apps is just aiding and abetting the robots taking over our lives, and is disingenuous af. I'm looking at you, Tesla. But as pointed out they're not the only one. _H*
