Hi all, I hope to take delivery soon and want to make sure that I have the ability to charge away from home, when necessary. I don't envision much charging away from home as I will likely use the car mostly locally. Nevertheless, I want to make the process easy when I need it Is there any benefit to signing up (i.e., setting up an account, setting up a payment method, and downloading an app) with a commercial charging service(s) before I need it? Which services are most useful in the SF Bay Area +/- 300 miles? (lots of fast chargers) Are there signup bonuses (e.g., first charge free)? If so, how? I assume that no equipment is necessary on my end - just connect their cable to the charging port. Thanks so much!
While I’ve been waiting for my Mini to arrive I’ve spent some time signing up with all of the major charging networks plus some of the small ones that seem to have a presence in my area. It’s kind of a mess. A collection of hard cards and phone apps that make me totally jealous of the local Tesla superchargers. I’ve now got accounts with everything from Electrify America to Florida Power. My suggestion is download the PlugShare app, get a handle on what’s in your area, and get signed up. Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
I just created an account with ChargePoint and one with Electrify America. I think I had to put $10 on each, and then they automatically replenish from my credit card if I use that up. ChargePoint is handy because there are a number of free ChargePoint locations, but you still need the account to activate. Electrify America is one of the bigger fast charging networks and I happen to live right by a location, so it seemed useful to have configured.
I live in the Sacramento area. First download PlugShare and find the most common fast charge locations. Around here it is mostly Chargepoint, EVGo, and electrify America. PlugShare is great to find all of the local free (or cheap) level 2 chargers. I use those free ones if I am going to the restaurants or things near them.
Great. Thanks so much. I think that most of them don't charge you until you make your first charge. I set up with a few of them so hopefully I am covered.
It would appear that Electrify America is the closest thing to a ‘supercharger’ network for the J1772 DC crowd. I’m simply not willing to plan a trip even across town that depends on a single charging station being available and actually working correctly. Electrify America is the only operator in this part of the country who is building charging stations with multiple chargers. I’ve used Level 3 charging on six occasions now, and had problems on four of the six. My confidence level in relying on public charging is currently quite low. Unfortunately. This has been my only real disappointment in acquiring a BEV, but is no reflection on the SE. Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
They don’t charge until you use them. Chargepoint has a monthly billing cycle where you get charged for your use. Chargepoint has you pay once a month for all of your use. I don’t think that any of them charge you until you use them.
@JoeC, you might look into nearby Volta charging stations (see story at https://insideevs.com/news/544356/volta-100-million-electric-miles/). The map there shows some in your vicinity, and the good thing I have found about them is they are free to users and in common locations like movie theater parking lots, which means you can watch a movie while your car charges for free and you get close-in reserved parking too (although granted that these may or may not currently be seen as benefits in some places). Anyway, Volta is worth considering and should show up in a PlugShare check of your area too.
I forgot about them! They are level 2 chargers. We have them in the parking lots at REI and grocery stores. You can’t plan on them being available, but when they are it is definitely a nice bonus. You don’t even need the app for them, you just plug-in and go.
