Kona first trip - Q re PlugShare and/or ChargePoint

J

John Scime1970

New Member
Hi there - just received out KonaEV today. Ordered in Sept 2019!

I will be making a 900 KM trip in two days, and am wondering about the above named APPs. I have the APPs on my phone, but am no able to link the payment function, as this is a work-phone and that feature is not available for security reasons.

I'll be driving from Ottawa through Toronto and have access to loads of charging stations, but I wonder - Can you generally pay using your credit card instead of your phone?

Any input would be welcomed. Thanks. js
 
Generally, you must pay through the apps. You could always pick up a cheapy smartphone for less than $20 and a few dollars a month for service. Here in the U.S. we have a service called Freedpop that gives a small amount of free data every month and limited talk as well for free. The small amount they give would be sufficient for these purposes.
 
John Scime1970 said:
Hi there - just received out KonaEV today. Ordered in Sept 2019!

I will be making a 900 KM trip in two days, and am wondering about the above named APPs. I have the APPs on my phone, but am no able to link the payment function, as this is a work-phone and that feature is not available for security reasons.

I'll be driving from Ottawa through Toronto and have access to loads of charging stations, but I wonder - Can you generally pay using your credit card instead of your phone?

Any input would be welcomed. Thanks. js
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I know Electrify America https://www.electrifyamerica.com/ accepts credit cards. Unfortunately it appears they don't have stations in Canada, but I would assume the other companies take credit cards as well.
 
Jimct said:
I know Electrify America https://www.electrifyamerica.com/ accepts credit cards. Unfortunately it appears they don't have stations in Canada, but I would assume the other companies take credit cards as well.
Click to expand...
In Canada, they have Electrify Canada, and judging by this pic on their site, they accept credit cards. https://www.electrify-canada.ca/pricing/
pricing_ca_img1.8e5c0866.jpg
 
Just be aware with Electrify America or Electrify Canada, you will be paying A LOT higher rate than signing up for one of their plans.

It should also be noted that you should be able to login with most of the companies on your computer to setup payment methods, then you are just using the phone to start the charger and the account is what is getting charged.
 
Some have a card or a fob of some sort that you can use instead of a phone. Generally you need to ask for one. I have on in my wallet for EVgo.

The problem is that if you end up with too many different cards, that becomes a little unweildy. But if there is primarily one brand of charger that you use, it might work.
 
I have RFID cards for Chargepoint, FLO, B.C. Hydro EV, and Greenlots. The $10 charge for the cards got rolled into the account as a charge credit for 2 of them. I find them far easier to use than from what I have witnessed others fumbling with a phone app. Only issue previously on occasion the readers may be out of order, but that seems to be rare and getting better with time. Mostly all the chargers around here are free except one DC machine downtown.
 
Not sure what the restrictions are on using your company phone. But generally, you can establish an account through the charging service's website, put your payment info in that (on your computer, phone or whatever), and then you're just using your phone to activate the charger to link to your existing account.

So you don't have to pay with your phone a la Apple Pay or Google Pay (though I think you can, with some of them at least), but it is a service you pay for, using your phone to access it.

As a previous comment mentioned, many services have RFID cards. These are also linked to an account you establish online, you just don't need the phone to access it.

And some chargers have credit card readers.

In the U.S. at least, ChargePoint has an online account, and you use your phone or RFID card to activate the charger. PlugShare is mostly for finding chargers; a few services let you pay with PlugShare, but it's not much easier than getting that service's app.
 
For what it is worth, EVgo and Chargepoint have roaming agreements - so you can use either app or RFID card to start a charge on the other.
 
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