Car is coming next week best apps to download for charging when out

[Callumlj]

Hi my Tesla y long range is coming nest week and I have been looking at all the different apps and see some do subscriptions where it's cheaper to charge.

I will be charging at home every day but will need to charge for long journeys twice a week if I am not near a supercharger what apps would you say are the best ones to use and is it worth joining any like BP Pulse membership

I am also a octopus customer and see they offer a card.

Also being a long range and a lease car would it matter if I just charged it to 100% most days?

Thank you

 

[Redbaron73]

The only one i have is octopus card. Never used it. Supercharger or dont bother is my mantra. With my location in NW and range of car I havent had to deviate so far.

 

[GRiLLA]

You're not going to need a SuperCharger near you if you have home charging. I would use ABRP to plan some of the longer drives you would do and see where it suggests charging.

It's unlikely to be worth buying any subscriptions, all the decent networks support chip+pin these days.

 

[yessuz]

Hi my Tesla y long range is coming nest week and I have been looking at all the different apps and see some do subscriptions where it's cheaper to charge.

I will be charging at home every day but will need to charge for long journeys twice a week if I am not near a supercharger what apps would you say are the best ones to use and is it worth joining any like BP Pulse membership

I am also a octopus customer and see they offer a card.

Also being a long range and a lease car would it matter if I just charged it to 100% most days?

Thank you

If it is MYLR it has not LFP battery. It;s advisable to keep it between 20% and 80% (or 90) ant to charge to 100 only for a long trips. But additional 10% will give you like additional 20 miles of range. so I never bothered and my car after 21k miles in 1 year is yet to be charged to 100%. You will just stop tad earlier to SC.

regarding the apps - I have few, but if you charge at home and your round trip is less that 250 miles every day - you will not use SCs or other public charger networks that often. I used it like 10 times over the year.. you download one only when needed.. and it might be that subscriptions (if paid) not worth it in reality

 

[Arran]

ElectroVerse by Octopus & if you're planning to go to Europe it doesn't hurt to get Shell's EV app and card.
There's quite a few charging points in Belgium, The Netherlands and France that I've run into that are listed on the Octopus App, but don't work with their charge card (yet saying they do in the app). And the Shell card has come in clutch to save the day.

 

[ShaunM3LR]

Hi my Tesla y long range is coming nest week and I have been looking at all the different apps and see some do subscriptions where it's cheaper to charge.

I will be charging at home every day but will need to charge for long journeys twice a week if I am not near a supercharger what apps would you say are the best ones to use and is it worth joining any like BP Pulse membership

I am also a octopus customer and see they offer a card.

Also being a long range and a lease car would it matter if I just charged it to 100% most days?

Thank you

In terms of apps, ZapMap is a must as it displays info of public chargers. Then it would be apps for common chargers you come across to avoid sign up/registering at the charger itself e.g. Podpoint, BP Pulse, Shell Recharge etc.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I will be charging at home every day but will need to charge for long journeys twice a week

I second using ABetterRoutePlanner to do some test-planning of those routes - either to find you will get there and back, without additional charging, or to find where suitable chargers are and, importantly, if they are Superchargers - and how long your stop-time will be. You could also try adjusting weather-temperature to simulate Winter and Summer journeys - maybe you will get home in Summer but need charging in Winter.

Assuming the long journey is out-and-back can you charge when you get there? Even 13AMP (assume 7 miles adding per hour) might be enough to avoid having to charge on the way home

my car after 21k miles in 1 year is yet to be charged to 100%

has it changed or is there still a benefit to doing a 100% charge once-in-a-while to recalibrate the system (i.e. to improve prediction of range etc.)

ZapMap is a must as it displays info of public chargers

Personally I don't get on with the way you have to drill down, and back out, in Zap-Map to see what is available at a site. I get on better with PlugShare

Can't say it has had much love in a long time though ...

 

[KB2022]

mines lease. i charge 100%, every time. and use the 150kw Shell charger twice a month.

 

[ShaunM3LR]

Personally I don't get on with the way you have to drill down, and back out, in Zap-Map to see what is available at a site. I get on better with PlugShare

Can't say it has had much love in a long time though ...

Had never heard or seen PlugShare before but the UI is alot easier or clearer than ZapMap so have added it to my list of other charger apps

 

[yessuz]

mines lease. i charge 100%, every time. and use the 150kw Shell charger twice a month.

It really makes very little sense to charge at public charger to 100%, especially on the rapid/fast one.

It takes 25 minutes to go from 10% to 80% on the Long Range Model 3. Then it takes another 10+ minutes to go from 80% to 90%. And then it takes almost half an hour to go from 90% to 100%

 

[Lockey]

As others have said, have a look on ZapMap to get a feel for what chargers you're likely to use. I've got BP Pulse, Pod Point and Swarco (bit of an oddball one but it's what we've got at head office), I've also bought a blue commando attachment for my granny charger as I go to sites that let me charge off these for free,

 

[Andy H]

ZapMap for research then for me, 99% Pod Point and 1% two others that I’ve used once and can’t remember the name of.

 

[MovingSouth]

Hi my Tesla y long range is coming nest week and I have been looking at all the different apps and see some do subscriptions where it's cheaper to charge.

I will be charging at home every day but will need to charge for long journeys twice a week if I am not near a supercharger what apps would you say are the best ones to use and is it worth joining any like BP Pulse membership

I am also a octopus customer and see they offer a card.

Also being a long range and a lease car would it matter if I just charged it to 100% most days?

Thank you

To avoid repetition, here's a cross post to a thread I've maintained on SpeakEV for years:

Public charging networks in the UK and route planners...

I find Electroverse, NewMotion (Shell Recharge) and contractless cards are sufficient, but do check areas I'm heading to on Zap-Map to see if I might need an app for networks not supported.

 

[KB2022]

It really makes very little sense to charge at public charger to 100%, especially on the rapid/fast one.

It takes 25 minutes to go from 10% to 80% on the Long Range Model 3. Then it takes another 10+ minutes to go from 80% to 90%. And then it takes almost half an hour to go from 90% to 100%

its across the road from where i work. i just leave it there, and move just before i get any idle fees

 

[Adopado]

its across the road from where i work. i just leave it there, and move just before i get any idle fees

I think the issue is that rapid chargers are usually seen as a way of adding charge rapidly! People for the most part are adding just enough and moving on. Maybe 3 cars that urgently need a 15 minute charge have to drive on because they see the charger is in use for a lengthy period.

 

[MrBadger]

I think the issue is that rapid chargers are usually seen as a way of adding charge rapidly! People for the most part are adding just enough and moving on. Maybe 3 cars that urgently need a 15 minute charge have to drive on because they see the charger is in use for a lengthy period.

I have my suspicions/empirical evidence that some of the recent queuing/very full superchargers is down to cars being 'brimmed'. Its a very recent thing where you turn up to a supercharger and you either have to wait or get the last stall and return to find some of the superchargers still occupied by the same cars who were there when you started having to queue. One one occasion I just happened to spot the screen of the car (iirc Model 3) next to us that said range 327 miles. If supercharging regularly to 100% is the norm for some, I would expect that they may soon find that their maximum range will start to suffer.

 

[yessuz]

I have my suspicions/empirical evidence that some of the recent queuing/very full superchargers is down to cars being 'brimmed'. Its a very recent thing where you turn up to a supercharger and you either have to wait or get the last stall and return to find some of the superchargers still occupied by the same cars who were there when you started having to queue. One one occasion I just happened to spot the screen of the car (iirc Model 3) next to us that said range 327 miles. If supercharging regularly to 100% is the norm for some, I would expect that they may soon find that their maximum range will start to suffer.

I have seen already like twice:
I arrive with 20% i see car is there, charging, ladies sit inside
I top up to 80% and leave (those 10-11 times I used SC over past 12 months) but that car which was there when I arrived, was still charging.

It's not my business how people spend their time and money ..

But I already educated my neighbor with ID4 that he should charge to 80% and move to next or charge enough to reach home) as this is way better in all aspects and his reaction was:
- oh, never thought of that


It took me sone time before EV purchase, whilenwatching Bjorn Nyland's 1000 km challenge, to realise that once you charge at home you do not need to use public charger to top up more than enough to reach home

 

[KB2022]

I think the issue is that rapid chargers are usually seen as a way of adding charge rapidly! People for the most part are adding just enough and moving on. Maybe 3 cars that urgently need a 15 minute charge have to drive on because they see the charger is in use for a lengthy period.

i start work at 4am. straight to the super-dupa chargers, no else in sight. by 5am ishhhh i''m done to 100%... still no one in sight....

 

[btc1k]

mines lease. i charge 100%, every time. and use the 150kw Shell charger twice a month.

Ah you're one of those

 

[Stranger Dings]

Zap map, ABRP, Podpoint are all I’ve ever used. I Supercharge where possible and mostly charge at home.