How to set up Chargepoint to pay?

[JetFalcon]

I have the chargepoint app and so far I haven't paid to use one yet. I successfully charge at chargepoint stations that are free, which was mostly in Las Vegas because every single one I've seen were free. But when I do road trips when I'm away from home and don't have my wall connector, I likely need to try use L2 chargepoints so I'm not wasting my time supercharging and using parking time as charge time.

How are you charged at chargepoint, is it by the time spent or by the KWH you are getting? I want to be economical and pay around 30 cents per KWH since that's what it usually costs at non prime time supercharging. Can I just attach Apple Pay? I've never done the full process to see what I pay at the end.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Charging at chargepoint is different by the charger, probably at least partly due to statewide regulations about charging by KWH or not.

Register a credit card with your chargepoint account, and it should work fine, automatically, for charging. You can check plugshare.com for the cost-to-charge for a chargepoint charger before you get there, and I imagine there's also that information on chargepoint.com as well. If you are already there, there's a 'price' button on the screen of the charger.

 

[JetFalcon]

Charging at chargepoint is different by the charger, probably at least partly due to statewide regulations about charging by KWH or not.

Register a credit card with your chargepoint account, and it should work fine, automatically, for charging. You can check plugshare.com for the cost-to-charge for a chargepoint charger before you get there, and I imagine there's also that information on chargepoint.com as well. If you are already there, there's a 'price' button on the screen of the charger.

I believe I have Apple Pay as my payment method. But then how do you know if the charger is broken or not, because that can happen. Will the chargepoint say "not charging" if it's not charging? And hopefully will it not bill you if it was broken?

 

[Sophias_dad]

It certainly won't bill you if its broken. Your tesla will show you its not charging almost as soon as you plug it in, as well.

I just logged into chargepoint and checked/updated my credit card. They made a $10 charge when I first used a paid chargepoint charger and they are using that credit as I charge. It looks like I have a $6.87 balance there, after my first charge in January 2022! I've only had 15 charging sessions in the four years I've had chargepoint, and only around three of them were not-free.

The map that is shown when you login is a little awkward. Why they can't show $/kwh or $/hr exactly is unclear to me. The one station I looked at said "$4.75(estimate) for two hours". I know for sure that they are charging 0.36/kwh, so $4.75 is right(ish), but only if you have an EV that can take 6.6kwh, and only if its a 240V charger.

 

[ucmndd]

ChargePoint pricing is set by the property owner. It can be time based, energy based, or both.

You add a payment method to your account, and they charge you for what you use at the end of the session.

Rather than charging your card for each transaction, they reload/credit your account in $10 increments. When you run low, they charge you another $10.

 

[RayK]

@JetFalcon ChargePoint accepts credit card or PayPal. Does not appear to offer any Apple Pay or Samsung Pay or any other app/phone-based payment system. You'll have to get a credit card or open up a PayPal account.

 

[Sophias_dad]

@JetFalcon ChargePoint accepts credit card or PayPal. Does not appear to offer any Apple Pay or Samsung Pay or any other app/phone-based payment system. You'll have to get a credit card or open up a PayPal account.

I was wondering the same thing, not having seen Apple Pay on their charging options.

 

[srs5694]

ChargePoint pricing is set by the property owner. It can be time based, energy based, or both.

I've also seen connection fees -- for instance, $1 to plug in plus $0.30/kWh.

 

[JetFalcon]

ChargePoint pricing is set by the property owner. It can be time based, energy based, or both.

You add a payment method to your account, and they charge you for what you use at the end of the session.

Rather than charging your card for each transaction, they reload/credit your account in $10 increments. When you run low, they charge you another $10.

If they must do $10 increments, would that mean to try using one account? I wasn't aware they do this.

I just don't wanna be overcharged or pay more than what I expected / get. If it's around 30 cent kwh, that would be reasonable since that's what most Tesla superchargers charge during non-peak times. And what So Cal Edison charges for off peak times.

If its based on time, will it guarantee how many KWH you gain during your charge? If someone left their car and somehow forgot to unplug it for a week or a month, will they get billed for that entire time? The most I'd do is overnight if it takes 6-8 hours for a full charge.

 

[Rocky_H]

If they must do $10 increments, would that mean to try using one account?

I'm not sure what you mean by "one account". One Chargepoint account? I don't see any other way. Only one credit card account attached to it? Yes, I guess, since it's intended to connect and bill to it automatically when you activate the station, where you don't futz through choosing which credit card to use for that session, so it just needs one linked in.

I wasn't aware they do this.

Yeah, credit card transaction fees can be really annoying for vendors on small purchases, so this is a sensible way to reduce the number of transactions, to reduce the amount of credit card fees.

I just don't wanna be overcharged or pay more than what I expected / get.

Then look at the price first, before deciding if you want to use it or not.

If its based on time, will it guarantee how many KWH you gain during your charge?

There's an attitude coming across with the use of the word "guarantee". But it works how it works, and yes, it's more confusing and harder to tell when it's time based. If it's like a 30A station on 208V, then that's about 6.2kW power. If you ran that for 2 hours, you'd get about 12 kWh. But yes, there's more figuring you have to do, so it's not as straightforward.

If someone left their car and somehow forgot to unplug it for a week or a month, will they get billed for that entire time?

That all depends on the policies of that particular station, and as @ucmndd mentioned, those are set by the property owner.

The most I'd do is overnight if it takes 6-8 hours for a full charge.

I was at a hotel last year where I wanted to use their Chargepoint stations overnight, but read their fee structure and decided I couldn't. They had a 5 hour maximum limit, and then $2 per hour idle fees after it cut off. I was low, so 5 hours wouldn't have filled my car, and then I would have had to pay an extra $10 for 5 more hours of idle fees. That's not how overnight hotel charging is supposed to be set up. I haven't gotten around to calling the hotel to explain to them how that's a stupid configuration.

 

[ucmndd]

If they must do $10 increments, would that mean to try using one account? I wasn't aware they do this.

I just don't wanna be overcharged or pay more than what I expected / get. If it's around 30 cent kwh, that would be reasonable since that's what most Tesla superchargers charge during non-peak times. And what So Cal Edison charges for off peak times.

If its based on time, will it guarantee how many KWH you gain during your charge? If someone left their car and somehow forgot to unplug it for a week or a month, will they get billed for that entire time? The most I'd do is overnight if it takes 6-8 hours for a full charge.

Again, the fee structure is set entirely by the property owner and varies widely from station to station all the way from 100% free to batshit crazy. Caveat emptor, check before plugging in. I don’t understand what you mean by “one account”.

There is no “guarantee” of any energy delivery for stations configured with time-based fees.

 

[JetFalcon]

Again, the fee structure is set entirely by the property owner and varies widely from station to station all the way from 100% free to batshit crazy. Caveat emptor, check before plugging in. I don’t understand what you mean by “one account”.

There is no “guarantee” of any energy delivery for stations configured with time-based fees.

I do check before plugging in, or I just check if I'm curious. So far I have not paid for one, I just used the free ones. But if I do another trip to Phoenix AZ I will like to try use them more. But non of the arcades we went to had any free charging or chargepoints. I even brought my scooter in case I could charge free like across the street and scooter back to the arcade. Phoenix is one of the worst cities near So-Cal to charge at. And my friend was getting frustrated at the Tesla cutting into our trip time.

Since we do only arcades, the only arcade to be next to a supercharger is Dave and Busters Glendale AZ.

The Tesla only works out for me most the time because I have a charger at home so I rarely have charge outside my home base when commuting 1-2 hours away each way. I live in Lake Forest CA / Orange County and my farther daily commutes will only be out to San Diego, Los Angeles area, or San Bernardino. And majority the time I can make it back home without having to charge if I leave with 90-100%. But when you don't have that home base to charge, you're forced to spend about an hour to get a full charge eventually. And my friend's parents house was in Chandler, and Tempe was the closest place to supercharge, so we get about a full charge, but the commute back to his home will eat up 15-20% of the battery so we would arrive to his house with about 75% to start the next day.

The only place in Phoenix AZ I saw with free charging like CA was a Volta nearby Dave and Busters Glendale which is near State Farm Stadium where AZ Cardinals play. But at night when that shopping center closes security puts up barricades.