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setting up a chargepoint account saves time when using a unit on their system. they will send you an rfid fob which will activate the charger. without the fob you'll need to call an 800 number everytime you stop and you'll need to provide a cc number if it is a pay unit.
deonb
Active Member
Plugshare you can use for free - no reason to sign up for it, unless you really need to borrow a charger from a private party. I think we're probably beyond needing that.
Depending on where you live, it does help having ChargePoint & Blink cards though. There's no monthly so it's not an ongoing expense.
Do you have a Chademo adapter? If so, depending on where you live, you may also need to use Aerovironment every now and again but they're a royal PITY. Their business model is monthly subscription, which seems to be to exclusively cater for Leaf owners who doesn't have chargers at home. So there is no real good way to deal with them except to make a phone call every time you're at one of their chargers. I really wish they would go out of business already and have their assets picked up by Blink.
PS: It's easier for people to correctly respond to you if you fill out at least your 'state' in your profile.
I signed up with Charge Point 4 years ago when I got my Karma. To date, I have never found a Charge Point location. I don't mean drive by one, I mean on their website. They had the "free" chargers at Walgreen's here in the SE. But a stand-aloe charger ... nothing. It was $25 deposit that has been on my card now for 4 years. Plug Share seems to be available in a number of locations, i.e. Shopping Centers. Plug Share seems to be the "choice" of Nissan Leaf owners
They may have changed how the $25 deposit is charged. When I signed up last week, I had to provide a credit card but it said that I wouldn't be charged until I used a charger that wasn't free. Then a $25 charge would be made and any usage would be deducted from that balance.
Yes, Plugshare is a great resource on its own, as a very up-to-date collected source of all kinds of charging resources. Contrary to how @Aljohn refers to it, Plugshare is not a network itself, so there aren’t any Plugshare brand charging points. It is just a map/listing of others’.
As to this other part you say about how awful you think Aerovironment is and how would go out of business and get bought up by (on the)Blink, your experience is apparently far different than most people’s. There is a good reason why the nickname ontheBlink exists. They have a terrible reputation for their charging points being broken and out of service. Also, you refer to the Aerovironment network as if the only type of use is the monthly subscription. That’s not the case at all. You can also pay for one time use without any account at any of their chargers. They are integrated in the “Pay with Plugshare” system, so when you are at the charger, you can just select the charger in the Plugshare mobile app, input your credit card number and use it—quite easy. It is $7.50 for a CHAdeMO session, or $4 for a J1772 session.
plugshare doesn't operate chargers they just inform you of where chargers are located
I think the theory is that SCs are for long distance type travel vs within a metro area. I live in the DC area and find that I need public high speed chargers a couple of times a month (CHAdeMO). I have a subscription to eVgo and Charge Point which works well for that. The SCs in the area aren't convenient at all for where I go daily.
I use Plug Share whenever I travel out of the area to figure out where I can find chargers. Yes I use the Nav app in the car, but I also want to know what else is available as the SCs are often not convenient to my final destination. A few weeks ago we drove up to the Lancaster PA area. No SCs nearby. I used Plug Share to find a CHAdeMO charger at a Royal Farms convenience store (free) but run by Charge Point.
My net net is Plug Share a necessity. Charging services optional but valuable for me..
It couldn't hurt to sign up with ChargePoint. That said, I haven't used my ChargePoint Fob in over 2 years. I have been using destination chargers and Super Chargers since I got my Model S 10 months or so ago.
You do not need to give them any money when you sign up. but having the ChargePoint fob makes it easier to activate even their free EVSEs. there are other methods, one involving a call to customer service, and the other the ChargePoint App, but they are hardly worth it. You can carry the FOB in your wallet, or on your key. I used to leave mine in my Chevy Volt full time but have it buried in my wallet these days.
If you have a Smartphone with NFC capability, you can use any credit card to activate these stations. I used my old Chase Debit card to charge at $3/hr ChargePoint stations before they mailed me the FOB. worked like normal, so NFC with a smartphone should work too.
You do not need to give them any money when you sign up. but having the ChargePoint fob makes it easier to activate even their free EVSEs. there are other methods, one involving a call to customer service, and the other the ChargePoint App, but they are hardly worth it. You can carry the FOB in your wallet, or on your key. I used to leave mine in my Chevy Volt full time but have it buried in my wallet these days.
If you have a Smartphone with NFC capability, you can use any credit card to activate these stations. I used my old Chase Debit card to charge at $3/hr ChargePoint stations before they mailed me the FOB. worked like normal, so NFC with a smartphone should work too.
You want to sign up with PlugShare because if you don't, you can't see the residential locations (which often have HPWCs).
Blink and ChargePoint are free (to get the card) so there's no reason not to have them just in case. Note that in three years, I've used the ChargePoint card once and the Blink card zero (and I'm not in an SC rich area like some folks), but as long as it doesn't cost for the card...
Blink and ChargePoint are free (to get the card) so there's no reason not to have them just in case. Note that in three years, I've used the ChargePoint card once and the Blink card zero (and I'm not in an SC rich area like some folks), but as long as it doesn't cost for the card...
+1 to this Chargepoint is really easy now. I did not need to sign up on their website. These stations have been around for a while, when NFC wasn't on our creditcards or phones. Since several modern smartphones have NFC working, I was just able to tap my phone on the screen to enable charging with Apple Pay. The great thing was that the ones I went to were 100% free. They did a test $1 auth but I'll get that back after seven days.
Most hotel destination chargers I have used do not require activation. Some are Tesla HPWC and other J1772 simply are plug in. I have a Chargepoint card because we go to Disneyworld a lot and the ones I have used have been fairly reliable. I have a Greenlots rfid fob I use with their Chademo. Plugshare can also be very useful for determining how reliable a station is. The rating number in the corner gives a rough idea (10 is best) but read through the checkins and you get a feel for frequency of use and successful charges. Note that not everyone checks in that uses the charger.
If your route has Superchargers you'll probably never level 2 charge except for destinations and then only if there is not a Supercharger close by.
If your route has Superchargers you'll probably never level 2 charge except for destinations and then only if there is not a Supercharger close by.
Chargepoint sucks, but it's everywhere. If you want to be guaranteed to be able to charge (if the chargepoint station is working) make sure to sign up and get the free RFID key tags. I've been caught at one station that isn't even on chargepoint's own map.
+1. I was at one and tried to use the phone app to activate it No joy. Guy on the phone couldn't see it on his network either. Dug through the bowels of my car and purse and found my chargepoint RFID card which DID work on it. so sometimes the RFID card is the only way to start the charge.
Fob not required. Pay with Plugshare can be used to activate the station for single use, without having an account. Or, you can also just call and activate it over the phone for single use. If you want to have the monthly $20 "all you can charge" plan, then you will need to sign up and get the RFID fob for that.
xkwizit
Member
With charge point sign up, you can use their app on a smartphone and you won't need the RFID card or fob.
Sometimes they list their charging stations confusingly. It would be so much better if they put a scannable QR code on their stations to activate with the app. At SFO, I tried activating one but it activated a station on another parking level.
xkwizit
Member
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