Octopus Electric Universe app/card and public charge points

[Utumno]

I am just on a roadtrip to Scotland from London and try to use the Electric Universe card only as I have some charging credit from when I got the car.

I can say that it works well and is very easy (used on Shell Recharge, Osprey and Ionity so far - all just like a contactless card. The are slower though, I never got more than 150kw even on 350kw Ionity chargers at low battery.

Having said that, it's a faff when you have to plan yourself where you stop, etc. With the SuC the car does it all for you, and it's even easier with just plugging in ... you stop where it tells you to, then continue.

Overall, Supercharger wins any time for me, by a mile. But this is a solid second place and a good alternative.

I did Oxford > Bray > Solihull > Oxford today and the Tesla in-car satnav directed me to an Osprey stall without any intervention from me, though I manually opted for a Supercharge at Wheatley due to a combination of per kWh cost (SuC cheaper than Osprey) and the fact Mrs U wanted a Starbucks

So I think the faff factor of manual planning, once “reliable chargers” are being advertised by networks into Tesla’s navigation systems, is going away little by little. Payment, obviously, is more of a faff outside Tesla’s ecosystem!

 

[HCassidy]

Found a few of the new Shell NewMotion stations are not on the Electroverse app but will accept the RFID card. They also default to 56p/kWh which is good for a 120kW charger.

The card will only work on the payment terminal on the rapid charger, and does not work on the 22kW units

 

[interbear]

Only just discovered this. I'm an Octopus Go customer for home energy so they sent me the Electric Universe card before Xmas. Just got round to paying attention to it, downloaded the app and set it up. Looks a good and complementary alternative to the Tesla Supercharger network. Especially as it just gets billed to my Octopus account. Nice and easy, if it works, which based on this thread, seems to be a positive experience for most.

 

[s7gpt]

thanks all, forgot I had this, bobbed it in my wallet just in case

 

[BeerOhYeah]

and it also works all across Europe too - which was amazingly easy on our trip to the alps earlier this month

 

[inimic]

and it also works all across Europe too - which was amazingly easy on our trip to the alps earlier this month

I am interested in this, have you actuall;y used in Europe?

 

[NewbieT]

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Looks like Octopus have “plug & charge” yay! But only for Ionity and not for Tesla’s. Mmm.

 

[MrBadger]

Good to see, when it eventually rolls out to wider network and cars, but it does beg the question, when you plug in and might have a couple of charge service providers (eg Octopus, Shell etc), some cheaper than others, what happens about choosing the best priced/most appropriate provider?

 

[WllXM]

Good to see, when it eventually rolls out to wider network and cars, but it does beg the question, when you plug in and might have a couple of charge service providers (eg Octopus, Shell etc), some cheaper than others, what happens about choosing the best priced/most appropriate provider?

My question exactly. I shuffle between a good half-dozen of cards in my glovebox, especially for trips throughout Europe. The pricing can go up to a 2x-3x difference between providers, some of them can even be free at certain locations.
I understand that with plug & charge, you somehow register your vehicle VIN (or equivalent) with the provider of your choice, who will end up billing you. So unless you can use a fast toggle in their apps to enable/disable P&C and give priority to a certain provider over another, RFID is actually more convenient.
P&C will probably be good for people who don't want to spend any time thinking about this and who don't care saving a few quids, it will of course be more convenient.

For instance, I've used Octopus to charge my car at the Eurotunnel last week. 32p/kWh for their fast 150kW points vs 50p at the Tesla SUC which is right next to it!

 

[Dominion]

A well priced alternative to superchargers is Euro Garages new EV Point (ChargePoint) sites. Generally 180kw chargers and 40p/kWh if you do it through the Electroverse card/app as opposed to 65p if using a credit/debit card.

I’ve used the ones at Frontier Park in Blackburn a few times now and worked flawlessly.

 

[doats1]

Currently on a road trip across Western Europe and Electric Universe has been great. It’s helped me find chargers at all my destinations from a variety of suppliers, and I haven’t needed to use the Octopus (or any other) app to start a charge. Just tap the card, plug in and go. I’ve also been able to confidently use non-Tesla rapid chargers at a cheaper rate than superchargers right next to them.

The prices are reasonable enough that I don’t mind just using one membership simply for the level of convenience it brings.

Also, European chargers are far more reliable than UK ones.

 

[yessuz]

Currently on a road trip across Western Europe and Electric Universe has been great. It’s helped me find chargers at all my destinations from a variety of suppliers, and I haven’t needed to use the Octopus (or any other) app to start a charge. Just tap the card, plug in and go. I’ve also been able to confidently use non-Tesla rapid chargers at a cheaper rate than superchargers right next to them.

The prices are reasonable enough that I don’t mind just using one membership simply for the level of convenience it brings.

Also, European chargers are far more reliable than UK ones.

great news! I will be traveling in spain and will be using same..

however I noticed that for example Chargemap shows price 0.71 EUR while Electroverse shows 0.71 GBP (Iberdrola)

not much difference, but still.

p.s. one MER charger I quite often use on Electroverse app shown as 0.51 GBP while mer app is 0.25..

so always check price

 

[yessuz]

A well priced alternative to superchargers is Euro Garages new EV Point (ChargePoint) sites. Generally 180kw chargers and 40p/kWh if you do it through the Electroverse card/app as opposed to 65p if using a credit/debit card.

I’ve used the ones at Frontier Park in Blackburn a few times now and worked flawlessly.

I have one set next to me (Eurogarages).
their price stand shows £0.65 / kwh while Electroverse shows £0.37 / kwh (142 kw charger!). a proper bargain for fast charger on M42

 

[doats1]

great news! I will be traveling in spain and will be using same..

however I noticed that for example Chargemap shows price 0.71 EUR while Electroverse shows 0.71 GBP (Iberdrola)

not much difference, but still.

p.s. one MER charger I quite often use on Electroverse app shown as 0.51 GBP while mer app is 0.25..

so always check price

Interesting, I haven’t have that kind of discrepancy yet. I’ve used it in France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany so far and I’ve paid what I understand as equal to or slightly less than the price on the actual device.

Though it’s not always the cheapest option, which is fine by me as long as it’s not miles more expensive.

 

[Cardo]

It’s definitely worth checking the various apps before starting a charge. With all the price fluctuations you can sometimes get a right bargain by using a multi-network card, however sometimes it is cheaper to use the network’s open app, if you can be bothered to download and set it up. I guess it depends on how frequently you’re going to use those chargers. As a one-off, it may not be worth downloading yet another app…

 

[bhanorthy]

I did look at this, but it insists on giving me the price of a charge rather than the price per kWh. I understand why it does that (charging speed prediction and the like) but it wouldn’t be my preferred visualisation simply to find the “cheapest” option in a locality.

It also doesn’t appear to add VAT on in the rates in the UK either. And many provider rates rates are just incorrect anyway, or just plain missing. So Chargeprice got deleted.

“Works in Blighty” seems a bit of a stretch, from my experience

In settings tick “Always show price details”.
Then it shows average cost per kWh, very useful for Austria where a lot of providers charge per minute plugged in.