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Using a non-Tesla charger
- Thread starter TM3PTN
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vitesse
Active Member
Polar with contactless - is there a connection fee? Is there any benefit or disadvantage to using the app?
I don't think so but haven't tried it yet. There doesn't seem to be anything on their website or on the physical machine that says there is.
If you're using Polar Plus, you don't actually need the app I don't think. You can use it to find charge stations, but you can also use ZapMap for that, although the Polar app seems to be a little bit more relable in terms of if a station is avalible or not.
Also just another bit of info regarding Polar - if you sign up for their subscription you get the first three months free (subscription is free, not the electricity used when charging).
If you're using Polar Plus, you don't actually need the app I don't think. You can use it to find charge stations, but you can also use ZapMap for that, although the Polar app seems to be a little bit more relable in terms of if a station is avalible or not.
Also just another bit of info regarding Polar - if you sign up for their subscription you get the first three months free (subscription is free, not the electricity used when charging).
Polar Instant is the No subscription app. They mention £1.20 min but thats if its a chargable point (i think its just mentioned on every charge point). I use a free one at a Asda and it is free but does mention £1.20 min on the app. Still works and no payment charged.
If you use Polar and dont want to pay the £8 a month subscription, use the Polar Instant rather than tap to pay. Its slightly cheaper.
I use a 50kw Polar charger and on the subscription its 15p/kwh, Polar Instant App is 25p & tap to pay is 30p
If you use Polar and dont want to pay the £8 a month subscription, use the Polar Instant rather than tap to pay. Its slightly cheaper.
I use a 50kw Polar charger and on the subscription its 15p/kwh, Polar Instant App is 25p & tap to pay is 30p
On my local Polar 50kW point the screen says 22p per kWh if paying by contactless. I just downloaded the Polar Instant app and it says 25p per kWh.
When you use the Polar 50kW charger, does it say the same on screen? What does it charge you?
vitesse
Active Member
To me that's a connection fee
But I assume it's not in addition to energy used.We really need to have simple pay for what you need without subscriptions and other complication - I'd include 'minimum vend' as well.
Mine says 25p on the charger but might be different in places?, not used it since last week. Im there tomorrow and will double check
(MacD's breakfast, Netflix & a charge - its my new Friday treat)Hope it is 22p! I have the subscription as it is free for the first 3 months so using this, but finding its not really worth it as i dont use enough to cover the subscription cost.
Also I love that we come from far more expensive ICE cars with expensive fuel, congestion charge, ULEZ, road tax etc but yet are trying to find the cheapest electricity, even when it's a few pence per kWh....hahaha
I'm doing calculations and to find some charge points are a few £ more than others, but yet the entire cost, even the more expensive one, is less than a quarter of a cost of a tank of petrol.
I'm doing calculations and to find some charge points are a few £ more than others, but yet the entire cost, even the more expensive one, is less than a quarter of a cost of a tank of petrol.
Jason71
Well-Known Member
really? A lot of fast chargers are upwards of 35p/KW
At 35p per KW and say 3 miles to the KW you are talking about 11.6p/mile in electrons
My diesel does 50mpg at at £1.30 per litre that works out at 11.8p/mile
(The the VED on my sub £40K diesel is also half the VED cost on a Tesla)
The above is just and example will be different for everyone but when i get an M3 I will be trying hard to avoid paying anymore than Supercharger rates because at that point I will be sad knowing I may actually be paying more per mile than I pay for diesel.
Of course I can't take the diesel car home and fill it up most of the time for 20p per litre so the average will be a lot lower for a Tesla but it will still hurt inside every time I have to do it.
Ionity also look good once their network extends. 200kW CCS chargers and a fixed £8 per charge. If you went in with only 10% and topped up to 90% would only work out about 13p per kWh.
For Model 3, there's no adapters: for non-Supercharger rapid charging you use CCS (for which the chargepoint always has the cable attached). For AC (slow) charging at most public locations you will need your Type2-Type2 cable which you should have received with the car.
Here's a summary of major networks I wrote a year ago, mostly still valid.
Charging: a confused new owner...
For Model 3, Ecotricity should be lower in your expectations than for a Model S driver, as many Ecotricity locations have two units where both support CHAdeMO (usable by Model S with adapter) but only one supports CCS (as needed for Model 3). Also, CCS reliability at Ecotricity units is reputedly poor.
Ionity is one to watch; not many locations yet but high power and the locations they have got are well located (motorways).
Dozens of other minor networks, mostly with heavy coverage in a small area so if you happen to go to that area you may need to use them.
How much effort you need to put into this (I currently have 11 apps on my phone, 4 RFID cards that still work and several old ones that don't) depends to what extent you regard your Tesla as a "go anywhere" car. Mine is the only car in the family, and I allow my wife to book accommodation for weekends away in random parts of the country without considering charging - I have to make it work. If you have another car you use for difficult trips, or you are prepared to treat availability of charging as a factor in booking hotels, or simply have a more regular pattern to your driving then you may not need to bother.
Note that installing your own is illegal in England/Wales as you are creating a new circuit (probably also not allowed in Scotland but I'm less familiar with the rules there). Admittedly unlikely to get caught.
With PodPoint, in theory you need to create an account and "claim" the charge within 15 minutes even if it's free. However, unlike some other networks you don't need to load any money onto your account until you use one that costs money. In practice, some of their free locations are set up to give unlimited free charging (particularly ones with poor mobile coverage).
Pricing on PodPoint is quite variable as it is set by the site host - some hourly, some per kWh.
The app has a lower per-kWh price than contactless, and the monthly-subscription plan is lower still.
The standard pricing is supposed to be 15p for subscribers who pay the monthly fee, 25p if you use the PolarInstant app, 30p if you yse contactless.
Nottingham is a special case as the installation (by Polar/BPChargemaster) was grant-funded. There's supposedly a discounted rate for local residents.
There are also CYC locations, which are different from Polar locations despite the fact that CYC is now owned by Chargemaster. These locations have rather variable pricing as it's determined by the site owner. Note that the Polar card works at CYC locations, but you still pay the CYC price not the usual Polar price.
However, they have now announced that they are going to retrofit all their rapid chargepoints over the next year.
Beware that with Polar's "ultrachargers" the contactless integration is a bit of a bodge (unless they've improved it recently): it has two card readers, one that you use to identify yourself (so that random strangers can't terminate your charge), and a separate one for the contactless billing. With Polar's account card, you just use the first card reader and all is simple. For contactless with a bank card, you present your card to both readers. For ApplePay, presenting your phone to the first card reader will get you into trouble as Apple randomises the serial number and it will appear like a different card next time - best to use a standard bank card for that.
Others have had comparable bodges (the fact that Ionity have a fixed price per charge rather than per kWh is almost certainly because their card processing can't handle variable pricing yet). The only one that seems to have got the integration done really properly is Instavolt (using Tritium/Chargepoint equipment).
MrBadger
Badger out
Just putting this out there if anyone has any experience with these. I've not had a chance to research any app etc just yet. There seems not much on website without registering.
This is Rolec's "EV charge online" network - launched with some fanfare three years ago, but I've never found one that I wanted to use.
Rolec are of course primarily an equipment supplier. At the time, it looked as if Rolec wanted a bigger slice of the grant-assisted (councils etc.) market with their equipment - they had supplied equipment in the past, but councils want a turnkey package of the equipment and management, particularly as they now want to collect payment rather than just giving the equipment away for free. Rolec's competitors such as Chargemaster offered the full package of their own equipment and network management.
That plan didn't seem to work out - a handful of true public locations seem to have appeared, but it's never taken off as a major network. However, what actually seems to have happened is that they pitch this solution for companies wanting to offer workplace charging without giving it away for free. If you look on the map, most of the locations turn out to be private carparks of one sort or another.
So possibly useful if you happen to be a visitor at one of the sites that has adopted this strategy, but of limited interest for general-access charging.
Note also that Rolec sell very similar looking kit with various other options for payment/access control - physical tokens for retail locations that can sell you the tokens out of a till, keys, RFID etc. And of course free-vend.
Preferred route is not DIY, but you can and get it certified by the council. I'm happy I know enough to do this safely and it would get certified, probably, if I asked. Plus the garage it's all in is getting buldozed in a few months an I'll be getting a podpoint or something then, which will be a pro installed. 16A is my self certified limit...
Will be getting some commando sockets installed at the parents and inlaws, those will be done by a sparky as intended for the long run.
Talking about Polar Plus, you can get 2 years free PLUS memebership if you join OVO energy. Link below if anyone wants to have a look. (Sorry i have no referral and not there customer)
EV Everywhere | Electricity bundle for electric car owners
EV Everywhere | Electricity bundle for electric car owners
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