What are the alternatives to Tesla SC's?

[Aviator]

I'm new to EV's and collect my P90D next week.

I'm aware of the Ecotricity network and their newly introduced £6 charge for 30 mins, but what other non-Tesla charging alternatives are there and how extensive are the networks?

Thanks,
Dom.

 

[AlexFS]

Hi Dom

Congratulations on your purchase.

Pretty much every service station on the motorway has EV charging points. They seem to be from a variety of networks. Personally I've never used them. Partly because when I've wanted to use them I didn't have the right account setup and that couldn't be done on the fly.

That being said I've found that it is very rare that I need to use SuperChargers let alone 3rd party networks. Not because I don't travel long distances, but because most of the time I can get to my destination on a single charge and then refill over night on the 13 amp 3 pin sockets. Over the course of a couple of nights on a weekend away I've got myself a full tank again, enough to get back home.

Obviously everyones driving habits are different, but you might find that you actually need to charge en route less than you first imagined.

PlugShare is a good website/app that shows you all the public charging points. I think there are a few others.
ChargeMaster has their own network also.

Enjoy your Tesla

Alex

 

[NullException]

Hi Dom,

Ecotricity have a monopoly on motorway service areas, apart from some Welcome Break sites that Tesla are now building Superchargers at. Off the motorway, it's a patchwork of regional operators, each with their own infrastructure and tariffs. There is pretty good coverage across the UK. Some of them require you to have a card, some allow ad-hoc payments. There's a helpful summary here: Public charging networks - Plugged-in Places - Electric cars

But the good news is that you have a top-of-the-range Tesla and the Supercharger network is already pretty good and being improved. You're only really going to have to worry about charging outside Tesla's network if you're travelling in Wales, the Scottish Highlands or maybe Devon and Cornwall or East Anglia. The best approach is to use Charging points and electric vehicles UK 2016 - Zap Map , PlugShare or EV Trip Planner to find who provides rapid chargers on your route if the Supercharger network isn't convenient.

My guess is that your charging is going to happen in the following order:

1) at home
2) destination charging - at work, visiting family, or a charger at a hotel, restaurant, etc
3) Superchargers
4) rapid charger from another provider

Hope that helps. Are you buying a ChaDeMo adaptor?

 

[WannabeOwner]

East Anglia

<Cough!> There is a new-ish SC in Thetford, so en-route to and from Deepest Darkest Norfolk you can now top up

There are a couple of SC dead spots on long distance journeys for me, from home where I would start - particularly the A1, so perhaps worth considering what outbound / return routes you would use and where any dead-spots are.

Having some adaptors (perhaps CHAdeMO is the only extra you need?) would give some flexibility. Bjorn looks like he needs a trailer to carry all his!

He also has a video on CHAdeMO:

 

[Aviator]

Thanks for the advice everyone Sounds like a CHAdeMO will be all I need as the SC network covers most of the places I go regularly.

Dom.

 

[Everjen]

Has anyone used the SC at Village Urban Resort Leeds? Is it patron only use?

 

[arg]

Has anyone used the SC at Village Urban Resort Leeds? Is it patron only use?

AFAIK no supercharger is patrons-only (and all are also 24x7 access).

Destination chargers are different on both counts.

 

[pbceng]

I tend to use the Electric Highway with a CHAdeMO adaptor as a backup when out of range of Superchargers in England - I'm an Ecotricity customer so the recent charge introduction is included in my bills but even without that I'd still use them as a backup. I haven't yet ventured into Scotland but have subscribed to the CYC network which I believe would cover me there (again with CHAdeMO).

 

[noobey]

AFAIK no supercharger is patrons-only (and all are also 24x7 access).

Destination chargers are different on both counts.

Just a flag here, that the Superchargers in Royal Victoria Docks London, are often taken up by parked (non-EV) staff cars and vans.
All of the bays behind the barriers are for EV's, there are superchargers, Source chargers and Ecotricity, but security will flat out deny access depending on what mood they're in. Very rarely do I see EV cars in those bays, they're usually always taken by ICE cars.
Not sure who to even complain to about this kind of thing, so usually just end up going elsewhere to charge.

 

[WannabeOwner]

security will flat out deny access depending on what mood they're in. Very rarely do I see EV cars in those bays, they're usually always taken by ICE cars.
Not sure who to even complain to about this kind of thing

Dunno if nay use, but there is a comment on Plugshare (i.e. for the Royal Victoria Docks chargers)

"Security are very mean and probably will try to insist that charger doesn't work. Complain to Josh Palmer (can be found on LinkedIn)"

 

[arg]

Always complain to Tesla if you find a Supercharger ICEd or otherwise with access problems - they may not be able to do anything about the immediate problem, but they need to know how often problems are happening in order to pressure the landlords (and for the longer term to have better knowledge about site issues when they come to chosing new sites or expanding existing).