What matters most when choosing an EV charging station?
Discussion
Been racking my brains on this. Trying to work out if it's the brand (i.e. Tesla, Electroverse, InstaVolt, Evyve etc.) or if it's things like speed of charge, amenities etc. Cause lets face it. Charging our cars over filling up our cars requires additional time and so do we now look to incorporate charge time into the overall driving experience
Price if it's fair weather! My eNy1 is not capable of charging at a higher rate than about 50kW/ hr, so it's going to be a bit of wait wherever I go. Only on long journeys in the last 2 yrs has it been necessary (about 10% of my charging). In Cornwall last May, I lay on the grass in the sunshine for over an hour whilst using a 7kw charger that was 'only' 53p. In winter though, I've pay extra for a faster supply. 
Next would be facilities. I don't advocate this buying food and drink at inflated prices at services, I take my own, but somewhere warm to stand inside, with a clean toilet is nice.
As for brands, I've used a public Tesla Supercharger and the cable was only just long enough. I use Electroverse otherwise, getting a discount for being an Octopus customer (previously...)
Next would be facilities. I don't advocate this buying food and drink at inflated prices at services, I take my own, but somewhere warm to stand inside, with a clean toilet is nice.
As for brands, I've used a public Tesla Supercharger and the cable was only just long enough. I use Electroverse otherwise, getting a discount for being an Octopus customer (previously...)
king app and how likely it is to be working.
Quality of electrons 
As we all know, poor quality fuel can clog injectors and degrade the performance of your ICE vehicle. What people haven't yet twigged is that low-end electrons can clog wiring and battery cells, decreasing the acceleration and range of an EV.
I'm looking forward to the Which?, Auto Express, and AA analyses of different suppliers' electrons as the market competition intensifies.
As we all know, poor quality fuel can clog injectors and degrade the performance of your ICE vehicle. What people haven't yet twigged is that low-end electrons can clog wiring and battery cells, decreasing the acceleration and range of an EV.
I'm looking forward to the Which?, Auto Express, and AA analyses of different suppliers' electrons as the market competition intensifies.
Location and availability.
After that, speed matters in that it's nice to have something more than 50kW, but once you get to about 100kW that's "good enough" given that we usually want to stretch our legs anyway.
Price is relatively low down the priority for us, given that <5% of our charging is done on public chargers.
After that, speed matters in that it's nice to have something more than 50kW, but once you get to about 100kW that's "good enough" given that we usually want to stretch our legs anyway.
Price is relatively low down the priority for us, given that <5% of our charging is done on public chargers.
For me its all about location and availability of charger, the charging speed, and the availability of a decent coffee at a reasonable price. The cost per kWh s irrelevant, as doing 15k miles a year the proportion of fast charging to charging at home is tiny. Even when doing 30k miles a few years ago the proportion of away from home charging was still pretty low, or at last low enough for me not to be bothered about the impact it had on the overall cost per mile.
Living on the south coast and generally driving west or north I found my time with a Tesla distinctly underwhelming...none of the Tesla chargers were on the main routes that I use regularly - close to them, but not on, so I sued normal servce stations most of the time. I reckon Tott Hill (A34) and Chieveley (A34/M4) are my most used fast chargers, for a quick 10 / 15 minute top-up on the way home from wherever as needed. Shell at Tott hill nicer (but smaller), but there is the distraction of the adjacent McDonalds to contend with
Living on the south coast and generally driving west or north I found my time with a Tesla distinctly underwhelming...none of the Tesla chargers were on the main routes that I use regularly - close to them, but not on, so I sued normal servce stations most of the time. I reckon Tott Hill (A34) and Chieveley (A34/M4) are my most used fast chargers, for a quick 10 / 15 minute top-up on the way home from wherever as needed. Shell at Tott hill nicer (but smaller), but there is the distraction of the adjacent McDonalds to contend with
Just convenience for me! I suspect the vast majority of other EV drivers too, given that using a public charger is generally a rare occurrence so cost isn't really a significant factor. For those using them frequently, cost and loyalty to one network (for a discount) is more important of course.
I never pre-plan charging anymore. Once the battery SoC and my personal desire to stop begin to cross over, I'll get the nav (google maps via android auto for me), to identify chargers along my route - there are ALWAYS chargers now, whatever the route. Then I'll glance at a few, select the ones that are not full/nearly full unless they have a poor review score. If the review score isn't good then you're likely to find some sort of frustration when you arrive.
This simple process is one I do on the fly. Cost doesn't come into it. The review scores are the most important thing and it's surely why I never seem to encounter the 'impossible' chargers that others seem endlessly plagued by!
I never pre-plan charging anymore. Once the battery SoC and my personal desire to stop begin to cross over, I'll get the nav (google maps via android auto for me), to identify chargers along my route - there are ALWAYS chargers now, whatever the route. Then I'll glance at a few, select the ones that are not full/nearly full unless they have a poor review score. If the review score isn't good then you're likely to find some sort of frustration when you arrive.
This simple process is one I do on the fly. Cost doesn't come into it. The review scores are the most important thing and it's surely why I never seem to encounter the 'impossible' chargers that others seem endlessly plagued by!
andrewpandrew said:
Assuming we're talking about rapid chargers, I've never really given it much more thought than is it where I need it to be. I tend to just let the car, or ABRP tell me where to go. That's a marked difference to my ICE car where I only use Shell/Tesco stations.
I worked opposite a few depot many years ago ago. Tesco, Sainsbury’s and BP tankers all used the same filling points. I use Costco as it the cheapest near me. Changing points are different because you have to wait and therefore you need to consider cost and use of time. As a diabetic eating crap food has no interest to me.
1) Likelihood of getting on a working charger
2) Not too slow
3) Starbucks or better coffee shop in walking distance
(2) and (3) are to some extent either-or, sometimes I only need ten minutes charging at 150kW, other times I'm wanting to have a proper break from driving so peak power is less critical.
ashenfie said:
andrewpandrew said:
Assuming we're talking about rapid chargers, I've never really given it much more thought than is it where I need it to be. I tend to just let the car, or ABRP tell me where to go. That's a marked difference to my ICE car where I only use Shell/Tesco stations.
I worked opposite a few depot many years ago ago. Tesco, Sainsbury s and BP tankers all used the same filling points. I use Costco as it the cheapest near me. Changing points are different because you have to wait and therefore you need to consider cost and use of time. As a diabetic eating crap food has no interest to me.
As far as cost is concerned, I do it so infrequently that cost isn't a factor, convenience is king. If I charged on the road more often there may be a more nuanced strategy, but I don't, so there isn't.
Why do so many people seem to think that EV drivers are forced to buy expensive poor quality food and drink while charging? I can't think that I've ever done that. I'm more likely to stick a pair of running shoes in the boot and go for a run, or take the dog for a walk. We're not all charging at god awful motorway services.
andrewpandrew said:
ashenfie said:
andrewpandrew said:
Assuming we're talking about rapid chargers, I've never really given it much more thought than is it where I need it to be. I tend to just let the car, or ABRP tell me where to go. That's a marked difference to my ICE car where I only use Shell/Tesco stations.
I worked opposite a few depot many years ago ago. Tesco, Sainsbury s and BP tankers all used the same filling points. I use Costco as it the cheapest near me. Changing points are different because you have to wait and therefore you need to consider cost and use of time. As a diabetic eating crap food has no interest to me.
As far as cost is concerned, I do it so infrequently that cost isn't a factor, convenience is king. If I charged on the road more often there may be a more nuanced strategy, but I don't, so there isn't.
Why do so many people seem to think that EV drivers are forced to buy expensive poor quality food and drink while charging? I can't think that I've ever done that. I'm more likely to stick a pair of running shoes in the boot and go for a run, or take the dog for a walk. We're not all charging at god awful motorway services.
I very rarely charge at public chargers but having a Tesla then I'll let the car do the deciding where to stop. Most chargers are in service stations or shopping centres so I'll plug in and go to the loo, maybe grab a coffee but if I don't need to then I'll pop Netflix on and watch something for 20 mins.
Tycho said:
I very rarely charge at public chargers but having a Tesla then I'll let the car do the deciding where to stop. Most chargers are in service stations or shopping centres so I'll plug in and go to the loo, maybe grab a coffee but if I don't need to then I'll pop Netflix on and watch something for 20 mins.
In the i4 I sometimes play angry birds on the screen I may have overcharged and paid more than I needed to once....
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