Going to try public charging next week any advice?

[Mikebentley]

I have driven and owned EVs for the last 3 + years and so far 80k miles. All of my charging is at home and that aspect has been perfect for my use case.

Next Wednesday 22/04/26 my son who has an offer from Imperial College London is going down for viewing and open day. I could take our Defender bur I actually quite fancy a trip in the EV above its range as a sort of experiment. The car in question is a Smart #1 66 kw with a range of 280 miles approx.

We will be leaving WR14 Malvern Worcestershire and travelling to SW7 5BD approximately 139 miles and returning after about 6 hours. The plan is get there park and whilst he explores the Uni and accommodation I’ll have a mooch round the museums and see if I can sell my body to pay for him living in that there London.

My questions are as follows and please bear with me as I have never needed to charge away from home.

1) Recommend a good free app to use that will plan my route and necessary charges. Happy to get home with 15/20% SOC. Will look at in built navigation today too.
2)Is there a recommendation for a payment app that covers multiple providers I could use ? Energy is Octopus at home if that matters or which Charge Point companies allow payment by “tap and go”.
3) I am tempted to use Tesla chargers is this painless for non T drivers?
4) Is there parking near Natural History Museum with charging?

Sorry for all the questions but want to make an adventure out of a necessary trip and am keen to try public infrastructure.

Thanks in anticipation Mike

[SDK]

My public charging process :

->Open ZapMap : https://www.zapmap.com/live/
-> Apply a filter for the speed of chargers I want
-> Find a couple of charging sites on the route, near nice food places if possible
-> Optional whilst on route : 5 mins before I get to the charging site I ask my passenger to check the charging availability on the ZapMap app . If it's full (it never has been) then I would drive onto the next one.

I'm sure there are easier or more complicated ways of finding a charger, but for over 6 years this has worked fine for me.

Once you do a trip in the same direction a couple of times, you get to know the best charging places, so don't need to do the ZapMap research again.

Edited by SDK on Wednesday 15th April 15:16

[sixor8]

If you have Octopus at home, you'll get 5% off Electroverse affiliated chargers. I used them a lot until I went to EON. I can now also use the Tesla chargers that are open to non-Teslas. You'll need an app for either, or just a card for Electroverse but that'd take time to arrive.

Podpoint is relatively cheap, but slow, available at many Tesco sites. I use Zap map too to identify firstly, because everything available is listed.

It was very simple to use a Tesla public charger once you've added a payment card to your account in the app. You can start and stop it via the app.

[Skodillac]

ABRP (A Better Route Planner) is my favoured app for routing and charger finding. Seeks out the most reliable and least occupied chargers.

You're a bit late to order one I think but Octopus will send you an RFID card (called Electroverse) to pay at huge numbers of chargers - swipe the card and it gets billed to your domestic electricity account. Works great. Maybe call them and see if you can get one before next week. It works all over Europe.

Edited by Skodillac on Wednesday 15th April 15:22

[Mikebentley]

said:

I downloaded Zapmap again this weekend. Any ideas on accessing the Charge Point based on service provider? Is it still a minefield or will I need 14 apps to cover all eventualities?

[Mammasaid]

Skodillac said:

ABRP (A Better Route Planner) is my favoured app for routing and charger finding. Seeks out the most reliable and least occupied chargers.

You're a bit late to order one I think but Octopus will send you an RFID card (called Electroverse) to pay at huge numbers of chargers - swipe the card and it gets billed to your domestic electricity account. Works great. Maybe call them and see if you can get on before next week. It works all over Europe.

If you sign up to Electroverse you can use the app immediately without having to wait for the card.

https://electroverse.com

[hidetheelephants]

Unless you're going to do regular en-route charging an app is a bit pointless, just go to a convenient public charger and use your debit or credit card to pay for it. As far as I can tell all charging networks have direct payment enabled now and I can't be bothered filling my phone with stuff I don't use.

[SteBrown91]

I have the following apps installed on my phone:

1)Electroverse (for map and charging - also have the RFID card)
2)Zapmap (just in case theres a charger not covered by electroverse I could use)
3)Tesla - So I can find the open to all superchargers

I also have Gridserve but to be honest I could probably ditch it (Ive never used it since installing it, but they aren't on electroverse so had it has a backup in case I was on a DC/Motorway and needed a charge).

I have only charged via Electroverse since I got my car nearly 2 years ago apart from having to sign up for an App when I stopped at a Haven site, so that should cover all your needs.

[SWoll]

Park somewhere on the outskirts and get the train in would be my advice. Avoids the hassle of public charging and driving/parking in central London.

[TheRainMaker]

There is street parking all around that area; getting a spot might mean driving around a few times, depending on the time of day.

Loads of street chargers as well, but, as above, it might take some time to drive around to find one. They look like they are shell recharge. It might be worth having a look at their app, as you might struggle with contactless.

If you drive in and out on the A4 (M4), there is a new rapid hub (BP) on the Cromwell Road heading out of town, and also a rapid hub westbound in the Heston services on the M4 just before you hit the M25.

Driving to Imperial College is very easy; it is one road all the way in if you are coming in on the A4. We do it quite a bit to go to the Science Museum, etc.

Oh, and get the RingGo app for paying for parking and make sure your payment details are all sorted

[Mikebentley]

SWoll said:

Park somewhere on the outskirts and get the train in would be my advice. Avoids the hassle of public charging and driving/parking in central London.

Appreciate this but I don’t do public transport. Only time I use it is going on a plane! I quite like driving in London and accept the additional expense.

[Mikebentley]

Thanks everyone great information. I have the Ring app for parking. Keen to try a rapid charger too. Is there a resource that shows rates etc?

[frisbee]

Take all credit/debit cards you have, a Tesla charger didn't like 2 of mine, probably because I hardly ever use them contactless.

[Mikebentley]

Just uploaded the electroverse app and linked it to my card and Octopus account.

[DSLiverpool]

The sense of apprehension and dread when entering the services / charging area never leave me but I’ve never had an issue waiting more than 20 minutes or so and mostly no issues at all.

[Mikebentley]

DSLiverpool said:

The sense of apprehension and dread when entering the services / charging area never leave me but I ve never had an issue waiting more than 20 minutes or so and mostly no issues at all.

I’m quite excited. First routing attempt has me cross country Malvern, Cheltenham, Oxford then M40 and on to the Natural History Museum. About 131 miles. Then stop on way home with 19% to 56% charge (20 minutes to charge).

I may just street charge when I get there and have enough to comfortably get home. Lots of options.

[delta0]

Electroverse is the way. I often plan long routes with ABRP and then I can just plot the car to go to that charger and it will do all the preheating etc.

[sixor8]

Mikebentley said:

Just uploaded the electroverse app and linked it to my card and Octopus account.

Nice one. IME, the app was more reliable than the RFID car anyway. It sometimes got no response but the app always worked. It'll show you the price before you get there, be aware you can search and filter for speeds of charger. I've found some of the best compromise between speed and cost (motorway services, Gloucester aside, can be exorbitant) was in Aldi or Lidl supermarkets. Not usually that busy either.

[hidetheelephants]

DSLiverpool said:

The sense of apprehension and dread when entering the services / charging area never leave me but I ve never had an issue waiting more than 20 minutes or so and mostly no issues at all.

You haven't lived until you've got the miles remaining under 5 and it's gone into snail mode.

[sixor8]

I got home with 1% / 2 miles las week. A miscalculation.

It was 'reduced power' (Honda eNy1) but still drove mostly the same. I'm not brave / stupid enough to go to zero to find out if it'll still crawl along!