How was your first ever public charging experience? Are you happy using all these different apps? Or would one app for all charging providers be better? Maybe the solution is what Europe is doing...making sure that all chargers have working credit card payment systems? Share your comments below!
EV charging is not too hard, just the first time you set it up it takes some time, but once you have an account it is much faster to get hooked up and charging. The RFID cards are awesome.
This means you’ve never signed up for a public charging network in the USA before? Never downloaded their app? Never signed up for their service? Either you drive a Tesla or exclusively charge in your garage.
She brought up a good point about having more pictures for people whose first language isn't English! As for if I ever find myself downloading an app only after I get to a charger, password vaults (not just your browser!) can also vault your payment methods so that helps the autofill along.
I prefer the Quebec rfid card over the Flo. It has automatic reload. In case you are in remote location without internet. They both work on same charger networks.
Have had or EV for a couple of weeks, and have yet to charge away from home. Charging at home is brilliantly easy. Once the BC RFID arrives I’ll get out and check out charging. They will need to create a much easier charging experience for widespread adoption to take place.
Until it’s as easy as pumping gas, people will have a harder time adopting. This is why I applaud Europe and their law saying that all public chargers must have credit card terminals.
Plug and Charge, such as the Tesla Supercharger and EVGo. Basically you plug in, the charger reads your car's VIN number and an associated credit/debit card and it begins charging.
It’s going to be interesting to see how charging evolves now that all EV manufacturers have adopted the NACS standard. It should make road tripping for us nontesla owners a much easier experience.
It all depends if plug and charge will be implemented across all manufacturers. If yes, then the experience will be as smooth as charging a Tesla. If not, then we will still need to fiddle with the Tesla app to start a charge. Time will tell.
One of the biggest drawbacks of these apps is the fact that each one has their own wallet. And you always need to have a positive balance to charge, even if the charger is free.
I've had my Bolt euv for ten months now. The first month I tried public charging with plenty of charge left in the battery so I could get home if things didn't work. Luckily I asked a couple ev groups what apps to get and downloaded them at home, and put $20 on three of them to start. Then I ordered the flo, chargepoint, and bc hydro cards, but they took awhile. I like Rosie's idea of also having pictorial instructions. Chevron-Journie is the flakiest I've used, but it's free so far; I've learned to uninstall and reinstall the Journie app after every use, or the app sometimes thinks the car's still charging next time I plug in.
Thanks for sharing your first charging experience. I’ve had the same issue with the Journie app so thank you for the suggestion. It always seems to have some issues.
I don't know when this changed but Flo now let's you charge without signing up for an account. A lot of the other apps do too, and it's helpful when you're at the charging station already. Otherwise, I just sign up at home.
My father does not have the Technical ability to be able to Charge a Car... He doesn't have a Cellphone, or email... he only knows how to pump fuel he hates computers, or screen phones... he only uses a land line.
Then he can charge at home. It’s just like plugging in a toaster. As for public charging, you can set up all the apps and order RFID cards for him. Then it’s just as easy as tapping a credit card.
@@LeftCoastEV Last night I viewed a Video of a 2021 Hyundai, that had a Road Hazzard issue, where the Dealership had Deemed the Car in operable condition. To Replace the Battery Pack would have Cost $60,000, which is more than a Brand New Ionic.. in the Video Hyundia will not Replace it and the Cost is out of Pocket... This is why I will never buy Electric Vehicle's (EV's) Thanks the response and i cou;ld help him somewhat, and he is really old school... I have been mechanical since I was 8 years old. 👨🏻👍🏻🏎🏎🏁🏁🚩🚩 Happy Holidays
BC Hydro is a good one to have. It allows you to charge not only on their network but also Flo, ChargePoint and Shell ReCharge. If you plan to travel in the US you can order the EVgo one. Works really well. Sadly Electrify Canada does not have a RFID but they do allow you to download a digital card to your phone wallet in case their app doesn’t work well. Same for Electrify America if you plan to travel in the States. That would be it, covers all your bases. Myself I like redundancy so I also ordered and use a Flo and ChargePoint RFID in case the other networks have an outage of some sort. Better to have backup when I really need to charge.
I'm so thankful that my work has level 2 charging (if I'm able to actually get one before they're all taken for the day). We have one of these boxy blue DC fast chargers near us operated by Circuit Electrique (Hydro Quebec) but Flo is a partner network so I can use my Flo account to pay there. But this station (which is the cheapest DC fast charger remotely near me) has been out of commission for over 2 weeks. Both Flo and Circuit Electrique have said there's no plans to fix the station because the property owner hasn't approved any repairs. I love having an EV but they really make it hard to charge the car (public chargers in Ottawa are terrible and my condo won't let us even level 1 charge off the plug at our parking space). Completely reliant on public chargers and again they are either broken or so far away from anything it's so not worth it to travel there. And none are near any kind of amenity.
Totally agree. Something needs to be done about increasing not only the number of chargers but also their reliability. Plus EV owners who live in condos should also be allowed to install chargers if they wish to do so. Home charging is a game changer and for me up until just recently was a luxury. Now I know how convenient it is to just charge my car at home and know I am ready to tackle the week of driving. I really do hope that Ontario increases the amount of public chargers available to EV owners.
Thanks. If you watch other videos on my channel you will know I drive lots of different Teslas. This video was meant to show the other side of EV ownership that does not include owning a Tesla. Thanks for watching!
The other somewhat annoying thing is none of these apps recognize my car, a 2023 Kia Soul EV. It's only sold in Canada, Korea, and Europe but since it's not sold in the US, even the apps that are Canadian companies (Chargepoint, Flo, Ivy, PlugShare etc) don't recognize my car so I had label it a 2022 model even though mine is 2023.
@@LeftCoastEV I love it and truthfully your earlier videos from over a year ago with your Soul was what convinced my husband and I to trade in our 2015 gas Kia Soul for this new 2023 EV model. I wish it had the battery preconditioning, it's confusing that our car doesn't have it yet the Kia Connect app says we do. And yeah we knew charging would be difficult but at least there's level 2 at my work but sometimes you need those faster charges and there's just not enough convenient DC chargers in this city (and in most of the province outside of Toronto).
Glad you like your Soul EV and a big thanks from me that the videos I made influenced your buying decision. It’s a great car and I really like it still. As you say the only factor that I miss is the battery preconditioning.
It is different but not difficult. Particularly when you do most of charging at home which is what most EV owners do. Fast charging is best reserved for longer 100+ mile road trips.
Well I have not carried cash in years but a card reader and payment terminal would be welcome. This is how it is in Europe. We are behind on this unfortunately.
I also have a great idea…watch the video till the end and you will find out that my wife said it was actually quite easy to sign up for the first time and any future charging sessions will even be easier since she already has an account set up.
