Confused:which charge networks to sign for in S.E. UK Nov'14

[kc1]

I’m trying to decide which charging networks to sign up to for use in the S.E of England…and indeed whether there is any good reason to sign up for:

• ChargeNow (as suggested by my dealer)… £20 pa sounded expensive to me for a scheme presumably designed to encourage early adopters, if there other/better options. But are the others any better?
• Polar (the same network as ChargeNow?). It seems the app has issues/awful reviews with Pay-As-You-Go charges don’t appear to be on their website.
• ecotricty for motorways which being free [so far] seems like a good idea. Is it known if they intend to start charging for their service?
• Source London who want "£5 for membership to 31/12/14..." implying they're about to start another (more expensive?) pricing structure.
• Pod Point asking for £12.50 for a card but saying “POD Point is introducing the concept of Pay-As-You-Go charging, but currently the vast majority of POD Points on the network allow you to charge for free” (can’t tell if they’ve got they’re own networks or are re-selling others, in which case you I'd be paying twice [or more] to access the same charging points...)
• Charge Your Car which seems to require £20 for a card as well as PAYG via another app with very poor feedback. (and again, is their own network or reselling others?

I'm sure there are more, but is there any easy way to know where the overlaps are?

I supposed one way of forming an opinion would be to look for coverage of charging points but then comes the question of where to find up to date, comparable data. The ChargeNow website says 4000 points in the UK, and there are similar claims on others' websites, but not as fas as I have found a useful comparison.

There seem to be several maps that aspire to show all the charging points, e.g.
http://nationalchargepointregistry.com/
http://www.zap-map.com (helpful to be able to view by vehicle make, but poor use of colours, and I couldn't find an app)
http://www.plugshare.com
http://openchargemap.org (which crashed a lot when I was trying to use the 'filter's)

...but I can't find any that let you quickly see / filter by charging & parking cost. Does anyone with experience know if that’s actually the case – i.e. do they all show all charging points? Is any more reliable than the others [at the moment]?

For those that have pay per use use billing, is there any difference in how good the records are (e.g. VAT receipts/ download payment history, etc.)?

Then comes the question of reliability/uptime of the charge points is there any useful information about how providers compare?

Oh and is it only the ChargeNow ones that appear in the onboard SatNav?

 

[RJSATLBA]

A key piece of info is whether you have the DC rapid charge option?

 

[BrianStanier]

ChargeNow is the collaboration between Polar and BMW, who have taken a stake in Polar. I don't see any point in it. You can access the Polar network anyway if it's any use to you. Up here it really isn't mostly being points in Asda etc. which may be free but nearly always blocked by non EVs. Down South it may be different - there appear to be many points in and around London. And the i3 only shows the ChargeNow points as far as I can see and is therefore almost useless.

Ecotricity is worth having if you intend to do any motorway travel and possibly even if you don't.

Source London I know little about.

Most of the PodPoints stations I have come across are in Sainsbury's etc. and don't work because they aren't maintained, but look on their map to see if there are any near you that might be useful.

Charge Your Car (CYC) was the trial region in the NE here covering essentially Tyne and Wear. It it now independent and operates their network and manages others in several parts of the UK. Not much around London though. The app is poor but their web map is OK.

Of the general maps ZapMap is the best of a poor bunch. Most depend on user information and are often out of date - sometimes hopelessly so. If you do find something interesting on ZapMap cross check with the provider's own map before relying on it.

None show all points - there is no central combined database because the individual operators are competitors and won't give access to their own databases.

 

[kc1]

A key piece of info is whether you have the DC rapid charge option?

Yes DC rapid charge included

 

[elptex]

I'm in the south east so this is first-hand experience

ChargeNow: This is what I recommend. Points are everywhere. They are the most prolific and I have yet to ever be more than 20 miles from one. Within the M25, you're usually always within 5 miles of several. I've generally experienced only one problem with them: because many of these were early installations of EVSEs, quite a few are simply 3-prong plugs (slow, 3kWh charging). This is easily identified by very good labeling as to what level they are on both the i3 satnav map and on the ChargeNow website (no iPhone app but their website has a very good mobile version).

Source London: Wouldn't waste any money/time on this. I have found that more than half of the Source London points are also ChargeNow points. The ones that aren't, well, as noted above, if you're within the M25, you're going to be within 5 miles of several ChargeNow points anyway.

Ecotricity: Since you have DC charging, this is a definite yes. They are nationwide at all M-road services. Even on a trip where your range is sufficient, if you're passing a services anyway, 15 minutes for a quick toilet break gives you up to +40% charge (eg. if you're at 30%, 15 minutes will bring you up to about 70%).

I haven't bothered with Charge Your Car.

At the end of the day, ChargeNow network is the best and hasn't let me down at this time (I can't/don't blame them for charging spots being blocked by ICE vehicles).

 

[RJSATLBA]

Horses for courses, I've looked at the routes I use most and people I visit.

Ecotricity is a must for longer distance travel; CYC have good coverage in the NE and many of their points there are free CCS; there is also a free CYC 7Kw charger in a public car park within 5 mins walk of my sister-in-law's near Brum and likewise near my daughter in Herefordshire so that's a no brainer for me, as is Source London as there is a 7kW in the next street to a friend I visit.

Unlike elptex, Chargenow doesn't look good for me, most of their chargers seem to be 7kW at best in places where I wouldn't want to stay long or wouldn't want to leave my car unattended; and if other BMW dealers with public chargers are anything like mine their charger will usually be blocked by one of their own cars, EV or ICE! Polar and Chargenow coverage isn't identical but the Polar Instant app should give access to much of the Chargenow network if completely stuck and does have some CCS chargers that aren't shown on Chargenow - eg see the thread titled something like Polar v Chargenow.

 

[elptex]

I was answering in consideration of the the south east as that is what was asked.

 

[RJSATLBA]

...and I was merely elaborating on the theme of horses for courses, which I thought was applicable regardless of location, which I had noted, I certainly didn't intend to disagree with elptex, nor do I.

 

[BoMW]

I've signed up to four different suppliers. Chargenow the affiliated BMW supplier is a complete rip off. They charge £7 per 30 mins of rapid AC and DC however many DC stations do not work. My experience in Milton keynes was that 2 stations failed to work and the third cut out twice during charging. Not a problem you would think but Chargenow invoiced me for £21 for a 26 min charge!

I want to remind you that source London cards are now compatible with ecotricity stations so no need to have both

 

[kc1]

Thanks all,

For those that have pay per use use billing, is there any difference in how good the records are (e.g. VAT receipts/ download payment history, etc.)?

 

[Gonville]

Nice to hear that ecotricity and source London now the same? Is that really true?

I thought a French company had won the franchise from Boris?

I'd love to start cutting these up.