Charging Subscriptions - New here...

[StevenW81]

Hi all

So I am an absolute newbie with all things EV, but I am trying my best to learn before my Cupra Born V1 e-boost arrives next month.

I am going to be unable to get a home charger at least for the next 6 months and may need to rely solely on public chargers. I have downloaded Zapmap and I am getting used to all the different chargers and rates.

I have an Ionity charging station close to me and I am interested in using the faster chargers to fit around working long hours, however I understand the price behind that. I appreciate I will probably also have to top up as and when with local, cheaper chargers.

My question (excuse my ignorance and lingo, but I'm still getting used to it all) is around charging subscriptions. I looked at the Ionity subscription and at 43p kw/h it was cheaper than the Cupra charging subscription that allowed 53p kw/h using Ionity. I appreciate both have monthly subscription fees.

If I plan to do the majority of my main charging at Ionity then is their passport not the best to choose or am I missing some other benefits of the Cupra charging plans?

Also, it looks to me like the plug and charge service is separate to each of the above subscriptions and therefore regardless which i choose, can I still benefit from the plug and charge ease of use? For example, if I use plug and charge and get my monthly invoice - if I had an Ionity passport would i still get those discounted rates?

Sorry for the long and maybe inaccurate statements, an absolute newbie looking for answers in layman's terms please! Thanks

[Boris7]

A guy in our village is waiting for a home charger to be installed, in the meantime he uses mine and pays me at cost.

Theres a good chance someone near you would do the same.

Octopus told him 3 weeks to install.

Also check if you can get 3phase at the house before choosing a charger, western power installed 3 phase at 2 days notice completely free.

This gives you a 22kw charger, the Born will only charge at 11kw but one day you’ll change the car and maybe get a second EV, with a 22kw charger would be able to charge both vehicles in the cheap rate period.

[StevenW81]

A guy in our village is waiting for a home charger to be installed, in the meantime he uses mine and pays me at cost.

Theres a good chance someone near you would do the same.

Octopus told him 3 weeks to install.

Also check if you can get 3phase at the house before choosing a charger, western power installed 3 phase at 2 days notice completely free.

This gives you a 22kw charger, the Born will only charge at 11kw but one day you’ll change the car and maybe get a second EV, with a 22kw charger would be able to charge both vehicles in the cheap rate period.

Thank you for your reply and excellent advice. Unfortunately my current living arrangements won't allow me to do either quite yet, but I will definitely keep those in mind in 6 or so months time when I move

[Shahev]

Look at Plugsurfing as an option. Offers discounts of 20% on Ionity, Osprey, Instavolt and others. You only need two average charging stops to recover the monthly subscription.

[Daveion]

How about a Granny Charger.
I managed for around 10 months with a granny doing 120 miles/week. I had to wait for other building mods before the home charger could be installed. It was flawless.

[WoT]

I haven't yet seen any benefits from the plug and-charge setup. And if it's offered by cupra i would suspect it's worthless. You can use all the big national charge points like gridserve at motorway service stations with a debit-card while you're having lunch or a long coffee. I'd suggest use ionity as base, and opportunistic charging. ...at a price... when needed. I don't have any subscription, just a small balance with podpoint for my routine visits away from home. Surely it's best to stay flexible while you get used to all this.

[StevenW81]

Look at Plugsurfing as an option. Offers discounts of 20% on Ionity, Osprey, Instavolt and others. You only need two average charging stops to recover the monthly subscription.

I will have a look at that thanks

[StevenW81]

I haven't yet seen any benefits from the plug and-charge setup. And if it's offered by cupra i would suspect it's worthless. You can use all the big national charge points like gridserve at motorway service stations with a debit-card while you're having lunch or a long coffee. I'd suggest use ionity as base, and opportunistic charging. ...at a price... when needed. I don't have any subscription, just a small balance with podpoint for my routine visits away from home. Surely it's best to stay flexible while you get used to all this.

Yeah sound advice thanks. Hopefully it will only be a few months of using public chargers

[JBorn]

The chargefinder app is handy, Tesla open for all Chargers are cheaper at non peak hours and a subscription makes it even cheaper. Worth looking at if you commute past one..

[DougB]

The 'Electroverse' App is handy. It provides locations of various chargers around the country including numerous 'private' ones too were they allow you to charge (with permission of course and probably a small payment too). See: https://electroverse.octopus.energy

In the meantime, be wary of Chargers that charge around 70p/80p per kwh (usually various petrol stations / motorway services), although fast but when you start to work the economic's of using them, the miles per electricity compared with petrol starts to make petrol cheaper to operate a car (at current prices). So only use those chargers if it is an emergency and no other option.