Is it advantageous to subscribe to multiple EV charging roaming providers?

Is it advantageous to subscribe to multiple EV charging roaming providers? - Free stock photo of accident, action, asphalt

Considering the many hundreds of operators of electric charging stations in Europe, it is good that roaming providers exist (as of 2022, most charging stations do not yet allow paying with a regular bank card, making registration with them or a roaming provider apparently essential, unless payment is possible without any subscription). Examples of roaming providers are Plugsurfing, Shell Recharge (formerly NewMotion), Ladenetz, Maingau, ADAC, ANWB, and many others. Coverage varies, but the big ones claim to cover most providers, such that users do not need to register with hundreds of apps (bad) or even cards (worse).

In practice, is it advantageous or necessary to register with multiple roaming providers? Plugsurfing and Shell Recharge claim to cover most places, but it could be that those are pretty much the same ones. Installing several apps is easy, but I might need multiple cards, which is less practical (and costs money), so I'd avoid it if I can.



Best Answer

While my experience is in the US, I'd say that it's generally a good idea to have cards for where you think you'll end up needing to charge, particularly if the station is in an area with poor mobile coverage and you can't remote start with an app. Some networks have virtual RFID cards, which will be helpful where you don't have data coverage.

If you're renting a car, I'd have a plan on where to charge depending on where you think you're going to go. If you own the car, then it's a good idea to figure out places where you can routinely charge.




Pictures about "Is it advantageous to subscribe to multiple EV charging roaming providers?"

Is it advantageous to subscribe to multiple EV charging roaming providers? - Free stock photo of battery, california, car
Is it advantageous to subscribe to multiple EV charging roaming providers? - Free stock photo of aerial, alternative, alternative energy
Is it advantageous to subscribe to multiple EV charging roaming providers? - Free stock photo of architecture, battery, beach



Can all EVs use the same charging stations?

No. All EVs produced in North America have the same standard plug that can be used with both Level 1 and Level 2 chargers. For DC charging, vehicles manufactured by Nissan and Mitsubishi use the CHAdeMO connector, while most other EVs use the CCS connector.

Can you have two EV chargers?

Two chargers, half the speed Clearly, there are benefits to having two charge points installed. Primarily it means you can charge two vehicles at the same time. But this can mean the vehicles are charged at different rates and it's possible one charge point will take precedent over the other.

What is the best EV charging app?

The 7 Best EV Charging Apps
  • PlugShare. Available for free on iOS & Android. ...
  • EVHotels. Available for $2.99 on iOS & Android. ...
  • EVgo. Tiered membership program available on iOS & Android. ...
  • ChargePoint. Available for free on iOS & Android. ...
  • ChargeHub. Available for free on iOS & Android. ...
  • EV Connect. ...
  • Chargeway.


What is the difference between EV charging stations?

A level 2 charger allows you to charge your electric car 5 to 7 times faster for a full-electric car or up to 3 times faster for a plug-in hybrid compared to a level 1 charger. This means you'll be able to maximize the use of your EV and reduce stops to charge at public charging stations.



Hubject roaming charging platform - explained by Ionity




More answers regarding is it advantageous to subscribe to multiple EV charging roaming providers?

Answer 2

Yes, it is wise bring multiple cards. Sometimes cards work where apps don't, and sometimes one card works but another doesn't. My experience in Germany and The Netherlands in April 2022:

I had registered with three mobility service providers (Maingau Energie, Plugsurfing, and Shell Recharge). For the latter two, I had ordered RFID cards. For Maingau I had only the app. My experiences after charging five times, each time with a different charge point operator:

  • I did not succeed in using the Maingau app. I tried it twice (using mobile data), and in both cases I got a message that I could not use their app to pay for this service provider. In one case not at all, and in one case it implied it would have worked with the card.
  • In one case, the Plugsurfing card did not work, but the Shell Recharge card did. I did use the Plugsurfing card in two other cases.
  • In two cases, it was possible to pay with a regular bank card, without any registration (but it might have been cheaper to use a card).
  • In at least one case, where prices were clearly posted (unfortunately in April 2022 this is true for only a minority of charging locations), payment with the charge point operator (Fastned) would have been much cheaper than the cards of other charge point operators (but some charge point operators charge a monthly fee for registration, which have been the case here).

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Kindel Media, Kindel Media, Kindel Media, Kindel Media