[Question] Do charging stations generally accept credit/debit cards?
[Question] Do charging stations generally accept credit/debit cards?
Sorry if this is a dumb question. I currently drive a hybrid and am looking to upgrade in the next 1- 2 years to either PHEV or full EV. In either scenario, I envision most of my charging will be done at home. However, if I go full EV, I will eventually need to charge in public.
I've read it varies from charging network to charging network, so I figure I'd ask EV owners what their experiences are like. I really don't like the idea of relying on an app or monthly subscription or anything like that.
So, is a debit card more or less guaranteed to be accepted, and if so, are the rates significantly higher than some kind of membership option?
Edit: In the US if it matters.
Generally speaking, no.
You have to create a dozen fucking accounts and install their ad-ridden proprietary fucking spyware on your phone to use them. Then you have to pray you have cellular reception when you get there so your stupid app can connect to the piece of shit you're standing next to.
This is the appropriate amount of annoyed. There isn't enough competition yet for these charging companies to care about user experience.
I don't think competition is the issue. These companies are just following the roadmaps of their predecessors. It's a paradigm shift.
Like if anyone told you you couldn't install x software on MacOS because they haven't approved of it and want 30% of every dollar you spend on it, you would be outraged. But they create a new OS/market in iOS that does exactly that and people are tripping over themselves to buy the new one.
Similarly if you told anyone you needed to sign up for an account at the gas station, you'd just go across the street to the other one and fill up there. But EV chargers? Well this is a new opportunity to fuck consumers and all the corporations who can afford to actually create this sort of infrastructure all want that kind of shit more than they want to be competitive.
I wound up in a rental for close to two months last fall. The Electrify America chargers took credit cards but charged more. It looked like you could also get an RFID card that identified you and billed to the account on file at the lower rate. I used another weird DC fast charge that was part of Shell’s network and related to Duke Energy that was app only, very annoying. I used a level 2 from ChargePoint and had to use the app. The cell service didn’t matter; it was deep in an underground garage with no signal. I had to go out to download the app, then came back in to initiate the charging session. It was annoying to do in the moment, but once the account was set up worked pretty easily, and it looks some of those apps work with other networks. I think it would be okay as long as I was signed up on a few networks, but I’d really rather be able to just tap my credit card and go, no signup needed. That was part of the IRA, but it’ll take time to roll out.
Yeah, I'm really hoping as more of the IRA-funded ones come online and build out, we'll see more traditional payment options become the norm. I really don't like the idea of an app for every charging network. That's insane, IMO. Hopefully as EVs take off, there will be pushback from people on all the apps.
Even within the US it varies massively from state to state and even city to city.
I'm in Southern Cal and have access to a ton of DC fast chargers, and the ones near me either accept credit card or app or little keychain RFID/QR token/fob/thing. However, almost none of the level 2 public chargers accept credit cards, either app only or fob thing. When I rented an EV in Florida, the only charger I could find that actually worked at all required an app to work.
In short, a debit card is definitely not guaranteed to be accepted unless you find one that still allows the keyfob/credit card-sized wallet card. You need to drive around to local chargers in your neighborhood to check them out.
In short, a debit card is definitely not guaranteed to be accepted unless you find one that still allows the keyfob/credit card-sized wallet card. You need to drive around to local chargers in your neighborhood to check them out.
Thanks for the insight! That's kind of exactly what I was afraid of. Call me a dinosaur, but I have very few apps, and every one of them is a convenience and not a requirement in my day-to-day life. I do not see my stance on that changing, and do not want to depend on any app for any purpose, especially one as important as refueling my car.
I think I'm going to end up getting a PHEV and kicking the can down the road, so to speak.
Fwiw, consider your exact needs and uses. I have yet to use a public level 2, and only a couple of DC fast chargers. It might be easy enough to locate a DCFC that accepts cards when the need arises, but you will lose the convenience and price of a level 2. But even in that case, the cost savings of a BEV overall probably more than cover it
I've only ever used Superchargers (I have a PHEV, but there's no need to charge that away from home). The Supercharger just talks directly to the car and handles it through your Tesla account/app. Once most cars are using the NACS connector in a year or two, I assume this will be how it works for them too.
App-based billing? No thanks. lol
You really don’t have much of a choice, especially going PHEV.
The chargepoint app is going to be your friend for standard AC charging in a lot of the country.
If you go full BEV, evgo and Electrify America generally let you pay at the station with a credit card, but Tesla’s network is just going to be a lot more convenient if you’re doing any serious driving, and they’re going to be app/in-car payment based (the V4 chargers will support card but aren’t really being deployed right now)
I guess my point is that you don't really DO anything. You don't have to fire up an app and log in and shit. The charger talks to the car when you plug it in and it just goes. Not sure what your hang-up is with apps (no judgement here, but clearly there is one) but in this case it's pretty seamless and a lot more convenient than some other custom payment apps.
NACS is just a connector. Don't expect anything else to change just because they swapped a connector.
I've only rented an ev, but only about half the time they have successfully taken a cc. Either they were broken, or it was just missing.
A lot of them have apps, which is very annoying as a renter, but if you own the car it should be less of an issue.
Afaik you don't actually need to purchase a subscription to use them.
Thanks! Good to know, even if disappointing. Broken I can understand (people are the worst, after all), but missing seems like like the operator chose not to add them.
Yeah, the apps are a non-starter for me. My dislike for them aside, I'm stuck with T-Mobile as my carrier. If a butterfly flaps its wings between my phone and the tower, I lose all service. lol. Not exactly something I want to rely on if I need to charge up.
You don’t need your phone to be operational for the app to work. It’s just like any of the smartphone app platforms… you have a card on file associated with the account. The car is recognized when you plug in to charge, then automatically charges the account when it is used for the amount of charge you take. You can set it up on your phone, in the car, or on a computer, but only need the car to charge.
Tesla is rolling out a subscription for $13.99 a month for up to 5 charging sessions per day, though. I’ve been traveling a lot and have been charging 3-4 times a day for 50-60$ total. It’ll be nice to save even more money with the sub, but that wouldn’t be worth it if you don’t travel a lot.
I’ve had mine for 4 years and, up until this year when I started traveling, I never used a public charger. Charging at home was always cheap and easy and I never drove more than 250 miles in a day. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how easy route planning automatically plans the most efficient route with stops to charge along the way. I had a bit of range anxiety when I started out, but that was mostly from my ignorance of how it would all work out. Lately I’ve been driving through the mountains in winter and haven’t had any problems.
It’s been about a year since I had an EV but I had about 3-4 apps that I had to use to pay for charging. It seemed more prevalent in my area to find these than ones that just accepted straight up credit/debit card. Hell, I’d say finding free chargers was easier than finding ones that accepted credit/debit, and those were not too common either.
Though I think this largely depends on the areas you will be driving.
I only gave up my EV because it was getting old and was going to be expensive to maintain (BMW i3). Nice little car, but one of the first mainstream EVs and BMW did some stupid shit like small wheels that were expensive and didn’t last long. Otherwise miss having it. I don’t miss having so many fucking apps just to pay to charge in public.
There’s an app I used that would show me different chargers available and I could also see what companies they were or if they were free.
From here:
In-car charging apps
You might not think of it as an app, but the software inside your EV is perhaps the most fundamental charging app. Your EV’s in-car charging software shares many of the features of public and home EV charging apps, including the ability to find and navigate to public charging stations and manage charging from within your vehicle.
The interior of a modern car showing an app built-in the dashboard.Because it is built into your car, an in-car app often benefits from a direct data connection to your vehicle’s systems, allowing it to tailor recommendations based on real-time battery information. Beyond the built-in software, many EV manufacturers also offer companion smartphone apps to let you receive information and control charging remotely.
So that's an option, though it doesn't cover payment. Later in the same page:
Payment options
If you want to use your home charging app to also manage your public charging sessions, it’s essential to check what payment options are offered to avoid an unpleasant surprise when trying to charge.
Depending on the app and public charging network, you might be able to link your bank account and have payment taken directly or receive a monthly bill for all your charging.
Some apps can even allow you to pay for charging without an account using your credit or debit card. While more flexible, it’s worth remembering that pay-as-you-go tariffs can often be higher than members’ ones, so creating an account can be worth it if you use public charging frequently.
So an option here might be to get an old smartphone and load it with the apps over your home wifi, then hook them up to your credit/debit card or bank account. Put the phone in your glovebox or someplace when you're taking a longer trip. When you need to charge the car, plug the smartphone into the phone charger in your car, turn it on, use wifi / Bluetooth / NFC to connect to the car charger, and have the appropriate app deduct from your bank account / credit / debit card, then turn it off again.
So an option here might be to get an old smartphone and load it with the apps over your home wifi, then hook them up to your credit/debit card or bank account. Put the phone in your glovebox or someplace when you're taking a longer trip. When you need to charge the car, plug the smartphone into the phone charger in your car, turn it on, use wifi / Bluetooth / NFC to connect to the car charger, and have the appropriate app deduct from your bank account / credit / debit card, then turn it off again.
Thanks for the detailed reply, but yeah, lol, I'm not doing that. I really want to go full EV, but not that badly. I'm with the Boomers on this one. I already have a payment method with me that's linked to my bank account, and it doesn't require any of that hoopla.