Electric Vehicles

Just to chase up this point, Tesla charging is all app based in order that the user has set up billing and the experience is ‘seamless’. You show up, plug in and drive off without any payment or app needed, but you do need the app to set this all up in the first place. The problem for non Tesla cars is the software is proprietary and exclusive to tesla, so only a number of sites offer both tesla and non Tesla charging. Currently non Tesla users need the app to pay, but the law has been changed since the machines were built and these new ones in Tottenham for example offer contactless card payment.

All new install chargers are legally required to offer contactless payment, but older machines will still need an app and were not built with this requirement, and the law was not retroactive.

Personally I see zero issue with using apps, but I can see the gold standard being a ‘seamless’ experience where you just plug and go. I think that’s a few years away yet, some operators not tesla are rolling it out very slowly and Ionity are the leaders in this respect. It’s the car software not being compatible with billing data as far as I can tell, and all the different car brands having their own softwares.