What are people doing with WeCharge subs in UK?

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CoxJul
Posts: 64
Joined: Tue May 04, 2021 6:14 pm

Post by CoxJul »

With my ID4 arriving next week I'm interested in what people have done with their WeCharge card subscription in the UK?
  • not used it, either just charging from home or using other cards
  • set it up, in which case on which subscription level?
When we're out of the pandemic I expect to mostly be charging at home, but typically with a couple of 400 mile round trips a month. Need to crack open a spreadsheet!

davidf27
Posts: 37
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:34 pm

Post by davidf27 »

I'm a bit confused with the whole wecharge thing to be honest. It seems like theyre pushing for IONITY however there isn't an ionity charger in all of wales (i think) so I definitely wont be using that.
Am I right in thinking if I used a wecharge card for say BP pulse, they would charge an additional 25p each charge if I was on one of the monthly subscriptions?
I will just be signing up to BP pulse and using that card, with 3 months free I think as I have 5-10 around my home / commute to work.
Blue Dusk FE ID4, Delivered July 2021.
NUK_Traveler
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Apr 30, 2021 8:51 am

Post by NUK_Traveler »

I have signed up to the WeCharge middle band. It seems this is free subscription and free charging for the first 12 months.
The UK market seems very disconnected within the VW strategy on charging. They seem to promote their own VW branded home charge-points in Europe, or a different supplier. Dealers seem to be recommending PodPoint for UK installation, which sadly does not link into We Connect app. There also seems to be limited Ionity charge points in North West England, so glad I installed PodPoint charger at home.
The whole EV charging approach really needs to improve and accelerate in the UK.
tigga
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri May 14, 2021 6:41 pm

Post by tigga »

from what I can work out it is more expensive when using non ionity chargers. Ionity is meant to be cheaper but on on the free service.

Another forum discussed this and people are recommending... if you use ionity a lot, charge via wecharge on a premium service. WeCharge Go 45p as opposed to 69p but to justify the £6 per month that means at least 25kWhs per month to make a saving. But we are talking about pennies. When you are talking about 100kWh every month it might then be worth the effort and fee.

In reality just set up the common ones which are on your route... BP, Shell, Ionity, Osprey, chargemaster, ecotricity etc. Its a few hours one night to set these up on your phone, but once done you are covered.

https://www.zap-map.com/statistics/#points shows a chart of the market share of the RAPID chargers (not the first one with destination charge points)... if you use their map and filter by options such as the supplier, then you can see who is on your typical route.

Also zap pay... which is payg at the rate of the provider... seems a simpified way to use a few chargepoints with a single app.
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