Charging - UK

[Throb]

I’ve IONITY membership linked to two new Porsche Evs this autumn.

Do you mean you have Porsche Charging Service membership which obviously gives you preferential rates at Ionity? Because that's not the same as "having Ionity membership".

my daughter drives an ID4 and her husband is using it to and from maternity hospital where she’s just given birth to twins. The manic trips to visit her mean it’s depleted its charge and I know there’s an IONITY station 1 mile from the hospital … can I do the fatherly thing and take the VW to recharge on my Porsche supplied IONITY / Porsche charge card? (15mins on 350kw irrespective of the ID4 software would stick 100 miles onto the car and make the family of four trip home less anxious!)

It's no issue at all to charge *any* EV using your Porsche Charging Service account. I've charged a Hertz Polestar at Ionity Cobham by plugging the car in and then going to the Porsche app and starting the charger (didn't have my PCS card on me). I've also started numerous charges on non-Porsches by plugging in and swiping my Porsche Charging Service card on the unit. All times I've paid the Porsche Charging Service rates of 30p/kWh.

The only thing you have to make sure is the car you're plugging in doesn't have Plug&Charge activated, as that will start the charge automatically and use the contract associated with the car.

I charge my i5 all the time using my PCS account as it's much cheaper than the BMW Charging Service.

You can get up to 10% discount on charging with some networks when using Electroverse

But I doubt that's better than the preferential rates with the original version of Porsche Charging Service.

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[Dave Birch]

Ionity and Porsche dealers for the cheapest rate. My next choice are the Tesla chargers that are open to non-Tesla’s for the next best rate. The Tesla app tells you which ones you can use but there are many now. Also they have more chargers at each location than Ionity typically have, so access is almost guaranteed. The only issue is the short cables on older Tesla chargers meaning you have to park sideways and block 2 chargers.

 

[snb7x]

Do you mean you have Porsche Charging Service membership which obviously gives you preferential rates at Ionity? Because that's not the same as "having Ionity membership".




It's no issue at all to charge *any* EV using your Porsche Charging Service account. I've charged a Hertz Polestar at Ionity Cobham by plugging the car in and then going to the Porsche app and starting the charger (didn't have my PCS card on me). I've also started numerous charges on non-Porsches by plugging in and swiping my Porsche Charging Service card on the unit. All times I've paid the Porsche Charging Service rates of 30p/kWh.

The only thing you have to make sure is the car you're plugging in doesn't have Plug&Charge activated, as that will start the charge automatically and use the contract associated with the car.

I charge my i5 all the time using my PCS account as it's much cheaper than the BMW Charging Service.




But I doubt that's better than the preferential rates with the original version of Porsche Charging Service.

that’s exactly the feedback / info I was looking for - thank you (I’d say this is helpful to many forum members reading this) -

thankfully most drivers with majority of charging done at home don’t bother with “plug and charge” option. Certainly not used in our household.

many thanks

 

[f1eng]

I mainly charge at home and since I don't do it often always choose my charger on the route I want to use before leaving home for convenience and time saving rather than price. I use Ionity if it is on the route (so used twice in 2 years). Most chargers can simply be paid with a credit/charge card.

I know of no sat nav which always gives routes I like, neither fastest nor shortest tend to be "route a normal person would choose" but I am old and used to using maps...

Toyota have an ecological choice iirc which often chooses a nice route IME but most keep you on boring motorways going a lot further than needed to "save time" which is not good for efficiency.

 

[Poshfpg]

I do most of my charging at home too but having played with all the apps for the first 6 months I find the Porsche app best for route planning. There was an issue with it showing Gridserve sites but that's gone away now. Set the filters to only show 270kw+ chargers and lower the arrival charge to your own comfortable limit, I use 3%, and let it do the rest.

If you have the facelift Taycan the preheating won't be as important but the way the car adapts to conditions and consumption on the fly is very useful, cold, headwinds, rain, heavier right foot than usual or the inverse can all change your plans.

Driving in the UK I've only ever used IONITY, Gridserve and Porsche for fast charges and Tesla for 150kw where there were gaps in the network but those seem to be covered now. That said having the Tesla app is very useful at times and especially in France where they're often in Supermarket car parks so you can fill up in 30 mins while shopping.

IONITY prices are the best but when road tripping charging speed is more important to me than price to be honest.

 

[warnergb7]

I do most of my charging at home too but having played with all the apps for the first 6 months I find the Porsche app best for route planning. There was an issue with it showing Gridserve sites but that's gone away now. Set the filters to only show 270kw+ chargers and lower the arrival charge to your own comfortable limit, I use 3%, and let it do the rest.

If you have the facelift Taycan the preheating won't be as important but the way the car adapts to conditions and consumption on the fly is very useful, cold, headwinds, rain, heavier right foot than usual or the inverse can all change your plans.

Driving in the UK I've only ever used IONITY, Gridserve and Porsche for fast charges and Tesla for 150kw where there were gaps in the network but those seem to be covered now. That said having the Tesla app is very useful at times and especially in France where they're often in Supermarket car parks so you can fill up in 30 mins while shopping.

IONITY prices are the best but when road tripping charging speed is more important to me than price to be honest.

Thanks for all the tips on here. Really useful stuff. Out of interest, do the Tesla chargers show up on the Porsche planner? I am guessing not and the app for that is way forward.

 

[Poshfpg]

Thanks for all the tips on here. Really useful stuff. Out of interest, do the Tesla chargers show up on the Porsche planner? I am guessing not and the app for that is way forward.

Tesla does show up if you set the filters to 150+ or maybe 250+ if V4 even though you can only draw 150. You need the app to instigate and pay for the charge when you get there. Play around with the route planning app at home and you'll see how best to use them if at all.

One other nice thing with IONITY is Plug and Charge, no messing with cards and so on.

 

[f1eng]

One other nice thing with IONITY is Plug and Charge, no messing with cards and so on.

I had an odd experience with plug & charge.
I arrived at an Ionity station and plugged in and it failed, then I tried with RFID and that didn't work either. I rang help and they suggested if I hadn't used it for a long time to try switching off P&C and sure enough it worked then with the RFID card and the handshaking is so much quicker I have gone back to not using P&C.

 

[Throb]

the handshaking is so much quicker I have gone back to not using P&C.

Same here, Frank. I used P&C for a long time on my first Taycan and my current one, but on the rare occasion I used the PCS card, I was impressed by how quickly the charging started; so much so I deactivated P&C and just used the card going forward. A few months ago I bought the RFID key fob, and my modus operandi is to drive with the car key (with RFID key fob attached) in my trouser pocket, and when I get to my ultra rapid charging stop (99% of the time, Ionity), I jump out of the car, plug in the cable, and slip the key fob out of my trouser pocket, in one slick manoeuvre, and quicker than one of your pit stops in the 80s. I've never looked back.

 

[Poshfpg]

Same here, Frank. I used P&C for a long time on my first Taycan and my current one, but on the rare occasion I used the PCS card, I was impressed by how quickly the charging started; so much so I deactivated P&C and just used the card going forward. A few months ago I bought the RFID key fob, and my modus operandi is to drive with the car key (with RFID key fob attached) in my trouser pocket, and when I get to my ultra rapid charging stop (99% of the time, Ionity), I jump out of the car, plug in the cable, and slip the key fob out of my trouser pocket, in one slick manoeuvre, and quicker than one of your pit stops in the 80s. I've never looked back.

That's interesting, on the very rare occasions I've had to use the card at IONITY or Porsche, rarely admittedly, it's been an irritating faff with multiple attempts to get it started compared to plugging in and walking away /jumping back in the car. Thinking about it I guess if the P&C fails then the charger is already problematic so the card struggles too.

Have sent an RFID keyfob link to my wife to add to the Xmas present suggestions list, thank you!

 

[Throb]

That's interesting, on the very rare occasions I've had to use the card at IONITY or Porsche, rarely admittedly, it's been an irritating faff with multiple attempts to get it started compared to plugging in and walking away /jumping back in the car. Thinking about it I guess if the P&C fails then the charger is already problematic so the card struggles too.

Yes, that's odd. I must have used Ionity over 100 times now, and I'd say I've had maybe two or three occasions where charging was problematic at all, nevermind specifically with P&C or the card. I use them in the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, and occasionaly Holland.

 

[Poshfpg]

Yes, that's odd. I must have used Ionity over 100 times now, and I'd say I've had maybe two or three occasions where charging was problematic at all, nevermind specifically with P&C or the card. I use them in the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, and occasionaly Holland.

Agreed, I can remember the chargers where it happened and they're all in the UK and Ireland. Never had an issue in the same countries as you, bar Germany, and also in Italy and Switzerland.

 

[Vespercooper]

Can the Porsche

Not all Operators are in either app but with both you probably have most bases covered.

Porsche Mobility continue to add more Operators to My Porsche all covered within your charging contract. For example, today I noticed that MFG is now available and is cheaper than using Electroverse or PAYG.

I use MFG on their app. Are you saying that I can charge at MFG with my Porsche RFID card and get a discounted rate?

 

[W1NGE]

Can the Porsche

I use MFG on their app. Are you saying that I can charge at MFG with my Porsche RFID card and get a discounted rate?

You need to check the app for the rate but it should be preferential.

I failed miserably last week when attempting to start a charge via My Porsche App. The only method available (Taycan RFID not supported) is to scan the QR code however the code was not recognised. I raised a ticket with Porsche Smart Mobility who were as much use as a chocolate teapot.
Some teething issues therefore.

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