"Need to Charge" app

DrPhil

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Well Charge Bump is dead and gone, but there is a new player who seems to be improving on the old concept.

www.needtocharge.com

Seems to be good, although of course the challenge is to get enough people using it. That was always an issue for ChargeBump, plus it wasn't well supported by the developer.

Hopefully this one does better.
 
It's a nice idea, it should be compulsory :)
 
I've been in touch with the developer and helped him with some beta testing. Some issues with push notifications have been fixed etc.

Hopefully this can gain some traction. It's already better than ChargeBump was IMO.
 
My greatest concern would be that the sort of people who hog the chargers won't have the app :) Anyway, I've installed it :thumbsup:
 
Is charger hogging as big an issue in the UK? In Ireland (Republic and N Ireland) charging is free so hogging is awful.

There's a Zoe user near me who plugs into the fast AC port on the only rapid serving a city of 120k people, and leaves it for 3-4 hours a few times a week.
 
Which was my point, if he isn't a member of the app there s no point paging him.
 
Oh yeah I wasn't saying that the app would stop him.

I'm saying that he is the problem he is because charging is free.

I didn't think you'd have that in the UK because you have to pay to charge.
 
How many users did ChargeBump have at the end?

I tried that app many times and never found anyone else using it.
 
No idea how many it had. I think there were quite a few, it had its own sub forum on speakev.com

It was never any use to me because the system didn't recognise Irish license plates. Needtocharge does, and even lets you choose your plate format (plain orange for UK, blue border with EU symbol for Irish etc).

But yeah an app like this lives or dies on its user base. The guy behind it will need to invest a bit of time and effort on promotion, some info stickers on prominent chargers, encouraging those who do use it to display information on their dash.

I know he has developed a barcode that you can display, so someone just needs to scan it with their phone and it automatically fills in your info and sends a request.
 
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The best solution would just be for the charge session to end when it drops below 25kW. The main reason queues develop is people charging extremely slowly to 100% instead of stopping around 80 and moving on.
 
IMO all rapid chargers, regardless of their tariff (and including "free" ones) should have the session pre-authorised by a RFID bank card, or a membership card with a billing account set up and funded. And all charges should become penalty-expensive on overstay (eg after the charge is complete, plus a bit of leeway). Like £20, charged to the card, every time. Coupled with parking monitoring (whether by human or ANPR) to prevent unplugged parking, with similar penalties.
 
(eg after the charge is complete, plus a bit of leeway).

Problem is after 80% the charge rate drops dramatically and that last 20% can take half an hour or more. It's easy to avoid overstay charges if you just charge to 100% and it takes two hours.
 
Window display for the app!

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Update...

Chris - the developer of the app - was interviewed for EV News Daily today. Worth a listen for a bit of the history behind the app, and a name drop for someone familiar...

 
Another little update, the app has now gone from just a few hundred users a year ago, to now adding new registrations at a rate of about 400 a month.

I've also been helping the developer with promotion, and have sent out over 130 of the personalised and laminated QR coded discs with suction cups. Mainly in the UK and Ireland, but also Germany, Holland and Belgium, with some requests pending for Denmark and Italy.

English (obviously)
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German
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Dutch
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French
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Italian
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Irish charger with signage
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Dutch chargers with signage

IMG_20200211_094923.jpg

IMG_20200209_224412.jpg
 
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