There’s an app for that
Report 4 Nissan Leaf & VW e-Golf £28,390* OTR/£30,575 & £28,230* OTR/ £31,965
OM: Your car isn’t as good as mine, is it? TH: Not even slightly. A lower-quality item in pretty much every way. It does actually look like an EV, though, which will no doubt be a draw for some.
OM: Part of me does wish the Golf made more of its e-credentials. I like the stealth approach, but I’m forever having to explain that, no, there really isn’t a fuel tank in there anywhere. You get to look all zany and modern.
TH: Swap?
OM: Not a chance. Anyway, have you got your head around public charging yet? I signed up to one that costs £7.85 a month. Which seems like having to pay to visit a petrol station before you’ve bought any fuel. The idea is that the recharges are then free, but in practice most sites make you pay – albeit at a low rate.
TH: Agreed. My issue isn’t paying, so much as all the different networks. I seem to have umpteen e-network credit cards, all of which confuse me. It’s like needing to have different credit cards for Shell, BP, Esso and so on.
OM: Don’t forget the apps that go with... TH: Urgh. Don’t get me started. Nissan’s app for the Leaf is actually decent, though. Gives you loads of geeky info on your electricity consumption and so on – much more than you can access with the car itself. Is there an e-Golf app?
OM: Yep, and it’s entirely pointless. I’m beta-testing the PodPoint app, but it’s very basic – all it does is tell me how much I’ve charged up with. I still feel the technology around electric cars has a fair way to go to catch up with the cars themselves.
TH: My Chargemaster point has a special website, but no app so far as I can see. I think we need a consolidation of public chargers, Tesla-style. Wouldn’t that make everything so much easier?