Blog of RENAULT NISSAN Alliance

Usually, when I need to find charging points, I use Electromaps’ application or website. I try to keep up with new charging points through forums, Renault’s website and Facebook.

 

I’m familiar with a variety of systems: In shopping centers such as IKEA or Carrefour, there are charging points which are free to use while shopping. All you have to do is plug in. Sometimes, you might need to ask for help from an operator, but usually, it’s quite fast. But in other places where EVs aren’t as widespread, we’ve come across broken charging points.

Some local governments have installed charging points in their towns, which I’ve been using.

 

As this technology is still quite new, and because there are various types of chargers and sockets, each local government has developed its own payment system for their charging network. Usually, you buy a card which unlocks and activates the charging point. The cards may be free, or have a fixed price, or you may have to pay per recharge.

 

In big cities like Barcelona, there are public parking lots that have spaces where you can recharge your car while it’s parked. You pay a fixed price for the charging, on top of the parking fee.

 

When I go shopping and there’s a charging point, I take advantage of it and let the vehicle charge.

 

Sometimes, if I need to charge the vehicle halfway through a journey, I try to charge it during a meal – dinner or afternoon tea. When I get back into the car, I’ve saved enough energy to carry on.

 

Once, in Ripoll, Catalonia, we stopped and plugged the vehicle into the charging point while we were eating, for about an hour. When we came back, we thought we would find the battery 35% or 40% recharged and we were so surprised to find it 90% recharged. It turns out that it was a 32Ah charging point whereas usually it’s 16Ah, like at home.

 

This blog post was written by Renault ZOE owner Concepcion Sanchez Blancon as part of "I Made The Switch", a video series exploring the daily lives of EV owners.