in 2023 it’s okay to use an app for almost everything. Smartphones have become something that allows us to carry out a multitude of procedures, from checking traffic tickets to obtaining digital certification, ordering food at home or sending messages. And it’s all done from apps.
Not all citizens have the same performance in using these programs, but applications such as WhatsApp have made even older people, less experienced with technology, use this type of software on a daily basis. For this reason, during the leap towards the electrification of cars, we began to see that the public recharge of the same would be done from the use of applications, no problems were found. A priori.
The reality is much more negative, with dozens of different applications that must coexist within your mobile and a user experience that sometimes involves paying subscriptions and that does not allow knowing, a priori, whether a charger is working or not. This is in addition to the obstacles that many people see in the jump to the electric car, such as the increase in price, less autonomy with the car charged… All this means that the adoption of the electric vehicle in Europe is in below that from the rest of the world, countries of similar size, such as France or Italy, but also below other smaller ones, such as the Netherlands, Belgium or Austria.
Dozens of apps
The first appreciated problem is that of the number of applications to have on the mobile. Each company with public chargers has a different application, and its use is almost always mandatory to be able to recharge the car. Few offer card payment like self-service gas stations, although in Europe they are starting to study some measures in this regard, and they will eventually arrive in Europe if approved.
This means that you need to know how to use not one app, as is the case with WhatsApp and messaging or Gmail and email, but several. Even dozens if we travel across the country. Each app has a different interfacewith different incentives, and that doesn’t help.
It is also mandatory to put our personal and bank details in all applications, with the rise of insecurity and the problems it can cause. It’s not only because there are attacks on our phone, but because of the inconvenience of managing cards in all these applications, praying that the payment does not fail with any, etc.
subscriptions
With so many options available companies seek to retain their users, so they resort to strategies such as monthly subscriptions, which allow them to have a lower top-up payment, at the cost of paying a certain amount each month. This discourages the use of competing chargers. Companies like Ionity, Tesla or Endesa offer these subscriptions.
Normally, these subscriptions are not mandatory, but the signatures play with reality. And it is that many people activate the same and then you don’t remember to unsubscribe when not in use, so it’s literally free money for businesses.
The problem is that it can happen with many applications at the same time, because not just one or two companies do it. Obviously, anyone can argue that it’s the users fault for not canceling those subscriptions, because that would be not canceling payment for a video streaming app for a month if it’s not going to be used, but the reality is that few people end up agreeing.
uncertainty
Another problem with these apps is that, although in theory they indicate if a charging station is operational, the reality is that it does not always work. It is not uncommon to go to an electrical terminal and find that one of the two terminals there is not working or that, although in theory it is active, it cannot recharge the car.
This makes range anxiety, the effect one has when driving an electric car that is produced by not knowing whether it will be able to recharge, be much greater, since at the moment Europe’s plans to place many charging stations do not materialize. Far.
The Portuguese example
You might think that creating a one app use system for all charging networks, this is not feasible. You might think that it’s extremely expensive, or that only countries with a high penetration rate of electric cars like Norway can have it. But that would be a mistake.
Portugal has shown that switching from atmospheric to electric driving involves a commitment from the government, and this also affects applications. The neighboring country has an app called Miio which allows the charging of any electric car in more than 60,000 chargers distributed throughout the country.
This application can also be used in Europe and France, but its use does not reach the penetration it has in Portugal, so in the end the use of other applications is necessary. For example, the networks of Endesa and Iberdrola, two of the largest in southern Europe, are not included in the app.
We will have to wait and see if central and European governments decide to prioritize this issue to solve a problem that will increase as more and more people switch to electric mobility. Currently, the European Union is working on a project of electrified routes that would allow comfortable travel with electric cars, but there are still no confirmed plans.
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