How to Activate your Complimentary ChargePoint Card (P.S. it has a limited life span)

I couldn't figure out how to unlock the charging station with the app so I ended up scanning the card.

I realized this as I was monitoring the app. So, I navigated through and clicked "Stop Charging" before getting to my car and moving it.

 

Not if you stop the session.

There's an option on the app for that.

 

Thanks, I will give that a try, i know there is a stop charging option ... i was also under the impression you're getting charged (money) while plugged in, drawing amps or not ...

 

@john1701a - I did not know you could stop the session remotely. Will try that also - thanks!

 

The operator of the ChargePoint I use at work has disabled that function, saying something like the ev community is growing ... basically encouraging people to vacate spaces after charging. That is fine for me, in my case the walk and return into my office is less than 15min so a welcome break

 

The owner can also charge purely by kwh if they want. For example, Disneyland has 70 charging ports in its public parking structure. They charge $0.35/kwh. You are not expected to move your car when charging completes (I asked). My total charge was $2.25 for the 8 hours I was there.

 

I have seen $2/hour for ChargePoint quoted somewhere, although here in Austin TX, you can sign up for a program for "all you can eat" charging, so to speak, for $55/year (within the Austin area).

Either way though, this strikes me as is a good reason to use two P.Prime features:
* Auto-lock and -unlock of the charger from the charge port, so that it will unlock the charger from the port when charging completes, and
* Push notifications (or Email) when charging completes.

I'm not sure, but I think the former is not available on the P.Prime Plus, and the latter is only available on the Advanced trim level.


iPhone ? Pro

 

And only if you download, install and sign up for Entune, and sign up for Safety Connect (free for three years, $140 a year after that).

As an Advanced owner, I have done neither.

 

I'll see in 3 years (or 3 years and however many months if my P.Prime Advanced doesn't make it 5/15 as projected!), but I suspect I will accept the Safety Connect subscription cost. That, even if only for the remote climate feature: Hit the air conditioner when we line-up at the grocery checkout line, when I finish my weekend rows out on the lake, and many other such circumstances. I'll have to see how reliable and effective that feature turns out to be, though.


iPhone ? Pro

 

It's really handy. 3 years free is nice.

You get stats too... like what your actual MPG is, not 199.9

 

I haven't been able to find a real use for it. I use remote AC from my key-fob, and it works fine. I don't need stats from Entune as I keep track of my own, none of the Entune applications do anything useful as far as I can tell, and I'd never in a million years pay for Safety Connect after it expires so I don't want to get used to it.

 

That, I gather, since the Eco Dashboard Smutphone (haha) app does show full, unsaturated MPG values (I think I recall somebody else saying that earlier)?


iPhone ? Pro

 

You have to get pretty close to the car to use the AC button on the key FOB, correct?


iPhone ? Pro

 

Probably, but I haven't tried it from more than about 100 feet. My bedroom is directly over my garage so I can activate it from my bedroom and hear the beep of it starting, and I can activate it from inside my office building when the car is in the parking lot outside.

 

Correct, so no chance of A/C prepping the car if there's a walk to it, like in a parking lot or ramp.

Unscheduled remote heater use would be impossible to.

 

I suspect I would want to use it much more often than that, at least in the 2-3 months out of the year here where the highs are over 100! However, I'm glad that works for you.


iPhone ? Pro

 

I would never use it for hot days. It's very, very inefficient to use A/C to bring an internal temperature of 160 degrees + down to reasonable. Instead I open all four windows and drive that way for the first 3-5 minutes or so, and then use the AC after that. It's faster and far more energy efficient.

 

Keeping the already cooled car from getting hot is a different matter... like when plugged in while grocery shopping.

 

I certainly don't disagree with that, but that would be after sweating myself up a swimming pool! I'll take every chance I can get cut that time down, efficient or not.

In most cases, hopefully, I'll be plugged in.

The other reason, however, is cooling down the seat material. For whatever reason, the Advanced trim level does not offer cloth seats, so I expect them to come out flaming hot in the summer, and I'll need pre-climate to cool them down.

Easier to keep clean, though...


iPhone ? Pro

 

Thank you! just got my prime last friday, and now I have $100 to use. I had already signed up with chargepoint, so the vin as promo code worked fine.