notquiteaff

I am looking at booking rental cars for an upcoming trip. I am seeing more and more EVs offered. I am an EV driver in the US, so I am generally familiar and comfortable with charging my vehicle at various DC and L2 chargers, and I have NFC cards and apps for the various charging networks I am likely to come across in the US.

When driving in Germany, I have seen chargers at Autobahn rest areas and city parking areas, but I haven't really paid much attention to the brands. If I rented a Tesla, I know I could likely just rely on the Supercharger network in most areas. But what other networks should I get apps (or NFC cards?) for? Do chargers accept US credit cards? Do the apps accept US credit cards? Any other advice?

tom tulpe

ADAC (German AAA) is issued free of charge and gives a discount on most charging points (not on the ionity superchargers, those are still € 0.79/kwh), but you have to join as a member: https://www.adac.de/rund-ums-fahrzeu...ote/ladekarte/

You can charge at ALDI supermarkets aound the country at low rates (€ 0.29/kwh AC / € 0.39/kwh DC) and pay by credit card, but you have to go to an ALDI car park, and they're not fast chargers (11/22 normally)

https://topladekarten.de/ have a nice comparison tool (select "Keine monatlichen Kosten" i.e. "no monthly fees" as a filter).

oliver2002

Sixt gave me a blank Shell recharge card when I rented a tesla with them last year. I set up an account in the app and associated the card to it. I have it with me in case I need it, their network is pretty decent. Most charging stations also sport a QR code you can scan to pay for the charge on their native website. Sometimes the rate is a bit lower, sometimes significantly higher for some reason.

https://shellrecharge.com/en-us/solutions

FLYGVA

As a member of the ADAC, I have the EnBW card, and also use a Shell Card. The most charging station of one network are also accessible by the other card.

Hertz has a Shell Charge Card attached to the car key which you can use. The costs are charged to your credit card after you returned the car. Sixt has a similar system. You can use in both cases also your own card.

notquiteaff

So I have now two Shell Recharge apps on my phone. Same icon, different apps. Very smart. One app is for the US, and I have used it in the past over here. It doesn’t seem to see any European chargers, so I don’t think my account with that app can be used in Germany. The second app doesn’t accept my US account credentials, and I can’t create a separate account since it won’t accept a US phone number, only an assortment of European country codes. Stupid, stupid.

The EnBW Mobility+ app doesn’t seem to be available in US app stores (iOS or Android).

Uh Clem

I'm in the same boat. I checked my ChargePoint app and it shows charging stations in Cologne so I'm assuming I can use it throughout Germany. If I decide to rent an EV I'll call ChargePoint to confirm. The only negative is I was looking forward to driving a stick shift for a couple of weeks.

offerendum

There are actually hardly any of these left at the rental car companies, and if there are, they are usually only the small engines in small cars.

notquiteaff

I had booked an Europcar EV, and they sent me a pre-rental email about registering for a Shell Recharge account. So I reached out to Shell ReCharge and asked how exactly I could do that. Answer: without a German phone number you can’t use the app.

“Leider können Sie kein Konto erstellen, da Ihr Handy in US registriert ist und die Shell Recharge App kann nur in europäischen Ländern genutzt werden.”

Sorry to be blunt but that is an idiotic restriction.

I ended up cancelling the rental car (the train driver strikes had ended, so I took an electric train instead) and registered for a Shell Recharge account with the mobile number of a German friend. As far as I can tell so far, the number isn’t actually used. I put in one of my US credit cards (accepted) and asked for an NFC card to be mailed to my friend’s address, to be picked up next time.

seawolf

Is it me or the chargers in Germany don't have cables attached (eg you have to BYOC)? Just rented a PHEV XC90 this week from Hertz the included cable was just for home outlets.

offerendum

Almost without exception, cables are only attached for the fast chargers. My car only came with one for a regular socket only which is useless. At the moment, of course, the whole electric motor is of little use because the charging socket is broken. The "Premiumcar" is already almost 1.5 years old, so it can happen. Doesn't cost anything either.....

notquiteaff

Yes, that is how it works for Level 2 chargers in Germany and presumably all over Europe.

I still haven't rented an EV overseas, but conceptually I like it as it hopefully would reduce the wear and tear of chargers. Here in the US I frequently see people mishandle the cables/plugs - they are too lazy to put them back where they belong and just throw them on the sidewalk or in the parking spot behind their car.

Obviously, if rental cars don’t include the cable, that would make them somewhat useless and I would likely decline the vehicle.

Presumably because they are a lot more substantial cables that may even be liquid-cooled. I suspect the charging companies wouldn’t want you to BYOC from the Ali Express bargain selection.

offerendum

Yes, it's a completely different system and the cable is much more complex. Don't even know if it's possible to use a not fixed cable at a 300 kwh charger.

ellyrambo

I rented an EV from Sixt. They gave me a Shell card but I couldn’t use it with the US app. The Shell charger took ApplePay, but it was a funky process. I tapped on the screen, selected RFID, opened my wallet and held my phone there until it directed me to start charging.

TotalEnergies let me make an account but didn’t work with my US Visa cards, and they don’t accept Amex.