Your phone is surely your electric car's best friend. Thanks to the applications, it makes it possible to make the best use of its connected functionalities: remote management of heating, air conditioning, charging. When traveling, it will guide you to the most suitable terminals and route. It can even help you save on your refills. Automobile Propre reviews the most useful apps for electric vehicle drivers.

Applications provided by car manufacturers

If you only had to download one application, it would be that of the manufacturer of your electric car. Once installed, it allows you to remotely control a whole range of parameters. The features depend on the manufacturer, some offer none and others are very complete.

Most of the time, the application gives you access to setting charging times (useful depending on your electricity contract), vehicle information (charge level, range, temperature) and the heating and air conditioning system . This function is very practical for getting your car back to the ideal temperature, in freezing or scorching weather, without consuming battery power. You can activate cold or hot air with a gesture or program regular operating times.

Some manufacturers offer more gimmicky tools, such as turning on the headlights and the horn remotely. Finally, Tesla offers a "summon" function, which literally allows you to drive your car remotely. However, it is reserved for maneuvers at very low speed and over very short distances, such as getting out of a narrow garage.

Route Planners

A Better Routeplanner and Chargemap

To prepare a trip, it is better to do without the on-board computer of your vehicle if you do not have a Tesla. Specific applications exist and are much more reliable and precise. The most famous are “A Better Routeplanner” and “Chargemap”. They let you know where to charge, how long you need to stay plugged in, and which route to take for your trip. The result can be refined by entering its own parameters such as the speed at which you want to drive and the battery levels targeted at the start and finish.

Antelope

Currently compatible with Renault, Nissan and BMW, the “Antilope” application predicts the amount of energy needed for your trip. It communicates directly with the vehicle's on-board computer to perform its calculations. The estimate is even more complete by specifying the number of passengers, luggage and your heating/air conditioning choices.

Terminal locators

Chargemap

Some apps are quite versatile. This is the case of “Chargemap”, which offers a location map of charging stations in addition to a route planner. It indicates the location of all charging points, mainly in France and Europe. Each socket or terminal has a sheet indicating its characteristics, access methods and price. As the application is participatory, each user can assess the quality of the charging site and report its operating status. A welcome feature to avoid heading towards a capricious or out of service terminal.

Plugshare

Outside Europe, the "Plugshare" application is more suitable. It is in a way the equivalent of Chargemap for North America and the Anglo-Saxon countries, where its coverage is excellent. The information displayed is similar: location of terminals, characteristics, access methods and user reviews.

Other apps

Chargeprice

As you know, charging prices can be a real headache. Public terminals do not have luminous totems making it easy to compare prices, unlike gas stations. However, they are radically different at the same charging point depending on the badge and/or payment method chosen. Thanks to the “Chargeprice” application, there is no longer any need to play accountant.

It allows you to find the most economical payment method/badge for your top-up. All you have to do is fill in the terminal and the amount of energy you plan to recover. Chargeprice then gives you the list of all the badges and access methods classified from the cheapest to the most expensive and estimates the total cost of your recharge. However, the result should be taken with a grain of salt, as most prices are provided by users. There is therefore a significant risk of error.

Applications of terminal operators

Ionity, Izivia, Freshmile, Newmotion, eBorn: almost all charging networks offer their own smartphone application. Most of them allow you to pay for top-ups by credit card, occasionally or regularly (by registering your card in the application). This can be financially beneficial in some situations. In any case, these applications are very practical to overcome the absence of payment terminals by credit card on the terminals.

Jedlix

If you have a charging point at home or in your private car park, the “Jedlix” application can help you save on your electricity bill. The system is currently compatible with Tesla, BMW, Audi, Jaguar and Renault. It consists of automatically activating charging when electricity is cheaper and less carbon-intensive.

In concrete terms, the user enters his charging needs on the application (for example: reaching such a battery level at such a time), plugs in his vehicle and then lets Jedlix manage the power supply. The application of course respects the objective set by the user and remunerates him in return for the service rendered to the network. The premium amounts to €0.02/kWh recharged via the service.

Now all you have to do is go to your favorite app store. Do not hesitate to tell us in the comments which apps you have downloaded and which ones you think are the most essential.