Charging Electric Cars in Switzerland

After some trial and error I finally managed to get an electric car to charge at public charging points. The first success was at an evpass charging station where I was able to charge 13.1kW/h in an hour and 14 minutes using the app on my phone and a credit card for 8.48 CHF. The second time was with the TCS eCharge RFID tag that I ordered from the Touring Club Suisse for free. In that case I charged 11.1kW/h for 5.89 CHF.
With evpass the cost is 0.65 CHF per kW/h and with Swisscharge the price is 0.35 CHF per kW/h but with a 2 CHF connection fee for each charge, Without that connection charge Swisscharge would cost 3.89 CHF for 11.1kW/h and be competitive with evpasss. As things stand Swisscharge make you pay an extra 5.7 kW/h per charge.
According to perplexity “… the 0.35 CHF per kWh charger with a 2 CHF connection fee becomes more cost-effective after charging approximately 6.67 kWh. In practical terms, this means that if you plan to charge more than 6.67 kWh, the first charger is the better option despite its connection fee.”

The Charging Curve Effect

When looking at the stats I see that the charging curve effect is clear to see. When I charged from thirty percent to 80 percent I used 13.1 kW/h and from 80-100 percent I used 11.1 kW/h. This could be because the 2 CHF charge is counted in kW/h or it could demonstrate the charging effect curve.

Teething Problems

When I first tried to charge in Signy Centre I failed because I didn’t have the app, and then I had an RFID tag but it failed to register properly so I tried with a second tag, that I knew was paired to the right app. You are also required to have your own charging cable. With the TCS echarge card it took seconds to start charging.
With the charging point with evpass in Arnex sur Nyon the experience was more positive. Download the app, create a user account, add a card, choose which charger to use, start charging, wait.

And Finally

In an ideal situation I would have a charger in the garage. I would plug the car in when I am not using it, and it would charge during the night as everyone sleeps. In reality the building was not setup to have multiple EVs charging at one. If I install a charger I might need to remove or modify it when others choose to have their own. The cheaper alternative is to use public charging points.
This morning I was surprised because when I parked the car at home, and saw that it was at one hundred percent I smiled. It’s somehow liberating to know that I am no longer trapped for 10 hours on some trips, waiting for the car to charge sufficiently to be used. As I said, I don’t have range anxiety, I have charge anxiety. I had charge anxiety.