Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.)
General topics and site functionality
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What is Allchargecards.com?
AllChargeCards provides you with a transparent list of best RFID charging cards, apps, and keyfobs. We provide as much relevant providers we can, so you can make a good and independent choice for your specific needs.
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Which filters, sorting and labels are there and how do they work?
First of all, the 'Filters'. These are the squares on top of the page which you can tick on- or off
Prepaid - A card which you have to charge with money or credits first.
100% green - Providers which delivers 100% green energy from renewable sources. | This only works when the operator provides 100% green power, too.
EU Deliverable - Provider delivers their cards all across Europe.
All European Charging points - Card is usable at almost every European charging station
Rapid Chargings - This is where you may filter op European Rapid Charging Networks. IE, when you tick 'Ionity', only cards will be visible that works at the Ionity network. All other cards will then disappear from this view.
Checked by us - This RFID is tested en checked by Chargeguide so all information is first-handed.
Holiday - Cards or -apps that will deliver a good experience on your holiday.
Then 'Sorting' These are the options in the white 'rating' box, next to the Reset button.
Rating - Filters the list in order of rating, best on top. (Default view)
Provider A-Z - Filters the list on alphabetic order, use Z-A for reverse order view.
Regular price per month - Likely price for 10 sessions of 20kWh on 10 different charging points. (Approx. 1000km)
Coverage - Sorts the list op the amount of supported charging points in Europa where the card is use-able, ranked high to low.
And lastly the 'Labels'. These are those little colored text boxes you see at every provider.
The blue boxes represent labels which you can filter on or off.
The Grey boxes represents which Rapid charger-networks are applicable for this card.
European card - This is a card that is designed for European-wide use by European customers.
Holiday - Cards that are very suitable for long trips, because they support a lot of rapid-charger networks.
Key Fob - Provider delivers keyfobs too.
Card - This provider provides a contactless RFID charge card.
App - This provider delivers an smartphone app which you can use their services with.
Text - This provider delivers some services with the use of texting.
Site - The services this provider delivers are also usable through a normal desktop or mobile website.
Free Delivery - This card will be delivered for free.
Daily Usage - Card is very useful for daily usage.
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What does ‘CPO tariff’ mean?
Charge Point Operator. It is the primary responsible person or organisation for a charging station.
Note: The CPO is not always the same player as the one that built the station. In example, if there is a Ecotap charging station in a parking garage, the CPO can be the garage owner. The CPO decides which base tariff is being charged at this station. This can be a tariff based on volume, time or session. The MSP can charge you additional fees.
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Why are some provides listed twice?
Some providers delivers two very different services. I.E. prepaid and postpaid. Providers with cards that provides somewhat the same service, (i.e. five different volumes) will get only one entry.
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How does the rating system work?
Every provider receives points on different area's. These, in example, contains transparency, tariffs, usability in country of origin, service area, and ease of use. But also the quality of their customer support. The better they score on these criteria, the more points they get and the higher they will be ranked in the list.
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I'm a beginner. Where to start?
Just order one of the cards from position 1-20. After a while you will discover your true needs. After a while, return to here, to make a better match.
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Is just one card enough for me?
It surely can be, is you sort on 'service area' then 80% of Western Europe is perfectly drivable. Most people have a few RFID cards to get better rates at the rapids, to use in certain countries or because they need a specific one for hard areas like the middle of Spain.
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Where can I charge with the card i'd choose?
Right next to every provider there's a link called 'Provider map' which is linked to a map containing all chargepoints which this provider marks as useable.
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Green and grey energy, how does that work?
Both the Charge Point Operator (CPO) and the Mobility Service Provider (MSP) can deliver grey or green energy. Most CPO’s deliver green energy at their charging station, like Fastned, Nuon and Allego, but not all of them. The MSP can also compensate for energy that wasn’t green. For this they buy Certificates Of Origin (COO) for the kWh’s that were charged at CPO’s that don’t guarantee green energy. This makes the kWh’s that you buy from the MSP green as well.
So if you choose for a 100% green energy MSP, you know for sure that all the energy that you charge with their card, has been supplied via an energy producer that supplies renewable energy to the European grid. This can be solar, wind or hydro power, depending on the type of COO.
With the data that is supplied to us we inform you which MSP’s are 100% green. Companies of which we have not (yet) been able to determine their COO's, will not get the 100% green label. In other words, if a charge chard does not have the 100% green label, this only means we have not been able to verify that all energy was indeed renewable sourced. This does not mean that _all_ energy is grey coloured, we simply haven’t been able to verify it.
In the end there are four combinations or categories of which only one is completely grey. This combination is rare in Europe, since all municipalities demand green energy in their tenders. For semi-public charging station this could be more common because the owner can choose his own energy contract.
Category 2 and 3 in fact green because either the energy is already green or it is compensated with certificates, category four is therefore even ’double’ green.
1: Grey – Grey: The CPO buys grey energy and the MSP doesn’t not buy green certificates for the amount of kWh’s sold.
2: Grey – Green: The CPO buys grey energy, but the MSP has bought certificates for every kWh sold.
3: Green – Grey: The CPO supplies 100% green energy and the MSP does not buy green certificates for the amount of kWh’s sold.
4: Green – Green: The CPO supplies 100% green energy and on top of that the MSP is compensating every charged kWh with certificates.
Prices / Financial
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How is the average monthly costs measured?
It's build upon a testing scheme which contains 10 charging sessions of 20kWh on different charging stations in The Netherlands. (This equals about 1000KM per month)
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Why are some cheaper provider listed below some of the more expensive ones?
Because the list is populated according to rating.
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Why are there so many different tariffs?
Because there is no market regulation for it. There are time, session, connection, fine, and parking tariffs or a combination of these.
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Why can't I just pay contactless on the charging points?
Because no market players want to pay the money to administer this. However, more and more rapid chargers are offering this functionality.
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Can I use Apple Wallet or Apple Pay?
Currently there are no operators that support Apple Pay. The support for Apple Wallet is also very limited. Only Chargepoint (US) has support for Apple Wallet, but we have not been able to confirm this, yet
Abbreviations
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What is a KiloWattHour (kWh) and what is the difference with kiloWatt (kW)?
1 kWh is a measurement for the amount of energy, it means the usage of 1000 Watt for one hour. If you charge your car at home on a 3,7kW power connection, you will charge about 37kWh of energy after ~10 hours.
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What means (B)EV, PHEV and HEV?
(Battery) Electric Vehicle, Plugin-Hybrid Electric Vehicle, en Hybrid Electric Vehicle. BEV only is 100% Electric.
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Wat does ICE, or being ice'd mean?
Internal Combustion Engine. When being ice'd, your charging spot is taken by a fossil fuel car.
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Wat does Flat rate mean ?
Unlimited charging for a fixed amount per month / year.
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What does ‘CPO’ mean?
Charge point operator. It is the primary responsible person or organisation for a charging station.
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What does ‘(e-)MSP’ mean?
(E-)Mobility Service Provider. Also described as Charge / RFID Card Supplier.
Charge and Park
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Wat can I do when my chargepoint denies my RFID card?
Try another card. Does the chargepoint still not work, check the app of your card if your card should have worked here. If this is not the case, check with an independent app like Zap-map or Chargemap, to see which cards are being accepted here. When this also offers no solution, you can check the pole for QR codes, operator phone number, or instructions for an ad-hoc charging session.
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Wat is a Granny Charger and what to do with it?
A Granny charger is a charging cable suited for usage on a regular household socket. Because there is no card required these chargers are very popular on holiday occasions. Charging with a Granny charger will take a lot of time (2,3kW) but it works.
Contributing by myself
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Can I help you with a contribution?
Yes, please! you can join the revolution for free by sending us your charging bills, use info@allchargecards.com for this. We also love feedback about our site or just a changed tariff can help a lot
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Can I do more, i.e. financial support?
Absolutely. We are encouraged by the appreciation of our visitors. When you'd like to give, a donation by Paypal is appreciated very much .