ChargePoint Customers Can Now Start Charging With Just A Smartphone Or Smartwatch

September 28, 20177 years ago Kyle Field 0 Comments

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ChargePoint has announced new functionality that allows customers to start a charging session from a smartphone or smartwatch with a new feature called “Tap to Charge.”

Kick the Card!

Tap to Charge allows drivers to finally kick the charging cards that have haunted EV drivers looking to charge at public stations and pay with the devices that have become more important than their wallets — smartphones and smartwatches. The new feature of the ChargePoint app uses near field communication (NFC) technology to communicate from the smartphone to the charging station. NFC is a technology that most smart devices now come equipped with.

The new functionality has been rolled out to 40,000 ChargePoint charging points in North America and ushers in a more streamlined charging experience for EV drivers who have for too long been required to carry an assortment of key fobs for each charging network. This move streamlines that experience and simplifies the process of starting a charging session. At CleanTechnica, we are always moving gear from one car to the next as we run the latest and greatest plug-in vehicles through the paces, so eliminating the need to get the charging cards is one less thing to have to remember — something we can greatly appreciate and are sure many others will appreciate.

Going Mainstream

As EV sales continue to climb, moving to a standardized, user-friendly charging system that integrates seamlessly into the lives of drivers is just one more way to make driving a plug-in vehicle the easy, logical decision for drivers. As the world’s largest public electric vehicle charging network, ChargePoint is well aware of what works and what doesn’t with drivers and has tactfully leveraged its expertise to make charging a more seamless experience.

“ChargePoint is committed to getting every driver behind the wheel of an EV, and a major part of achieving that goal is making it as easy as possible for drivers to charge,” said Colleen Jansen, chief marketing officer, ChargePoint, Inc.

“Tap to charge delivers on that commitment and fosters EV adoption by providing the easiest way for drivers to charge wherever they live, work, and play. The ownership experience is key to broader EV adoption, and trailblazing features like tap to charge make fueling your EV much more simple and convenient than the gas vehicle it likely replaced.”

To use the new functionality, drivers must have a compatible phone with NFC enabled, then log into the ChargePoint app and tap it on the station. Charging then starts automagically.

iPhone users have it one step easier, as they are able to add ChargePoint to their Apple Wallet. From there, a finger on the Touch ID as the phone is tapped on the charging station starts the session.