WattsNear — EV charger finder I built, looking for feedback + a quick opinion

[Yubbs]

I built an app called WattsNear (WattsNear.com) and wanted to share it with Lightning owners specifically. You're out here actually relying on charging infrastructure, so your feedback means the most.

Simple premise: open it, find chargers nearby, go. No account, no sign-up, no data collected on my end. Just added Canadian locations too for anyone near the border or planning a cross-border trip.

It's iOS only for now - Android is coming.

Here's where I'd love your honest opinion:

The app is currently free with Google ads, and $1.99/year to remove them. The pushback I've gotten is fair, I don't track anything, but the ad network (Google AdMob) does its own thing, which undercuts the "no tracking" message.

So I'm weighing two options:

Keep the current model - free with ads, $1.99/year to remove them. Not perfect privacy-wise, but it's free to use.
Fully ad-free - 3 day free trial, then a small annual subscription (a few dollars a year). No ads, ever. Clean conscience, no third-party networks involved at all.

Which would you actually prefer? Would a low-cost subscription put you off, or is a truly ad-free, no-tracking app worth a couple bucks a year to you?

Any feedback on the app itself is also hugely appreciated — missing chargers, bugs, feature requests, anything.

WattsNear.com
App Store

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[fhteagle]

What does this do that Plugshare, dcfctracker.com, ABRP, etc do not already do?

Honest question, not snark

 

[Yubbs]

What does this do that Plugshare, dcfctracker.com, ABRP, etc do not already do?

Honest question, not snark

That’s where the no account, no tracking and no selling your data come in. Since there is no infrastructure there is nothing to sell.

also, Personal opinion but I think it’s more straightforward to use, especially in CarPlay

 

[BhamDCam]

Apologies if this is a dumb question, but does it do route/trip planning? Or just routing to the charger you choose?

 

[Yubbs]

Apologies if this is a dumb question, but does it do route/trip planning? Or just routing to the charger you choose?

So right now it’s just finding the charger and then sending it to maps.  has a whole approval process that is supposedly pretty drawn out for a navigation app entitlement to be able to add it to the app store. If there was interest I could look into it though.

 

[bmwhitetx]

So I set up my Lightning as the active vehicle with some settings - specifically Connector type (CCS1 and NACS). The map did not reflect those. I then went to map filters and enabled just those two. But it shows Tesla V2 stations which we cannot access.

How do you filter out the Tesla stations that are only open to Tesla? I did not see a means to do that.

 

[Yubbs]

So I set up my Lightning as the active vehicle with some settings - specifically Connector type (CCS1 and NACS). The map did not reflect those. I then went to map filters and enabled just those two. But it shows Tesla V2 stations which we cannot access.

How do you filter out the Tesla stations that are only open to Tesla? I did not see a means to do that.

Thanks for flagging this. You found a real gap and I owe you a fix. The latest version (1.0.6) addresses everything you raised, I am going to submit the update tonight:

1. Active vehicle now drives the filter automatically. Setting your Lightning as the active vehicle in Settings (or via the new vehicle picker button at the top of every tab) immediately applies its supported connectors to the search. No need to also flip them on manually in the filter sheet. That was the bug, it's gone.

2. New "Hide Tesla-only Superchargers" filter in the Filter sheet under "Tesla Compatibility" defaults to ON. It filters out V2 Superchargers and any V3+ site that hasn't been opened to non-Tesla vehicles yet. Data is sourced from supercharge.info (bundled, no live network calls, no location data sent. Full disclosure in the Privacy section).

3. Vehicle picker on every tab. Tap the bolt-car icon in the toolbar to switch vehicles or pick "No vehicle" if you want to see everything without filtering. Faster than digging into Settings.

Appreciate the detailed bug report, exactly what I am looking for.

 

[B177y]

I'm on Android so I can't comment on the app (yet).

For the subscription question, is it possible to combo the two choices that you gave?

I'm thinking a three-day trial ad-free. After trial, reverts to ads with the ability to remove for $1.99/yr. I'm also a fan of pay once, say $20 for lifetime ad-free.

 

[MountainAlive]

This app is looking good. I’ll try it out some more this week. Unless I missed it, it would be great to be able to filter by charging speed. I’m usually only looking for “fast” chargers (>50kw).

 

[RickLightning]

Don't know where you are getting your data from, but if it isn't as good as PlugShare, can't imagine people would use it.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

Interesting, I think there was a thread related to this subject in just the last week or so.

I would be particularly interested in its ability to factor in membership rates when identifying the cheapest chargers. For the most part, we’re just talking about Tesla and EA.

I’ve downloaded your app and I’m giving it a whirl. I leave next week on my 20th EV road trip of more than 1500 miles, so it might get some real world testing.

Side note: Despite my extensive long-distance travel (or maybe because), I don’t do very much route planning. The reality is the US charging infrastructure has dramatically improved in the last year or two, and there are often two or more choices at the natural stopping points. That is where this app would be helpful to me.

 

[Yubbs]

This app is looking good. I’ll try it out some more this week. Unless I missed it, it would be great to be able to filter by charging speed. I’m usually only looking for “fast” chargers (>50kw).

Yea, it has Level 2 vs Level 3 , but being able to filter out the slow "Fast" chargers is a good suggestion.

 

[Yubbs]

Interesting, I think there was a thread related to this subject in just the last week or so.

I would be particularly interested in its ability to factor in membership rates when identifying the cheapest chargers. For the most part, we’re just talking about Tesla and EA.

I’ve downloaded your app and I’m giving it a whirl. I leave next week on my 20th EV road trip of more than 1500 miles, so it might get some real world testing.

Side note: Despite my extensive long-distance travel (or maybe because), I don’t do very much route planning. The reality is the US charging infrastructure has dramatically improved in the last year or two, and there are often two or more choices at the natural stopping points. That is where this app would be helpful to me.

Nice, Hope you have a good trip. I am planing on Doing Miami to Michigan this summer. Will be my first long trip in an EV.

 

[oldman_74]

I just took a look, lots of advertising, it does show all the local Charge stations. But it wants "Location" info makes sense if you are looking for something near your location. The Location data is highly valued information, since the app is on a phone other data could be shared.. Looks like a nice app but no thanks there is enough data grabbing taking place with all of the requisite apps..

 

[Yubbs]

Don't know where you are getting your data from, but if it isn't as good as PlugShare, can't imagine people would use it.

It comes from NRL.gov api and supercharge.info

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