# Charge Smart NY — user reviews > 51 indexed App Store user reviews of Charge Smart NY by National Grid plc, rated 4.21/5 from 230 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/charge-smart-ny/id6444802715/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/charge-smart-ny/id6444802715.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 125 · 4★ 26 · 3★ 3 · 2★ 7 · 1★ 29 ## What do users think of Charge Smart NY? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 💰 Saves money on charging - 💡 Manages off-peak charging - 📈 Tracks electricity usage - 👍 Simple and easy setup (for some) - ✅ Good for National Grid customers in NY **Cons** - 🐛 Constantly buggy and unreliable - 🔌 Fails to connect to car/charger - 📉 Inaccurate charging data - ⚠️ Blocks car from charging - 🚫 Limited vehicle compatibility - ❌ Difficult sign-up process - 🔒 Privacy concerns with data access - 🤷‍♀️ Inconsistent charging schedules - 👎 Poor customer support - 🚫 Ineligible address issues **Commonly reported bugs** - App needs update but no update available - Vehicle account needs reconnection errors - Charger shows offline after factory reset - App conflicts with car manufacturer apps (Tesla, Toyota) - Intermittently functional, stops working - Does not read anything correctly - Super glitchy, stops charging sometimes - Live session shows percentage but no other info - Does not work with Prius Prime - Keeps telling user app is out of date - No opportunity to update in App Store - No residential account connected despite login - Won't pair with Tesla - Charging sessions at home show 'away from home' - App blocks charging even during off-peak hours - Wrong calculations for kWh values - Missed monthly incentive due to incorrect values - Won't sign into National Grid account - Doesn't sync to car properly, loses connection - Rarely registers charging - No solar option under smart tab - Half the time doesn't charge to set limit - Starts charging at wrong times - General issues with car not charging - Unable to boost charge - Unreliable charging, uncertainty about overnight charge - Shows wildly incorrect data for charging times/amounts - Bug in computing off-peak hours - Phantom on-peak charging, false records - Creates phantom charges during on-peak - Does not allow changing car model after incorrect selection - Smart charging schedule doesn't work - Car won't charge when linked to app - App keeps not allowing password entry - Only registers charging ~50-60% of the time - Accurate charging data only on rare occasions - Vehicle status offline - Never records charging sessions - Tesla showing offline, doesn't charge off-peak - No longer works, won't load info - Vehicle update fails - Instructions are wrong - App and car incompatible - Inconsistent charging schedule timing - Issue with National Grid VTOU paperwork - App says ineligible despite eligible rate plan - Nightmare signing up, account issues - Confused between plugged-in times and actual off-peak charging - Ineligible address - Locked out of on-peak charging - NYS account ineligible after app removal - Hijacks Tesla app charging functions - Force to pair multiple vehicles - Requires constant GPS and spare keys for Tesla - Set vehicle to Leaf incorrectly - Glitchy first month, lost connection to vehicle - Cannot override settings when away from home - Unenroll button inaccessible **Most requested features** - Update app to connect - Option to delete/unlink charger - Support for more vehicle brands (GM, Honda) - Solar charging option - Improved user interface - Better customer support responsiveness - Clearer documentation on VTOU paperwork - Ability to restart interview/fix vehicle details ## Newest reviews (14 of 51) ### 2/5 — Intermittently functional *2026-02-10, version 3.34.2* I started using this in November. It basically worked for the 1st two months, which was great since I had to pay $24 to my utility company to use it. During that time, it started the charge when usage was low, charged reliably, and automatically ended the charge in the morning. Unfortunately it just stopped working. If I plug the car in at 3pm, it just charges at the standard rate right away. So I am back to manually starting the charge before I go to bed and manually stopping the charge at 7 am when the rates go up. I was excited about signing on to this to use energy efficiently, but in the end it is an inefficient use of the electrical grid and of my own energy since I now have to stay up late in order to manually starting the charge, and get up early to manually stop the charge. Too bad, it was a good idea gone awry. ### 2/5 — App out of date?? *2026-01-07, version 3.30.0* Keeps telling me app is out of date but when you go to App Store there is no opportunity to update?? Also tells me no residential account connected but I logged in with my national grid account?? ### 3/5 — Won’t Pair with Tesla *2026-01-02, version 3.30.0* App won’t allowing my Tesla to pair with the app. I go thru the steps but when I get page where it says “done” it doesn’t follow thru and app still says pairing required. ### 2/5 — Limited brands *2025-12-18, version 3.30.0* Why did you remove all General Motors vehicles? You had the Chevy Bolt on there last year and now that GM sells 10+ EVs you don’t have a single GM brand on your approved list? ### 3/5 — ‘Away from Home’ *2025-12-17, version 3.30.0* I think my app is working but not sure. My charging sessions at home all say ‘away from home’ but they do happen on the schedule I set... Fingers crossed! ### 1/5 — Would be great, if it worked *2025-10-11, version 3.28.0* Doesn’t sync to car properly. Constantly loses connection. Very rarely does it actually register that I’m charging. I’ve tried all the usual things - uninstall, unlink and relink, etc. Well intentioned idea for a rebate ruined by the bad implementation and now I lose out on money back each month because the app doesn’t work. ### 1/5 — No solar option and buggy app *2025-09-12, version 3.27.0* Documentation says that you can enable smart solar option under the smart tab but there is no solar option. I have solar panels and I’d like to use my panels to charge the car during the day. The app also half the time doesn’t charge the car to whatever limit i set it to. Other times it’ll start charging during the wrong times when i don’t want it to charge. ### 1/5 — General issues with charging *2025-09-06, version 3.27.0* The app worked fine for the first month or so, and since then I’ve had continual issues related to the car simply not charging and/or not being able to boost. Had to disconnect the app this morning because I couldn’t charge my car. ### 1/5 — Unreliable charging *2025-08-22, version 3.24.0* You too can have complete uncertainty in whether or not your car charged overnight so you can get to work! Seriously the added stress of possibly being very late to work just isn’t worth the $15. Setting it up is also very tedious. I’m an imaging systems engineer and it took about 1.5 hours to get it working. Not fun. Edit: The app also shows wildly incorrect data for both charging times and amounts. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up as a class action lawsuit. What a mess, and it’s costing us money. ### 1/5 — Buggy app, support won’t admit *2025-06-20, version 3.21.0* There’s a bug in that app that started earlier this year when computing off peak hours. Be sure to plug in your vehicle as close as possible to 11pm and schedule your charger to start as late as possible to 7am. The app will attempt to fill in the time between when the vehicle is plugged in and when the charge session starts, gradually incrementing the energy delivered for each bar in the bar graph until it hit the charge start time. The longer the time before 11pm, the more off-peak hours will be reported to your account despite the fact the vehicle wasn’t even charging. It’s frustrating having to create reminders to go out at night to to plug in my vehicle. I should be able to simply plug my vehicle in at anytime and rely on the app to calculate energy usage based on when scheduled charging has initiated. ### 1/5 — Phantom On-Peak Charging *2025-06-04, version 3.21.0* Same issue as the review before me. The app will log charging sessions as on-peak despite having smart charging and maximizing off-peak settings turned ON. The app will say charging duration is “0m” while indicating on the graph that it’s charging at on-peak times when it’s not. I’ve already missed credits for two months. It’s a scam program meant to collect our data and deny bill credits. ### 1/5 — Useless, can’t keep track of actual charging and creates false records *2025-05-27, version 3.20.0* They keep creating phantom charges, all during on PEAK. Car was connected for 3 minutes and not charging and it says 35.1kwh. Other time 0 minutes and 35.7kwh. A scam to make you not qualify for rebates. Before I tried smart charging and it would charge a few kWh every time I plugged in without me commanding. Again eating up the peak time charging allowance when I don’t need it. The only way to avoid was plugging after 11pm so I scheduled it in the car instead. ### 1/5 — Fix it! *2025-05-25, version 3.20.0* Does not allow me to change car model after incorrect one was selected. Trash! ### 2/5 — RX450h+ *2025-04-21* I charged my car the first day without any issues. I signed up for the Charge Smart NY App, connected my National Grid Account and my charger without issue. I scheduled the car to charge Off-Peak and be ready by 7am. Got up in the morning and the car stopped charging. Manually started the charger, worked for a while and stopped charging. My charging app says I used 9 kwh while the Charge Smart app says I used 39! The car still had charge left and it is a PHEV not a full EV. No way in heck! The first time I charged without the app it was at 0 and only used under 15. If I get credit for 39 but only pay for 9 then ok.. The app is not user friendly at all and is very limited. **Developer response:** We sincerely apologize for the trouble you’re experiencing with your charging. We’d be happy to look at this for you. Please send an email to chargesmartny@ev.energy from the email associated with your National Grid account and reference this app review. We look forward to hearing from you! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Update app to connect?! *2026-04-24, version 3.37.0* I had to factory reset my charger and now it shows that my charger is off-line all the time, there is no option to delete the linked charger or unlink it so I can reconnect it. on top of that it shows that my vehicle account needs to be reconnected. When I go and select BMW and try to connect it To my My BMW account it gives me an error that the app needs to be updated to the latest version, even though I’m running the latest version so there is no update available. so right now I can’t do anything with the app, on top of that I lost two months of reward incentives Because my vehicle nor charger is communicating with the app. I have sent multiple emails and no one has gotten back to me to correct the issue. ### 1/5 — Awful App *2026-01-24, version 3.30.0* Nothing in this app ever works right. It does read anything correctly. Even after my car is charged the app doesn’t give any info that it did. It will tell me when’s it’s charging and then never give me anymore info other than that. Super glitchy and will also stop my car from charging sometimes and I have to re-plug it in. Even if it’s during off peak hours. Fix your app. The live session will have a percentage when charging but will never tell me anything beyond that. ### 1/5 — Does not work with Prius Prime *2026-01-16, version 3.30.0* If you do not have a charger for your Prius Prime don’t use this app. That is, if you plug the cable into a 22v outlet, the app conflicts with the Toyota app the car will not charge. Even worse, I may drain the 12v battery which the Prius uses to power things like the door locks and starting the vehicle. ### 1/5 — Update *2026-01-07, version 3.30.0* App keeps telling me to update and it won’t let me. ### 1/5 — Not Vety Good *2025-12-05, version 3.30.0* Can’t restart interview to fix details about your vehicle. Lacks support for a plethora of vehicles and charges. National Grid needs to do better to support it’s customers with EVs. ### 1/5 — RX450h+ *2025-11-26, version 3.30.0* I charged my car the first day without any issues. I signed up for the Charge Smart NY App, connected my National Grid Account and my charger without issue. I scheduled the car to charge Off-Peak and be ready by 7am. Got up in the morning and the car stopped charging. Manually started the charger, worked for a while and stopped charging. My charging app says I used 9 kwh while the Charge Smart app says I used 39! The car still had charge left and it is a PHEV not a full EV. No way in heck! The first time I charged without the app it was at 0 and only used under 15. If I get credit for 39 but only pay for 9 then ok.. The app is not user friendly at all and is very limited. ### 1/5 — This app is blocking me from charging *2025-11-19, version 3.30.0* I just noticed after the last update my car stopped charging completely even at my set 1am time. When I tried to manually charge my car and delete the timing profile on my car it would stop charging my car after 5min or so. I then had to goto into this app and turn off the link to my Tesla. Immediately my car started charging. I don’t need the government deciding that I can’t charge my car because it’s cold out. There also must be some bug. Anyways I’ll pay more so I know I can get from A to B. ### 1/5 — Wrong calculations *2025-11-09* When I first entered my car into the system with my VIN, the app had the wrong trim line so the kWh values were 50% of what they should’ve been for several charging sessions during my first month. I reached out to support. They fixed my trim line in their system so the kWh values are closer, but still don’t match my EVSE. Because of this I missed out on my first monthly incentive. Support was unable to change the incorrect prior values each time it charges now the values are still wrong - always less than actual. **Developer response:** Hi there, we're sorry to hear you're experiencing some data discrepancies with your charging. Please email us at chargesmartny@ev.energy and reference this review. We'd like to look into this for you. ### 1/5 — Won’t sign into National Grid *2025-11-08, version 3.29.0* I can’t even get past the login page. It wont sign into my National grid account while at home on Wi-Fi, on cellular, or on works Wi-Fi. App takes me to the national grid login page. Apple Passwords fills in my credentials. Then “something went wrong.” I tried on and off for two weeks without success. ### 1/5 — Won’t let me register qualified equipment *2025-10-14, version 3.29.0* The website says you need a qualifying vehicle OR qualified charging equipment. But the setup process makes you select your qualifying vehicle first (which I don’t have) before getting to the step to select qualifying equipment (which I have). There’s no way I can find to skip to the equipment step so I’m locked out on day 1 of the process. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Love it! *2026-04-13, version 3.37.0* Saves us a ton of money. ### 5/5 — Don't listen to reviews, it's great. *2026-03-02, version 3.37.0* After reading these reviews, I almost wrote off this app. I'm glad I didn't, it's totally fine! I didn't like the default setting of "smart" charging since this would require me using TWO apps to control my car–in my case both this app and the Tesla app. If you try to start charging with the Tesla app, this app would stop it a few minutes later. If you turn off the smart part, however, it just silently monitors when you charge your car and that's that! Yes you need to log into Tesla to give the app permission to track it, and yes the app needs to know where your car is so it can infer whether or not you're charging at home. ...but once it's set up, you can literally delete the app from your phone if you want to. I manage my scheduled charging through the Tesla app to make sure I'm charging at night, and now I'm happily getting my discount. Don't hesitate, it's a no brainer. ### 5/5 — Must have for EV owners *2026-02-25, version 3.34.2* This application a must have if you have EV and are a customer of National Grid living in NY. This app allows you to manage off peak time charging on your EV. In return national grid will give you monetary incentive if managed to have your vehicle charged 80% of the time of the peak time. The savings ad up in long-term. The app also allows you to track your EVs electricity usage. ### 5/5 — Must have for EV owners *2026-02-19* This application a must have if you have EV and are a customer of National Grid living in NY. This app allows you to manage off peak time charging on your EV. In return national grid will give you monetary incentive if managed to have your vehicle charged 80% of the time of the peak time. The savings ad up in long-term. The app also allows you to track your EVs electricity usage. **Developer response:** Thank you so much for the wonderful review! We're thrilled the app is helping you save money with off-peak charging and making EV ownership even more rewarding. Your kind words mean the world to our team. Happy charging! ### 5/5 — Simple & Easy *2024-11-01, version 3.4.23* 👍 ### 5/5 — Terrible App *2023-10-01, version 3.0.5* So I was excited to see this program so I signed up. The first month it worked but was very glitchy. I have a Chevrolet Bolt EUV and Autel home charger. When the app was used I would loose connection to the vehicle in the my Chevrolet app and the charge smart app would not see it either. Once charging was done and I cycled car on I would see the information. Also when charging away from home it would not allow the car to charge unless I overrode the setting on the vehicle. App had no problem turning this feature of delayed charging on, but when away from home it would not turn it off.. Maybe it’s due to the fact that the app does not work at all now. All sorts of error messages. One of the errors said that the app and my car are incompatible. So how was I able to sign up then and have it work at one point. It’s been very frustrating and all I want to do now is get my money refunded(charge me my regular rate for the energy I did use) from the last 2 months. I tried to unenroll from the app and the button is there, but you have to scroll the page down to see it.. problem is when you are scrolling page down and see it you can’t click on it with out releasing the screen scrolling and the button is inaccessible. Overall terrible experience. Maybe if it gets fixed in the future I will use it but for now I just want my money back. ### 5/5 — EV charging for $20/month *2023-07-10, version 3.0.0* Great app and can’t complain about the price. I set my departure time for 7am and the app makes sure my Tesla is charged when I need to head out. National Grid pays $150 to sign up and $20/month is a bargain for the electricity supply. ### 4/5 — App Limited By Car App *2026-03-22, version 3.37.0* If you do not have an EVSC from the approved list; this app relies solely on the car manufacturer application API. This means if the app cannot connect to your car there is no charge history. I had it happen twice so far. Once an over night charge was completed missed (36 kw). Another time I unplugged my car and it was not recognized which lead to 3 hours of on peak charging with no cars connected to the EVSC. Customer support sent me a link to a page that explained this. The app could be better but so could the car manufacturer app. ### 4/5 — Smart Charge Doesn’t Work *2025-04-16, version 3.16.0* The app worked good for a couple weeks but then the “smart charging” schedule wouldn’t work. ### 4/5 — Issues with app *2023-07-15, version 3.0.2* There is an issue between the app and National Grid.calling them says I need to sign the VTOU paperwork but in the 18 page PDF program it says nothing about it and in fact says that is a disqualifier for participating. I am on an eligible residential rate plan but app says I am ineligible. Update: I did connect but there was an issue that had to be resolved by National Grid. This was not a user error. The customer service dept. at National Grid who sent the program out was not aware of the program so customer service was not able to help me, rather I was explaining their program to them. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-30.*