Welcome to This week in not Windows, a new series where we explore tech problems that sit well outside the usual PC ecosystem. I recently purchased a Hyundai Tucson plug-in hybrid. It’s been a while since I liked a car so much that I found excuses to drive, but that’s exactly what’s happened this week.
The overall experience is positive and I’m excited about my new SUV, but the charging experience in the UK has been surprisingly complicated.
Since my car is a plug-in hybrid, none of this is especially urgent. The car works perfectly fine without ever seeing a plug. But if I had a fully electric car, the app situation could cause a lot of stress.
To give the UK government credit, legislation was passed in 2023 that requires public chargers with certain specs to accept contactless payments. Charging stations are also required to have hotline support, to be rated as at least 99% reliable, and to be transparent about pricing.
That’s certainly a step in the right direction, but even with all the obligations met, a plethora of apps are still needed to plan the optimal trip and find the best prices. It’s also easier to check plug types through apps.
I’m getting a charging port installed at my home soon, so a lot of these issues will be mitigated, but I was shocked to see such a learning curve for charging a car in 2025.
Ghosts of Windows Phone’s app gap
This piece isn’t meant to focus on Windows, but this experience reminded me of a well-known frustration to our long-time readers. In less than one week with an electric vehicle, it became blatantly clear that Windows Phone would have yet another gap in 2025.
Years ago, as I sat on my Lumia 930, I shopped for a cheap Android phone to take part in the Pokémon GO craze. Having written about Windows Phone for quite a while at the time, I knew about third-party apps, pinning websites, and workarounds. But every once in a while it was just plain difficult to do something on a Windows Phone.
I have zero faith that all the EV apps I need would be on Windows Phone if the platform was still around. Even those that did would likely be out of date, lack features, or not integrate with popular payment solutions.
