We picked up our Kia Soul EV in July and used public chargers exclusively until we had a home charger fitted in October. We’ve covered 4000 miles to date, a lot less than normal as I am still working form home.
The public chargers were all Chargeplace Scotland units and were, on the whole, simple to use and readily available. The Forfar charging hub was a favourite as it has 4 rapids, meaning one was always free/working. I had to go to Forfar anyway to collect my wife & go shopping so it was no hardship to go earlier than planned and get a charge once a week.
I have not used any of the supermarket units, I figured the minimal 3-4 kw of charge I would receive in the 30-45mins I spend shopping was not worth the hassle of plugging in. I may even take the type 2 cable out of the car and store it as I did the unopened granny cable.
I’ve not charged publicly since fitting the home charger. Having an alleged range of 280 miles means range anxiety is pretty much non-existent although a trip to Ikea Glasgow saw us down to 8 miles left after the 230 mile round trip at mostly 70mph speeds.
I am not on any special night rates for my leccy. The install of my charger coincided with the rise in prices meaning I am cheaper staying on my current fixed rate for my gas at under 3p a unit.
Finally, I’d also echo the other posts and say get a home charger if at all possible, it makes life so much easier and will save money as public charging rates seem to soar ever upwards. I still only charge once a week, but I can charge up as required if I know I am going to need it.
In life, it's not who you know that's important, it's how your wife found out.