I'm just glad they'll still be around. I can handle paying a few dollars more on trips. I'd rather that than have an entire charging network disappear.

 

Yeah, trying to roadtrip on other CCS networks in the western half of the US would be pretty bleak without EA. I took a screenshot of EA's network on PlugShare vs. all other networks' stations over 120kW. Some aren't shown because of PlugShare's settings to reduce the clutter on the map, but the difference is clear.

 

Same boat here, I'll be exclusively at home after the free period ends - except road tripping, and went from a mix of mostly 80% DC to about 40% in terms of my charging since I moved my target to 40-60%.

 

Yeah, also got the "good news." Pretty significant hikes to my mind all beginning March 6, 2023:

• Almost 12% increase per kWh to $0.48
• Almost 19% increase in per minute charge below 90kW to $0.19
• Almost 16% increase in per minute charge below 350kW to $0.37
• Pass+ membership ($4/month) generate about 25% discounts off the new pricing:
  • $0.36/kWh
  • $0.15/kW below 90kW
  • $0.29/kW below 350kW

Obviously pushing the membership plan, and for at least me, maxing out on charging at home. It's those pesky road trips that hurt the most.

But it's great to know that, according to the email, I'm "...a valued customer..."

 

Considering many already charge over $0.50 a kWh depending on TOU (Tesla, EVgo) I'm not surprised.

 

EvGo only charges that high if you don't have one of their membership plans.

 

I didn't get an Ioniq 5 for free charging, I got my Ioniq 5 because it's the right thing to do, and Hyundai threw in a few years of free charging from EA - a company that VW was forced to create against their will as a settlement to their diesel emissions monkey business. I'm blessed to live in a part of LA with high DC fast charger density - so if I have to go to an EVGo - I'm less than 1.5 miles from an EVGo site with 6 350 kW chargers, that ALWAYS has at least 2-3 available, that's fine. EA has 11 150 kWs and 2 350 kW within 5 miles as well. In my building, the lower floor of the parking has 4 free Chargepoint level 2s, so that's my go-to.

 

And it's just getting better and better! 👏

 

My sister bought a 23 Kona EV and she only gets a certain amount of minutes not unlimited like the I5

 

It'll improve as additional large scale renewable generation comes online, and there are projects completing seemingly every week, also additional competition from other networks (like that one that uses normal mains and a battery backup) will help. My guess is this is due in large part to upkeep and once they right the upkeep and availability they should hit a point where the demand is great enough they can reduce pricing.

Also the uniform pricing thing they mention, I'll be interested to see if they continue that in the coming years.

 

Also the uniform pricing thing they mention, I'll be interested to see if they continue that in the coming years.

Having a price increase of 10% to 20% did not surprise me. At least not after my most recent SoCal Gas, San Diego Gas & Electric, and SoCal Edison bills. What I was unaware of and surprised about was the nationwide uniform pricing.

Land costs and electrical costs vary considerably across the country and it did not occur to me that any DCFC company would try to have the same price everywhere. No retail (or franchised) gasoline brand tries to have a single price in an area much less a single one for the entire country.

For what it is worth, I have been averaging about 3.2 mi/kWh. The car claims better but I use the report from the EVSE which records between 10% and 13% more electrical use than the car reports. At the new Electrify America rates that will be about $0.15/mi for me.

Gas Buddy claims that the cheapest regular gas in my expensive ZIP code is running about $4.25/gal so for the same fuel cost per mile I would need an ICE CUV that averages at least 28 MPG.

Fortunately, I charge at home where roof top solar gets my price down to $0.08/kWh for the last month (170 MPG equivalent) ($0.05/kWh average for last 12 months (270 MPG equivalent)) or at my cabin with the more expensive $0.273/kWh (50 MPG equivalent). Actual "fuel" cost is higher because there is an EV specific charge on my registration to cover lost gas tax revenue and I haven't included that in the above estimates. In any case, charging at home gives me a lower cost per mile than I could get in an equivalent ICE. Once my complementary charging period is over, charging on the road at a place like EA will be roughly the equivalent to buying gas for the same size and shape car.

 

The other great thing is their focus on solar and battery on site for new and existing deployments like this one they were touting they'll be building here in San Diego:

Like other things infrastructure wise, europe's way ahead of us on this with battery/charging stuff being featured on fullycharged etc often - and it's awesome to see EA rolling it out here!

Also awesome they're 150 kW chargers as the tesla stalls about 100' away are all the slow 72 kW or whatever.

 

Yeah. Solar also gives the other thing these stations need - overhead cover from rain and especially snow. The handles can get frozen into the slot otherwise.

 

And the ability to fill the batteries during super off peak as well to begin stabilizing costs and give them leverage to lower it in the future. Some of the British stations featured on fully charged have had really huge storage, it's amazing.

 

It does increase station cost a lot. If you wanted a 250 kWh buffer per dispenser (giving you 2-5 fillups in the buffer) and used Tesla megapacks, that's $125,000 per dispenser.

Of course with larger production volumes prices could drop to less than half that.

 

Oh totally - it's 100% not just the solar, it's using solar for cover to provide some additional charging - then the model we see in europe etc where they top off the batteries over night during off peak.

 

EVGo is highway robbery. More broadly, they all need to find a way to get the prices competitive with and preferably better than typical equivalent cost for gas. A lot of this might rest on lobbying state legislatures to do something about electric utilities run amok in general (Eversource in Connecticut recently raised rates by 50%!) and specifically with regards to demand charges. They'll also need to start installing buffer batteries to try to reduce draw during high rate periods.

 

Apparently the chargers are 75-140k installed. Assuming they need to get back 15 percent of that cost each year they need $21,000 in annual revenue or $57 a day.

If just 2 cars use each charger on average and are ionq 5s doing the 10-80 chargup, the charger only dispensed 108 kWh per day. So they need to slap a 53 cent surcharge on each kWh.

With some negligible amount, about 8 cents, going to the power company.

This explains the high rates. Hopefully with more EVs using the chargers more and charging faster so they can charge more EVs per charger these numbers will get a lot better. 10 or 20 times as many EVs charging consistently at 350kW would help the math a ton, it might mean 20 sessions a day and each is half as long. So 20 10 minute sessions at 350kW for example. 1166 kWh a day, and that means just 5 cents has to go to paying for the charger itself. Plus 8 cents for the electricity, plus overhead and profit.

I think 20 cents a kWh is feasible in areas with cheap power.

In expensive areas it ends up being 10-15 cents over the rate for power.

 

I too wonder how long EA will maintain one fixed price per kWh across the entire country.

As EV numbers increase there will also be a need to shoulder more of the costs to maintain the roads. A road tax on each kWh dispensed from DC fast chargers would mirror the current gasoline tax structure.

 

I too wonder how long EA will maintain one fixed price per kWh across the entire country.

As EV numbers increase there will also be a need to shoulder more of the costs to maintain the roads. A road tax on each kWh dispensed from DC fast chargers would mirror the current gasoline tax structure.

Most states are already adding the tax to license renewals, no need to tax per kwh.

 

A comparison with Tesla, taken from Tesla reduces Supercharger prices as charging business matures. 11/24/2022, so 2 months ago.

Two things to note: this location is just about the most expensive possible in the USA (high electric rates, high cost to rent the space) and note how the rate varies heavily by time of day. EA seems
to be charging the same rate Tesla does...all the time.

 

If I sell my I5, can I still use free EA (2 year) on other vehicles?

 

You can try but they do know your VIN whenever you connect a vehicle and CAN ban your account or charge you for the free sessions. Apparently they do sometimes.

 

Well, if gas is that cheap, yes, that could make a difference. But getting 20% cash back on all charging, including the monthly fee (which works of you drive a lot and use only public charging, if you don't, it isn't worth it). Also, keep in mind my cheapest home electric rate is $0.22 per kwh and cheapest gas here is $5 per gallon. So my numbers work out a lot differently. Best cash back I can get on gas is about 2%, so it makes a big difference there as well.

Also, is it fair to compare to your previous vehicles or to one comperably sized?

 

Great point, I saw a CX-5 the other day and thought I wonder how those numbers pencil out. At the end of the day I just don't care. I've had tons of cars and this is the best I've owned and it's just so easy to live with and I'm driving a lot less post COVID so I just embrace it. Topped off to 60% the other day, talked to some nice Bolt EUV, ID.4 and R1S owners, it's fun to be an EV owner! I'd pay considerably more, honestly, if it meant covered solar canopies and batteries and more chargers as they've identified in their expansion plan. When 1000 mile trips can be made trouble free we're quite a ways ahead of my last EV (eGolf) and super slow charging and super crappy range. I'd be fine if it was even more expensive than a gas car because it's faster than a 55k gas CUV/EV, and loads nicer. But with all the huge advances in renewables I'd guess it's going to be very cheap to run an EV by the end of the decade.