Yeah, that's expensive. It's a penny cheaper here at Ann Arbor City Hall's new DC charging stations: at 29 cents/minute you'd pay $8.70 for 30 minutes. If a 30 minute charge adds 80 miles of range, that's a bit less than 11 cents/mile. In comparison, driving a 30 mpg car burning $5/gallon gas costs around 17 cents/mile. I'm sure glad I can do all my charging at home for about 3 cents/mile!
According to my Mini app, I got 11 kWh for free while I ran 11 miles and played in the park. I still have to try the free DC fast charger that is near me.
I was pleasantly surprised to find free charging at the mall (I don’t go very much anymore lol) just plug in. No apps. No set up! Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Free DC fast charging yesterday at Nissan's headquarters. I've been told by others that anyone can use these chargers despite the sign and the security guard that I saw in a Nissan Leaf didn't seem to care either. The Nissan headquarters are pretty cool too. They have 2 DC fast chargers and a level 2 where I was parked. There were 20+ covered spots for employees that had level 2 chargers and then a parking garage which probably had some too. Today, I got 2 hours of free level 2 charging. Thanks Nissan!
Heads up! I drove down to Plattsburgh, NY, for the first time in the SE today. It’s about 80 miles from my driveway to the EvolveNY/EA station at Sam’s Club just off I-87, so this would be my first time charging at my destination in order to have enough to get back to my city (and where I know all the charging station locations to go the last few miles if necessary). I left home with a full charge, Green, no AC, just “Auto” to maintain 68° (it was 52° outside), and arrived at the EvolveNY station with 42%. I plugged in, and as I was about to hold my phone up to the reader, a young man sitting in an older Altima nearby hollered that it wasn’t necessary, charging is comped for now as ENY/EA roll out updates across the network. Instead of aiming for 80% (which took all of 14 minutes running between 46 and 49 kW), I let it go an extra 15ish minutes and got to 96% before the rate dropped below 10 kW and I stopped it. While charging, I had a good chat with the helpful guy, it turns out he’s an EA service tech and he was on a call to repair one of the other units (a combo CCS/CHAdeMO unit). There was another combo v2 unit out of service that he believes will be replaced by a CCS-only v3, leaving two dual-CCS and a slower combo. I asked about the cooled cables on these 350 kW Signet dual-CCS units and he opened up the inop one to show and explain its gizzards. It’s quite something, like a hybrid of a server rack, a 600V electrical panel, and a fridge! I asked the technician if I had gotten lucky, that it was free while he was there, working on the system, and he said no, it will remain free for the foreseeable future while they are rolling out updates. Whether software or hardware updates, he said multiple EA stations throughout New York and New England are currently free.
Thanks! I wondered why I got a free EA ride on my journey up through Michigan a couple of weeks ago. Saved me about $40.
Yeah, went up and back to Boston today, and both EA charging sessions were free. Although, since the first one was actually my first time using the network, and I didn't know it was going to be free, when I tried to initiate the charge it added $10 to my account. But I assume I'll get to use that money at some point in the future. Man it was cool though: ~70 miles from central CT to the Auburn Mall, then ~20 min to boost to 80%; parked in a garage at Northeastern U, with free level 2; started for home after the college tour with ~98%; stopped at Walmart in Manchester for 8 minutes to go from 21%-41%; and made it home with ~20%. Would a larger battery have made it easier? Sure. But on a daily basis I'm driving an EV that is getting ~4.1 m/kWh, which means I'm pumping fewer electrons, and saving money (and the environment as our solar doesn't fully cover our energy needs). Not to mention the responsiveness of such a light EV. We need to break the paradigm of vehicles "needing" 400+ mile ranges.
Electrify America is STILL in free mode?? lol Their PR department might want to lean into that at this point. How about “No Pay November” I’m all about the free charging too because it’s often easy to find nearby places to work, read, or exercise. With such an efficient car an hour stop is actually pretty dang meaningful at 6-7 kW L2. Been doing this for years with the SE. Fast charging for free is a no-go, unless on trips of course. I’d rather pay than stress the battery unnecessarily.
