New Review of EVgo and Electrify America after long 1,500 mile trip

Mattsburgh

Mattsburgh

Active Member
I recently drove to the Carolinas and back and thought I would comment on the charging stations I used for this trip, especially since my experience changed dramatically from the last time I took a long trip.

Electrify America has greatly improved their charging stations to the point where I charged 5 times at EA (4 unique, 1 was a repeat) and had absolutely no problem charging quickly and easily each time. At each location the chargers and software had been updated and I was charging in less than 60 seconds. The typical speed was 70-75 kW.

On the other hand, EVgo is going in the other direction. I stopped at a Sheetz with EVgo charging, plugged in, it started, I walked away to hit the restroom and get a drink, etc. I came back to find that it was still actively charging me money while "charging" the car at 0.0 kw. That's right, it wasn't delivering any juice but was charging me time anyway. I ended up being charged over $3 for just 3 kWh of juice. I restarted and it did the same thing, charged for a few minutes and then the charge dropped to 0 but it still was active and charging me. So, I'm definitely not happy about that, I called and complained but so far I see no change to my bill.

I guess I should note I did also use 1 Charge Point DC Fast charger as well, it was the easiest as I just used my RFID card and was charging within 30 seconds.

Curious if others have noted the improvement with Electrify America as well?
 
In PA the EA charging rate is $0.16 per minute, while the states you travelled through, WV, VA, the Carolinas - those states are by the kWh @ $0.43. Did you notice the difference in total charge? I agree that EA is easy to use and that's great, but the pricing structure between states for the same car can mean a difference of $10 or more for a charge.
 
We just completed another trip from Florida to New York and we must agree that the Electrify America charging stations have improved over the past 2 years. Using only EA charges this trip cost us about $75 compared to 2 years ago when it was $140 for the same trip. We were on the Pass Plus pricing plan for the trip and it was 31 cents per kilowatt or 12 cents per minute at some stations.
 
Jimct said:
In PA the EA charging rate is $0.16 per minute, while the states you travelled through, WV, VA, the Carolinas - those states are by the kWh @ $0.43. Did you notice the difference in total charge? I agree that EA is easy to use and that's great, but the pricing structure between states for the same car can mean a difference of $10 or more for a charge.
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I paid for the + account, here are my 5 charges:

$10.54 for 34 kWh
$8.68 for 28
$3.26 for 24
$5.03 for 40 (only .12 / minute in SC !)
$8.99 for 29

Which obviously shows you are right about big differences. Having said that, I'm perfectly ok with everything I paid there, but I agree I would like them to get more uniform with pricing and obviously I'm very happy paying $5 for 40 kWh but if that had been $7 or $8 it would still seem reasonable to me. That'll give me around 160 miles which would easily be 4-6 gallons of gas for most ICE cars, or around $12-$18
 
Mattsburgh said:
I recently drove to the Carolinas and back and thought I would comment on the charging stations I used for this trip, especially since my experience changed dramatically from the last time I took a long trip.

Electrify America has greatly improved their charging stations to the point where I charged 5 times at EA (4 unique, 1 was a repeat) and had absolutely no problem charging quickly and easily each time. At each location the chargers and software had been updated and I was charging in less than 60 seconds. The typical speed was 70-75 kW.

On the other hand, EVgo is going in the other direction. I stopped at a Sheetz with EVgo charging, plugged in, it started, I walked away to hit the restroom and get a drink, etc. I came back to find that it was still actively charging me money while "charging" the car at 0.0 kw. That's right, it wasn't delivering any juice but was charging me time anyway. I ended up being charged over $3 for just 3 kWh of juice. I restarted and it did the same thing, charged for a few minutes and then the charge dropped to 0 but it still was active and charging me. So, I'm definitely not happy about that, I called and complained but so far I see no change to my bill.

I guess I should note I did also use 1 Charge Point DC Fast charger as well, it was the easiest as I just used my RFID card and was charging within 30 seconds.

Curious if others have noted the improvement with Electrify America as well?
Click to expand...
They recently install EA stations in my town, but, even though these are high speed stations (150 kW - 350 kW), I can't seem to get speeds faster than about 42 kW, even at low SOCs.
 
Mattsburgh said:
I recently drove to the Carolinas and back and thought I would comment on the charging stations I used for this
Curious if others have noted the improvement with Electrify America as well?
Click to expand...
Biggest improvement reciently is the change from by minute charging to Kwh delivered. They listened to their customers. Very refreshing. I also found they are very receptive to suggestions for charging station locations and have added one specifically where I suggested one be placed.
I wrote EVGo when if ever they were also going to switch to Kwh delivered instead of timed charging and got a polite answer they they were looking out for my best interest..... and why would they? Time based charging puts their biggest profits in their pockets. The excuse is those stubborn states that refuse to change the laws that only power companies can charge for power. EA took action and changed all they could. I will never use an EVGo charger again.
I totally agree EA has tried hard to promote a good experience at their chargers. Especially in cold climates like in the northern states, profits would have been much higher if they had stuck to per min. charging. Charging in cold weather brings highest profits. I predict EVGo will stay in S. Cal and other southern states so they don't have to switch their business plan.
 
GeorgeS said:
Biggest improvement reciently is the change from by minute charging to Kwh delivered. They listened to their customers. Very refreshing. I also found they are very receptive to suggestions for charging station locations and have added one specifically where I suggested one be placed.
I wrote EVGo when if ever they were also going to switch to Kwh delivered instead of timed charging and got a polite answer they they were looking out for my best interest..... and why would they? Time based charging puts their biggest profits in their pockets. The excuse is those stubborn states that refuse to change the laws that only power companies can charge for power. EA took action and changed all they could. I will never use an EVGo charger again.
I totally agree EA has tried hard to promote a good experience at their chargers. Especially in cold climates like in the northern states, profits would have been much higher if they had stuck to per min. charging. Charging in cold weather brings highest profits. I predict EVGo will stay in S. Cal and other southern states so they don't have to switch their business plan.
Click to expand...

When EVs hit the the mainstream market, you will be asking for per minute rates to stop the average rude person from tying up the spot longer than they need to. Things are good right now because there are very few EVs on the road and plenty of charging stations in populated areas. There will soon be lines waiting for an available charging station.


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Recoil45 said:
When EVs hit the the mainstream market, you will be asking for per minute rates to stop the average rude person from tying up the spot longer than they need to. Things are good right now because there are very few EVs on the road and plenty of charging stations in populated areas. There will soon be lines waiting for an available charging station.


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This is an evolving development, and I'm pretty sure we can adapt. For instance, a relatively inexpensive solution would be 240V outlets installed at parking spaces in workplaces and hotels - for a few hundred bucks you can invest in a portable level 2 charger to keep in the car (or perhaps ev's could be equipped with L2's and retractable cords), pay a fee to activate the outlet and be fully charged at the end of the workday or he following morning. I'll bet we'll see rows of fast chargers appearing at highway service areas as well. For sure the batteries of the future will be higher capacity and quicker charging.
 
Recoil45 said:
When EVs hit the the mainstream market, you will be asking for per minute rates to stop the average rude person from tying up the spot longer than they need to. Things are good right now because there are very few EVs on the road and plenty of charging stations in populated areas. There will soon be lines waiting for an available charging station.


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Click to expand...
This is handled by idle time charges. If you leave your car there after it is fully charged you will get a hefty per min charge. How does charging for energy by the min. solve this better? There is no way anyone can justify paying higher prices because it is cold outside. Even in Florida, the winter cost of charging will be higher because of cold snaps. In Minnesota, winter charging will be 2 to 3 times as high as summer. All profit to the charging companies that pay the same per Kwh all year. My stance is money paid for energy delivered. Seams ridiculous to give energy for free and just pay for parking. We do need a national law to prevent people from parking in EV charging spots. Now I believe there is only State laws. With dozens of EV's just hitting and going to hit the market, we need to get this right now.
 
Seems like they fixed most of their software issues to me, their new stations (like the one in Davis, CA) also have better cables that are not as stiff!
 
GeorgeS said:
This is handled by idle time charges. If you leave your car there after it is fully charged you will get a hefty per min charge. How does charging for energy by the min. solve this better? There is no way anyone can justify paying higher prices because it is cold outside. Even in Florida, the winter cost of charging will be higher because of cold snaps. In Minnesota, winter charging will be 2 to 3 times as high as summer. All profit to the charging companies that pay the same per Kwh all year. My stance is money paid for energy delivered. Seams ridiculous to give energy for free and just pay for parking. We do need a national law to prevent people from parking in EV charging spots. Now I believe there is only State laws. With dozens of EV's just hitting and going to hit the market, we need to get this right now.
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Charging per min encourages you to only stay at the charger long enough to get the range you need at that time. With charges per kWh plus idle penalties, I'd bet you will still see people stating until they get to 80,90,100% even if they don't need the range. That is not an ideal situation when others need to charge.


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Recoil45 said:
Charging per min encourages you to only stay at the charger long enough to get the range you need at that time. With charges per kWh plus idle penalties, I'd bet you will still see people stating until they get to 80,90,100% even if they don't need the range. That is not an ideal situation when others need to charge.


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The main problem is that in cold weather, cars charge slower and end up paying an unreasonable amount per kwh which really is the commodity that they are paying for. At the current state of EVs, the chance that all chargers are a Electrify location are in use are very very slim. So, staying longer RIGHT now doesn't seem to be an issue but it may be in the future. My experience is that MOST EV owners will not charge all the way to 100% if they see that someone is waiting but of course, there are inconsiderate a-holes that will charge at 3kwh all the way to 100% at a fast charger.. I recently had to deal with a f&*(g b*t&* who was charging on free DC fast to 100% with her Bolt. It took her like 45 minutes from 90 - 100%.. There was an available Level 2 charger right there. At her SoC, she could have finished up her charge on level 2 at the same speed she was charging on DC fast.. I asked her if she could finish on a free Level 2 as she was only charging at like 3kwh at 95% and she ignored me completely.. I hate people like that.. Totally inconsiderate.. It took her like 25 minutes just to get the last 5% which is maybe 10 miles..
 
BlueKonaEV said:
The main problem is that in cold weather, cars charge slower and end up paying an unreasonable amount per kwh which really is the commodity that they are paying for. At the current state of EVs, the chance that all chargers are a Electrify location are in use are very very slim. So, staying longer RIGHT now doesn't seem to be an issue but it may be in the future. My experience is that MOST EV owners will not charge all the way to 100% if they see that someone is waiting but of course, there are inconsiderate a-holes that will charge at 3kwh all the way to 100% at a fast charger.. I recently had to deal with a f&*(g b*t&* who was charging on free DC fast to 100% with her Bolt. It took her like 45 minutes from 90 - 100%.. There was an available Level 2 charger right there. At her SoC, she could have finished up her charge on level 2 at the same speed she was charging on DC fast.. I asked her if she could finish on a free Level 2 as she was only charging at like 3kwh at 95% and she ignored me completely.. I hate people like that.. Totally inconsiderate.. It took her like 25 minutes just to get the last 5% which is maybe 10 miles..
Click to expand...

^
This is the only, but exact point I was trying to make.

Right now there are very few EVs on the road and charging stations are mostly free. I THINK, that ratio may change in the future, but of course I could be wrong.


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Recoil45 said:
^
This is the only, but exact point I was trying to make.

Right now there are very few EVs on the road and charging stations are mostly free. I THINK, that ratio may change in the future, but of course I could be wrong.


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I doubt that the vast majority of the country has many free DC Fast stations.. I'm lucky to live in an area with tons of the free ones.. Only down side of the free ones is that there are usually only 1 to 3 chargers..
When it comes to chargers along the major highway routes, those Electrify charging locations usually have 4 to 10 chargers and if 3 or 4 are in use for a extended period of time, it's not a big deal. Of course, if it turns out that there is a future problem with people hogging the chargers, they can always go back to charging by the minute.. I think that the best solution would be to charge x cents per kwh until 80% and x cents per kwh above 80%.. That way, you are not punishing cars that don't charge as fast as the top of the line models.. I could get behind a pricing model like that..
 
BlueKonaEV said:
I doubt that the vast majority of the country has many free DC Fast stations.. I'm lucky to live in an area with tons of the free ones.. Only down side of the free ones is that there are usually only 1 to 3 chargers..
When it comes to chargers along the major highway routes, those Electrify charging locations usually have 4 to 10 chargers and if 3 or 4 are in use for a extended period of time, it's not a big deal. Of course, if it turns out that there is a future problem with people hogging the chargers, they can always go back to charging by the minute.. I think that the best solution would be to charge x cents per kwh until 80% and x cents per kwh above 80%.. That way, you are not punishing cars that don't charge as fast as the top of the line models.. I could get behind a pricing model like that..
Click to expand...

Sorry for my poorly worded post which lacked context.

Free = available without a wait when you need to use one.


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Recoil45 said:
Sorry for the lacking context in my post.

Free = meaning available without a wait when you need to use one.


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Ok, get it... As I said, I do think that charging more per kwh after 80% would be a good option.. This will stop people from charging to a high SoC and doesn't punish people with slower charging EV's or people charging on a cold day when the cars pull less kwh..
 
BlueKonaEV said:
The main problem is that in cold weather, cars charge slower and end up paying an unreasonable amount per kwh which really is the commodity that they are paying for. At the current state of EVs, the chance that all chargers are a Electrify location are in use are very very slim. So, staying longer RIGHT now doesn't seem to be an issue but it may be in the future. My experience is that MOST EV owners will not charge all the way to 100% if they see that someone is waiting but of course, there are inconsiderate a-holes that will charge at 3kwh all the way to 100% at a fast charger.. I recently had to deal with a f&*(g b*t&* who was charging on free DC fast to 100% with her Bolt. It took her like 45 minutes from 90 - 100%.. There was an available Level 2 charger right there. At her SoC, she could have finished up her charge on level 2 at the same speed she was charging on DC fast.. I asked her if she could finish on a free Level 2 as she was only charging at like 3kwh at 95% and she ignored me completely.. I hate people like that.. Totally inconsiderate.. It took her like 25 minutes just to get the last 5% which is maybe 10 miles..
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Hopefully the anode folding Gods catch up to that owner:D
Around here that kind of attitude is considered unacceptable and will be addressed simply by pushing the stop button on the charger, with the exception being of course if the range is required due to low capacity pack ( taking into account if others waiting).
There are usually several EVs waiting in que, so no worries, especially when the signs provided dictate a 40 minute limit and of course the time is displayed for all to view.
Unplugged a few myself, (no owner near the vehicle and the time limit was way over) and the response has always been positive usually with an apology upon return for not unplugging according to the rules.
Cold charging certainly needs special consideration; perhaps the charger monitors the ambient temperature and implement a cold rate charging cost lower, might help with time based systems particularly if per kWh is not utilized.
 
electriceddy said:
Hopefully the anode folding Gods catch up to that owner:D
Around here that kind of attitude is considered unacceptable and will be addressed simply by pushing the stop button on the charger, with the exception being of course if the range is required due to low capacity pack ( taking into account if others waiting).
There are usually several EVs waiting in que, so no worries, especially when the signs provided dictate a 40 minute limit and of course the time is displayed for all to view.
Unplugged a few myself, (no owner near the vehicle and the time limit was way over) and the response has always been positive usually with an apology upon return for not unplugging according to the rules.
Cold charging certainly needs special consideration; perhaps the charger monitors the ambient temperature and implement a cold rate charging cost lower, might help with time based systems particularly if per kWh is not utilized.
Click to expand...
I wished that her Bolt went up in flames when she reached 100%.. Hope that she gets a lot of degradation for being such a selfish POS..Unfortunately, that charger has no rules posted, so some people feel free to be inconsiderate a-holes..
 
We just completed three 1200 mile round trips in the Kona in the past month (Downeast Maine to Western NY).
We've used EA chargers almost exclusively, and they've worked great. The pricing at the per kWh locations is ridiculously low. Like $5 for a 20-80% charge!

Speeds have consistently been 77 kw peak, and we generally go from 20-80 in ~30-35 min.

We sometimes use EVGo for quick stops and speeds at these "50kW" chargers are disappointing. Often more like 35kw. (when getting charged per minute it's particularly unattractive.)
Once we decided to use the slower EVGo charger because it was walking distance to a park, but that didn't work out, because EVGo puts SINGLE chargers in many locations (and they seemingly always have a Leaf charging very slowly to 100%, so they're not available for hours at a time!)

Anyways, great roadtrip car! And cheap cost of travel! Excited to get a next car that can utilize those 350kw charging speeds!
 
“EVGo puts SINGLE chargers in many locations (and they seemingly always have a Leaf charging very slowly to 100%, so they're not available for hours at a time!)”

This is more of a rhetorical question and not limited to EVGo, but, why aren’t level 3 chargers programmed to stop charging and disconnect once they’ve reached 80% SOC? This would solve a frustration for so many EV drivers and would keep the chargers turning over. I can dream…:)
 
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