$55 Charging Cost - Normal or Outlier?

[gnr3312]

I was planning on fast charging at no-cost at an EA station near a mall yesterday when my wife decided to change plans and we went somewhere else. Because of this, I had timed the battery to have less than 10 miles remaining so I could maximize the visit, and to fast charge no more than 30 mins. We ended up at an EVgo station instead that I failed to realized had peak-hour pricing, instead I just plugged in, used my cc, then proceeded to go walking and shopping.

I kept checking progress through the My Porsche app and realizing we had been charging for 45 mins and the car was at 94%, I decided it was time to go back. When I ended the session the cost was $55, and I was a bit shocked at the high price. Is this what everyone is paying nowadays? I have a L2 charger at home, so it costs me just under $7 to fully charge. This makes me wonder if there are any tips I need to understand by the time the free EA charging period ends next year.

I did a bit of research on this station in Austin, and turns out I charged during peak hours, but even off peak seems high.



EVgo has monthly subscription plans for save money but I wouldn’t be charging often enough to offset the membership cost, so I’m wondering how is everyone else doing it? Do you just charge whenever, wherever or do you subscribe to a single provider to save some costs?

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[Tooney]

On my infrequent road trips, I choose DC charging sites based on convenient location, expected reliability for Taycans per Plugshare, and % of stations available at the site during the trip. Price per kwh is not a factor.

You can see prices on plugshare. Closest EA site is $.60/kwh. Pilot-Flying J site I used recently on I-71 was $.58/kwh.

 

[M3Taycan]

Yep! That is the typical range per kWh.

• Peak: $0.50 to $0.60, varies by area
• Off-peak: $0.35to $0.48, varies by area

Note: Rates also depend on the area. In highly congested markets like NYC, NJ, VA, MD, and DC, especially near airports, rates are higher.

EVgo, Blink, and ChargePoint (among others) are generally more expensive than Electrify America and Tesla Superchargers. When two competing EV charging companies are close to each other, rates may be lower; otherwise, they tend to be higher if there is no competition.

You can not beat charging at home for ~$7.00. See attachment.

 

[barryrs]

If it makes you feel any better, you would probably paid the equivalent of just over $1 per kw in the uk

 

[gtm]

EVgo has monthly subscription plans for save money but I wouldn’t be charging often enough to offset the membership cost, so I’m wondering how is everyone else doing it? Do you just charge whenever, wherever or do you subscribe to a single provider to save some costs?

Charging options have improved to where they are now much better in terms of reliability and number so some price shopping is possible. Ionna, M-B, and Tesla are my preferred stops. Reliable and generally less expensive than EA, Flying J, EVgo. Prior to a road trip I sign up for Tesla's charging membership. Slower charging speeds (140 kw and 15 to 20 minutes to take on sufficient charge) but they are reliable, well spaced and almost always an empty tower. Membership drops the kWh charge to around $0.40 (varies, but usually a $0.10 to $0.14 discount on Tesla's rate for non-Tesla vehicles). Two charging stops pays for the month. Cancel when you are done traveling.

 

[daveo4EV]

I was planning on fast charging at no-cost at an EA station near a mall yesterday when my wife decided to change plans and we went somewhere else. Because of this, I had timed the battery to have less than 10 miles remaining so I could maximize the visit, and to fast charge no more than 30 mins. We ended up at an EVgo station instead that I failed to realized had peak-hour pricing, instead I just plugged in, used my cc, then proceeded to go walking and shopping.

I kept checking progress through the My Porsche app and realizing we had been charging for 45 mins and the car was at 94%, I decided it was time to go back. When I ended the session the cost was $55, and I was a bit shocked at the high price. Is this what everyone is paying nowadays? I have a L2 charger at home, so it costs me just under $7 to fully charge. This makes me wonder if there are any tips I need to understand by the time the free EA charging period ends next year.

I did a bit of research on this station in Austin, and turns out I charged during peak hours, but even off peak seems high.



EVgo has monthly subscription plans for save money but I wouldn’t be charging often enough to offset the membership cost, so I’m wondering how is everyone else doing it? Do you just charge whenever, wherever or do you subscribe to a single provider to save some costs?

it's on the high side but not outrageous

public fast charging is like eating out - it's more expensive

also I no longer consider it paying for "fuel" - you're buying "time" which is much more expensive...

$55 @ $0.58/kWh is ~95 kWh - you did that in 45 minutes - at home that would've taken 9.5 hours…

so you saved 8.5 hours for $55 …

that's cheap in my world view…but that's may be just me.

 

[Tooney]

Charging options have improved to where they are now much better in terms of reliability and number so some price shopping is possible. Ionna, M-B, and Tesla are my preferred stops. Reliable and generally less expensive than EA, Flying J, EVgo. Prior to a road trip I sign up for Tesla's charging membership. Slower charging speeds (140 kw and 15 to 20 minutes to take on sufficient charge) but they are reliable, well spaced and almost always an empty tower. Membership drops the kWh charge to around $0.40 (varies, but usually a $0.10 to $0.14 discount on Tesla's rate for non-Tesla vehicles). Two charging stops pays for the month. Cancel when you are done traveling.

At Ionna and MB, how do you usually pay for the charge? Any problems? I have not used those networks but I want to.

 

[gtm]

At Ionna and MB, how do you usually pay for the charge? Any problems? I have not used those networks but I want to.

Ionna and M-B are both just tap a credit card. From memory both display the cost/kW. Ionna in particular is great. I've only used 3 stations. (my best was pulling 211 kW at a 71% SoC (J1.2 car). You also get session statistics. Almost as easy as getting gasoline at both.

 

[lcarron]

Look at the cost at Tesla. $.90 per kw.

 

[gnr3312]

Look at the cost at Tesla. $.90 per kw.

Damn, didn’t even think Tesla’s was that high in some places.

 

[Tooney]

The station is in the parking lot of a big Las Vegas casino. There are many other charging sites nearby. $0.59 for Tesla and members.
What's the problem?

High rollers driving Taycans are likely to have EV charging comped.

 

[snstevens]

Look at the cost at Tesla. $.90 per kw.

When we know we’re taking a long trip I become a Tesla charging member. Here are some facts about that program. The fee is $12.99 per month, but that is typically recovered after the second charge.

Tesla’s Supercharging membership discount is typically about $0.10 to $0.15 per kWh, depending on the station and pricing tier. One example from a recent discussion shows member pricing at $0.32/kWh versus $0.46/kWh for non-members, a $0.14/kWh difference.​

 

[tycanmt]

At present EVs are not cost-effective (at least looking at strictly the cost of energy) vs ICE cars for long road trips because public fast chargers are so expensive. Presumably the companies running the chargers are trying to recoup the investment required to provide them.

 

[trycan]

It costs about as much to fast charge an EV on a road trip as you would pay to fill up a typical gas car on the same trip. At least that's the way I think about it. Maybe you can eek out a little bit with memberships and going out of the way, but I'm looking for the most reliable chargers and minimal time spent charging when on a road trip.

 

[tycanmt]

It costs about as much to fast charge an EV on a road trip as you would pay to fill up a typical gas car on the same trip. At least that's the way I think about it. Maybe you can eek out a little bit with memberships and going out of the way, but I'm looking for the most reliable chargers and minimal time spent charging when on a road trip.

Yes but the ICE car goes much further on the full tank than the EV does on its full charge.

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