Electrify America kWh Pricing Announced

[dbsb3233]

If I’m there for a mid-road trip fill, then I’m after a full (or at least 80%) charge and eating while I charge.

Yes, but a mid-trip fill-up during dinner is usually along the highway, not at a destination endpoint. I think we all agree that the mid-roadtrip routes need DCFC.

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[MerryBrown]

Why? Do you live where homes have no electricity? Where I live, every home has outlets, and I can charge any EV or PHEV with its own EVSE for free if needed when I visit other homes. Anyway, I will never need to visit any charging station because any point I visit is less than fifty miles away and every EV on sale can cover that range. If I had to travel over the range of my EV, I rent a hybrid.or take a plane and rent a local car for that travel period.

It is illogical to limit your travel pans just for finding charging stations. Think outside that box and live better. Or move closer and avoid long travels.

Have you any idea how big California is? I do not wish to get stranded on a stretch of highway hundreds of miles from the next town. I live 325 miles from my brother and we are both considered to be "mid state". With projected mileage at 300 miles, that would make me very nervous. As I hope you are aware, freeway miles eat up more electrons and reduce the total available. So it's not as easy as "moving closer."

 

[ajmartineau]

Bolt charging costs today at the new rate:
The new rate today was 39.4kWh for $16.77 (none member)
The old rate would have been 60 minutes for $16.00 (none member)

 

[timbop]

Bolt charging costs today at the new rate:
The new rate today was 39.4kWh for $16.77 (none member)
The old rate would have been 60 minutes for $16.00 (none member)

Right, but the rate for <70kw charging was really good before , so effectively no real change for that. Where it was screwed up before was the higher tiers, especially cars that were just over a threshold - literally 2x to 4x as much. So yes, as a bolt owner you don't see an advantage - I am sure they intentionally figured out the rates to keep them roughly the same.

If you think about it, since all of their chargers (except Chademo) are capable of 150kw or more, there isn't really a reason to charge a 4x premium for 150kw+ charging cars with per kwh fees. In fact, since they free up the charger more quickly relative to a 50kw car they are better from an EA infrastructure perspective. If all cars were 150+kw capable then EA could generate the same revenue with fewer charging stations, but since there are many more older cars that take 1.5-3x as long to charge they need to plan for a larger installation.

 

[ajmartineau]

The post above goes with the actual topic listed for this thread. I’m not trying to make an argument one way or another. I was just putting out the EA rates now for those who have never charged or driven a BEV.
The bolt was charging fast today. Most days I seem to get half the rate I should so I expected a different result from the comparison.
Also I should have switched to the plus plan. It would have been cheaper to addd the $4. I didn’t because the charge was free.

 

[dbsb3233]

Right, but the rate for <70kw charging was really good before , so effectively no real change for that. Where it was screwed up before was the higher tiers, especially cars that were just over a threshold - literally 2x to 4x as much. So yes, as a bolt owner you don't see an advantage - I am sure they intentionally figured out the rates to keep them roughly the same.

Yep, I was thinking about that before too. In the context of the Mach-E, the new rates are great because we were kinda getting screwed being just above the cut-off for the highest rate.

But for vehicles that charge at lower kW, not so much.

 

[timbop]

Yep, I was thinking about that before too. In the context of the Mach-E, the new rates are great because we were kinda getting screwed being just above the cut-off for the highest rate.

But for vehicles that charge at lower kW, not so much.

Not really - they are about the same as we see above. That's actually a bonus for slower charging cars under the kwh fee structure because they aren't paying more for tying up chargers for a longer time.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Yes, but a mid-trip fill-up during dinner is usually along the highway, not at a destination endpoint. I think we all agree that the mid-roadtrip routes need DCFC.

I really don't know why things are so different where y'all live but lots of places I've been have towns right along the highway. In fact, I've found that Interstates generally connect towns. They aren't placed somewhere out between towns in wide open spaces. In fact, they even go right through cities.

So, if I were driving through Colorado on I-25 to Pueblo, my goodness it actually goes right through Denver. Imagine that. And if I needed to charge and have dinner, rather than Arbys I might choose a spot with Blue Sushi, or the Cheesecake Factory, or Ocean Prime. Yes, they're about 5 minutes or so off I-25 but they are all within walking distance of a 50 kW charger. And look, there's another 50 kW charger near the Whole Foods with Gyu-Kaku BBQ. 50kW is a little slow but after all, I'll be taking around 90 minutes for dinner and will eat much better than the 150kW charger at Walmart.

Imagine that. Someone driving through Denver on an Interstate might actually like to charge at a DCFC located in a dining district.

 

[dbsb3233]

I really don't know why things are so different where y'all live but lots of places I've been have towns right along the highway. In fact, I've found that Interstates generally connect towns. They aren't placed somewhere out between towns in wide open spaces. In fact, they even go right through cities.

So, if I were driving through Colorado on I-25 to Pueblo, my goodness it actually goes right through Denver. Imagine that. And if I needed to charge and have dinner, rather than Arbys I might choose a spot with Blue Sushi, or the Cheesecake Factory, or Ocean Prime. Yes, they're about 5 minutes or so off I-25 but they are all within walking distance of a 50 kW charger. And look, there's another 50 kW charger near the Whole Foods with Gyu-Kaku BBQ. 50kW is a little slow but after all, I'll be taking around 90 minutes for dinner and will eat much better than the 150kW charger at Walmart.

Imagine that. Someone driving through Denver on an Interstate might actually like to charge at a DCFC located in a dining district.

Lots of issues here. First, we're mainly talking EA 150+ chargers. Tweener chargers like 25 or 50 kW are a little different, although still likely cost as much as 5 or more L2s. Again, there's limited $$$ and it's about priorities.

Second, of course people "might like to charge" at a DCFC station. ANYWHERE. Hell, BEV drivers would love one every mile. But again... limited resources and priorities.

Third, downtown parking is usually both precious space, and expensive. Suppose you're NOT eating at one of those restaurants and are just passing through, but need a "fast" charge. Isn't the placement of DCFC better at an off-ramp where they can serve both of those drivers instead of only the downtown dinner-eater? I'm guessing your answer will be "Put DCFC in BOTH places!". But again... limited resources and priorities.

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