Markn455 Posted October 21, 2013 at 02:57 PM Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 at 02:57 PM (edited) Many charging locations such as Wallgreen, Khols, Kroger, etc. offer free charging while shopping. I believe Wallgreens has started charging and as far as I have seen, Kroger and Khol's is still free. As many of you may know, Blink has gone belly up and was purchased by Car Charging Group. Blink charged $1.00 per hour if not free depending on the location. Here are the rates posted on Car Charging Group's website. I can only assume that the Blink rates will be changed to match Car Chargng rates: CarCharging station rates:Rates vary by location. Please check specific station rates on our station map.Per kilowatt hour:Only $0.49 per KWh.No minimum energy or time requirements, so plug-in and fill up.Once your EV is completely charged, please move your car so that the next EV owner can use our service.Per hour:$2.49 – 2.99 per hour with a minimum of one hour required.Rates for all other stations included on the ChargePoint network are set by the owner of the individual station. Please read the information for the specific station as it states the costs associated for a charging session.Clearly, you can see that it is far far less expensive to just charge at home and buy gasoline. Plugging in any of this company's stations makes no sense if you are trying to control your costs. Edited October 21, 2013 at 03:01 PM by Markn455 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggy314 Posted October 21, 2013 at 07:27 PM Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 at 07:27 PM Ouch. Anything over $.30 kwh it's cheaper to use gas. At $1 an hour, you're close to gas prices too. I try to keep in mind the cost of the electricity is $.12 kwh or less in most places outside CA & HI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted October 21, 2013 at 07:36 PM Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 at 07:36 PM It's $.16 per kWh in Philadelphia, PA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD Diver Posted October 22, 2013 at 01:19 AM Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 at 01:19 AM San Diego - using SDG&E's EVTOU2 plan is: Peak (noon - 6:00 pm) $0.29/kWhSuper off-peak (midnight - 5:00 am) $0.16/kWhOff-peak (the other 13 hours per day) $0.19/kWh. Yep - I charge from midnight to 5:00 am... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markn455 Posted October 22, 2013 at 04:13 AM Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 at 04:13 AM It is $0.08 here in the mountains North of Atlanta. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Fusion Posted October 23, 2013 at 03:20 AM Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 at 03:20 AM I am paying the BLINK network $1/hr to charge for 3 hours a day. How come you're paying more? I don't remember what I pay on "Tier 2" of my electric bill at home since I rarely hit it. After a couple of months I'll review the situation and see if a "Peak vs Non Peak" plan would work for me. My Tier 1 pricing is $0.1323/KWH at home as of now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD Diver Posted October 23, 2013 at 05:29 AM Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 at 05:29 AM Wow. I listed the time of day usage above. This is what the tiered system that I had was like: Not the this was thru 9/24. I bought the Energi on 9/11, so less than half the time was during when I owned the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseibel76 Posted October 23, 2013 at 08:37 AM Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 at 08:37 AM I'm amazed at the variation in rates around the country. Here in ND, I pay .078/kWh. That is the rate regardless of usage. Also, from Oct. to May, after 750 kWh, the rate drops to .048/kWh. I'm on MDU (Montana Dakota Utilities). The public charging stations make no sense for me (not that we have any here anyway). I use a Kill-a-Watt and estimate a completely empty battery costs me about $0.56 to fully charge. Or, put another way, about $0.025/mile (which will drop from now til May). Based on the numbers being posted, that would jump to at least $0.11/mile on the public charging stations (if not more). I estimate running on gas costs me about $0.08/mile in this car. Looks like the public stations (not free) have a ways to go. I'm guessing their target market is the pure ev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markn455 Posted October 23, 2013 at 10:48 AM Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 at 10:48 AM The Blink chargers located at Khols in Alpharetta, GA are now turned off at night. You can't charge before 6AM. The police had started running off people at night but Khols told them to stop. But now, the chargers are turned off at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted October 23, 2013 at 06:00 PM Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 at 06:00 PM I love New York State. All the charging stations are free! The governer put them out to bid earlier this year and is currently subsidizing them. I don't know how long that will last, but i charge at every Chili's, Kohls, and a couple of grocery stores and gyms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
http Posted October 26, 2013 at 08:35 PM Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 at 08:35 PM Anybody check out the eVgo stations? They have a station at my local Trader Joe's with both DC Fast Charging and Level 2 service. Their plan is "all you can charge" for a flat monthly rate, $5 for Level 2 and $20 for the fast charge. They also have a "workplace plan" at $69.95 a month for Level 2. That's rather pricey. I only go to Trader Joe's every other month, so I'm not likely to sign up for eVgo. They also have a couple of chargers at some local Walgreens. The chargers at the other organic markets in the area are free. I'm hoping that the eVgo charging model will run them out of business, but they are underwritten by NRG Energy, so they will probably be around for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frbill Posted October 26, 2013 at 09:02 PM Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 at 09:02 PM I have been lucky in that the 2 places I normally go I have been able to find free charging. I did go ahead and sign up for chargepoint but I have no clue what the cost is per Kwh. One of the free stations is a chargepoint so I will need the card anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dag Posted October 27, 2013 at 12:45 AM Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 at 12:45 AM Most of the public chargers here are free, but I did come across a charge point station that was $2per hour. I think that is outrageous, but it is front row parking at the Mall - sooooo.. I parked and charged :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griff Posted October 27, 2013 at 04:27 PM Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 at 04:27 PM (edited) Http,Why would you want a model that makes you pay beat out the free one? Makes no sense to me. Edited October 27, 2013 at 04:28 PM by Griff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted October 27, 2013 at 04:34 PM Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 at 04:34 PM Http,Why would you want a model that makes you pay beat out the free one? Makes no sense to me.The sentence is not to clear. I think he means he hopes the evgo model will run evgo out of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
http Posted October 31, 2013 at 03:15 PM Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 at 03:15 PM Yep. Very poor writing. I meant to say that I hope the availability of free charging stations will run eVgo out of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylorjd Posted October 31, 2013 at 05:29 PM Report Share Posted October 31, 2013 at 05:29 PM FYI: At least for SemaCharge, when PlugShare says "$0.55/hour for the first 4 hours, $10.00/hour afterwards", they mean parking not charging. If you get a full charge in 2 hours, but stay there for 6, you will be charged $22.20! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgcec@yahoo.com Posted November 22, 2013 at 06:11 AM Report Share Posted November 22, 2013 at 06:11 AM do you know of any free San Jose area charging places? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric4539 Posted November 22, 2013 at 09:48 PM Report Share Posted November 22, 2013 at 09:48 PM The best that I can suggest is that you Google different locations in San Jose. Here is an example. Walgreens, 1399 W. San Carlos St., San Jose, CA 95126 lists their charger as free. Status Operational Type Store Hours 24/7 - Store is open daily, 24 hours. Parking Free - Public welcome One Level 2 J1772 charging station, ChargePoint RFID card required. Walgreens is located near the intersection of W. San Carlos St. and Meridian Ave. This was interesting....I was in Palo Alto a couple of weeks ago and I decided to check out a charger listed in the Blink system at a Walmart. It stated $1 per hour to charge so I figured I would try it out since I still had 10 miles remaining. I ate lunch and then went to Trader Joe's across the parking lot to shop. Well, I think I left the car plugged in for about 45 minutes and when I checked my on line bank it showed a pending $.05 charge from Blink. I could not figure out why only $.05 but I knew I wouldn't be charged more than $1 so I let it go. I checked my account last night and the pending charge was gone! So I got a 45 min charge free. I don't know what to do about that! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric4539 Posted November 22, 2013 at 09:50 PM Report Share Posted November 22, 2013 at 09:50 PM I just re-read the Walgreens description. I don't think theirs is free....Parking is! Seems you have to apply for a ChargePoint RFID card. One Level 2 J1772 charging station, ChargePoint RFID card required. Walgreens is located near the intersection of W. San Carlos St. and Meridian Ave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russael Posted November 23, 2013 at 12:47 AM Report Share Posted November 23, 2013 at 12:47 AM I thought that some of the Chargepoint stations had a 'guest' access mode where you could go back and forth with a couple texts to activate the station. If not, chargepoint cards themselves are pretty cheap (like 5 bucks) and there's no reoccurring fee. They MAY do another 'earth day' special where you can get 1 chargepoint card for free. You can set them up to use free stations only, or you can add credit to the account for stations that do make you pay money. If you go to the chargepoint website, you can do a search for chargers in your area and they will tell you what their costs are. Plugshare is another website that searches multiple vendors and will also relay their prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Fusion Posted November 23, 2013 at 01:12 AM Report Share Posted November 23, 2013 at 01:12 AM I'm so annoyed by charging at work I'm probably not going to do it anymore. Here's my problems:They charge $1/hour, so $3 a day minimum on the BLINK Network chargers.The chargers are on the other side of a fairly large business campus, on the 3rd floor of the parking garage.The chargers frequently either fail to charge at all, or stop charging after 15 to 45 mins. Today nothing on two different chargers.It's really not worth it anymore. At first I liked the extra walking and driving almost entirely on EV mode. Now that I'm fighting the chargers constantly and "only" paying $3.35/gallon it doesn't really make sense. Sigh... :headscratch: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggy314 Posted November 24, 2013 at 03:56 AM Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 at 03:56 AM Most of the public chargers here are free, but I did come across a charge point station that was $2per hour. I think that is outrageous, but it is front row parking at the Mall - sooooo.. I parked and charged :) All of the city owned (160) are an insane $2/hour, *BUT* if you get a city card it is $25 for UNLIMITED charging for 6 months. HEB has one free charger, it's one of the very rare ones. Once you have a ChargePoint card account, you can use a smart phone and their app to activate and stop charging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.