New charging stations at Costco?

[coolfilmaker]

Remember, it IS free... That comes with a certain amount of implied inconvenience...

Our Costco is not that well run. The store manager was in charge and it took 20 minutes to track them down and get them to unlock it.

No. It's $55-110/ year for a Costco membership. Plus, GM has ten other J1772 EVSEs half a mile away so there is absolutely no reason to restrict it to only people who have to charge.

 

[TomT]

Costco doesn't give free gas to people with that membership, not are their gas stations open 24/7, so what makes you think you should have special treatment simply because you drive an EV? I'm sorry, but that is simply an arrogant attitude and the type of mentality that pisses off people toward EV drivers. Go visit GM if you like when Costco is closed...

No. It's $55-110/ year for a Costco membership. Plus, GM has ten other J1772 EVSEs half a mile away so there is absolutely no reason to restrict it to only people who have to charge.

 

[thankyouOB]

Costco doesn't give free gas to people with that membership, not are their gas stations open 24/7, so what makes you think you should have special treatment simply because you drive an EV? I'm sorry, but that is simply an arrogant attitude and the type of mentality that pisses off people toward EV drivers. Go visit GM if you like when Costco is closed...

No. It's $55-110/ year for a Costco membership. Plus, GM has ten other J1772 EVSEs half a mile away so there is absolutely no reason to restrict it to only people who have to charge.

one way costco attracts ICE customers is with cheap gas, that is cutting its profit on selling fuel. it apparently thinks it is also worthwhile to cut its profit by attracting EV customers by doing an equivalent thing for EVs. I bet the cost per vehicle visit is about the same.

 

[RonDawg]

Remember, it IS free... That comes with a certain amount of implied inconvenience...

Our Costco is not that well run. The store manager was in charge and it took 20 minutes to track them down and get them to unlock it.

20 minutes is a bit too much inconvenience IMHO. And as EVs become more popular, the real person being inconvenienced is the Costco manager having to unlock the EVSE multiple times per day.

 

[smkettner]

Remember, it IS free... That comes with a certain amount of implied inconvenience...

Our Costco is not that well run. The store manager was in charge and it took 20 minutes to track them down and get them to unlock it.

20 minutes is a bit too much inconvenience IMHO. And as EVs become more popular, the real person being inconvenienced is the Costco manager having to unlock the EVSE multiple times per day.

I am sure Costco could work a deal with Chargepoint to limit charging to members only. Same as Costco does for gasoline.

 

[RonDawg]

I am sure Costco could work a deal with Chargepoint to limit charging to members only.

That's exactly what I was thinking. They should also do "tiered" pricing...first hour free, then gets more expensive. Helps prevent people from hogging the charging stations.

 

[thankyouOB]

the costco evse's say: see the manager for card to activate.

since they are chargepoint, i just took a chance yesterday and waived my chargepoint card at it and
VOILA!
it would hardly be worth it to go inside and wrassle around to find the manager.

of course, the other EVSE was ICED with one of those ubiquitous handicapped cards.

 

[coolfilmaker]

the costco evse's say: see the manager for card to activate.

since they are chargepoint, i just took a chance yesterday and waived my chargepoint card at it and
VOILA!
it would hardly be worth it to go inside and wrassle around to find the manager.

of course, the other EVSE was ICED with one of those ubiquitous handicapped cards.

That's not what I'm talking about. Our store manager installed physical padlocks on the handles.

 

[coolfilmaker]

I am sure Costco could work a deal with Chargepoint to limit charging to members only. Same as Costco does for gasoline.

That's like four levels of intelligence above what our Costco could manage. I have been told that these EVSE issues are intentionally left up to the regional managers. We're paying for their much higher than industry average wages and they have the gaul to be lazy idiots.

 

[thankyouOB]

the costco evse's say: see the manager for card to activate.

since they are chargepoint, i just took a chance yesterday and waived my chargepoint card at it and
VOILA!
it would hardly be worth it to go inside and wrassle around to find the manager.

of course, the other EVSE was ICED with one of those ubiquitous handicapped cards.

That's not what I'm talking about. Our store manager installed physical padlocks on the handles.

thanks for your note.
the padlocks are at the store I visited, but apparently removed during the hours the store is open. i think they are there -- without any evidence -- to prevent the overnight parking by non-customers discussed above.

 

[smkettner]

Still lame for a mechanical lock. $1 or $2 per hour connected during after hours would seem to serve a better purpose.
Local talent seems lacking on creativity.

Gasoline is primarily to drive up membership afaik. Just as workable for Chargepoint.

 

[johnrhansen]

Wouldn't the easiest and cheapest thing to do is simply flip the breaker off when you flip off all the others before closing, and flipping them back on when opening?

 

[TomT]

That is one of the reasons why I DO shop there! If it annoys you so much, simply don't renew your membership! Oh, and it is gall...

We're paying for their much higher than industry average wages and they have the gaul to be lazy idiots.

 

[alanlarson]

Wouldn't the easiest and cheapest thing to do is simply flip the breaker off when you flip off all the others before closing, and flipping them back on when opening?

They could:

1. Use simple EVSEs that don't need card access, like they did back 11-12 years ago. They could put in more for the same money.

2. They could put in card swipe readers that verified the user was a member (like the first swipe at the gas pumps), then not charge money for the charge. (They probably would want to have them disabled at night, though.) These would cost more, though.

3. They could charge for the charging, with costco card and other card, or simply a chargepoint.

The first two would get me to stop by on the way at times on the way home from work. The last would have no advantage over just continuing home and plugging in there.

They only seem to care about mass consumer market gasoline. They don't sell diesel, which has a larger market share than electric cars, so I can't see them putting a lot of effort into electric, or giving up parking spaces for it. (I wish they did sell diesel at good prices.)

 

[RonDawg]

They only seem to care about mass consumer market gasoline. They don't sell diesel, which has a larger market share than electric cars, so I can't see them putting a lot of effort into electric, or giving up parking spaces for it. (I wish they did sell diesel at good prices.)

They probably also don't have the capacity to add diesel without making the gas lines even longer, or having to do a costly expansion. Every Costco gas station in my area is quite busy; unless I go there first thing in the morning, or right before they close, there is generally a 2+ car per line wait to fuel up. And when fuel prices spike, that wait can be easily 30 minutes or more during the afternoon or early evening.

 

[cwerdna]

They probably don't have the capacity to add diesel. Every Costco gas station in my area is quite busy; unless I go there first thing in the morning, or right before they close, there is generally a 2+ car per line wait to fuel up. And when fuel prices spike, that wait can be easily 30 minutes or more during the afternoon or early evening.

I almost never buy gas anymore (maybe every 2-4 months for my Prius) but I was near a Costco today in Fremont, CA for a EV/PHEV test drive event (https://www.fremont.gov/2089/Experience-Electric-Campaign" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false and boy, I saw that in the late afternoon, Costco's gas station was BUSY! It looked like a zoo w/a tons of cars in each line.

 

[pchilds]

CostCo just added Diesel in Temecula.

 

[thankyouOB]

That is one of the reasons why I DO shop there! If it annoys you so much, simply don't renew your membership! Oh, and it is gall...

We're paying for their much higher than industry average wages and they have the gaul to be lazy idiots.

exactly. i support the store not just because it saves me money, and the chicken is the yum, but also because it supports its staff with good wages and benefits.

 

[Chocula]

I am significantly more likely to patronize those businesses which provide convenient charging. I have made purchases averaging approximately $20 for every kWh hour of charging I have received at retail locations. I am not so concerned with free as I am convenient, although the price needs to be reasonable. Adding systems to monetize charging makes the equipment more expensive, more prone to failure and less convenient in general.

Level 2 charging stations at retail locations such as Costco should be treated as a value add. Putting the circuits on a timer or otherwise making them available only during business hours makes sense as they don't benefit the business except when the business is open. Trying to monetize charging seems counter productive. This reduces or removes the value added by the existence of the charging stations, and the profits earned are unlikely to even recoup the additional cost of equipment needed to charge for access.

Having equipment that is frequently out of service or locked up provides no value. Having too few charging stations so they are always occupied still has value, but not as much as if I can reasonably expect at least one spot to be open.