The difference is how eVgo got set up in California. In Texas (Houston and Dallas area only), eVgo was set up as a pay-per-month service for unlimited public use and variable home options (evse and off peak electricity). This model is still in place with some minor adjustments over the couple of years, but it is still a pay-per-month.
eVgo in California was the result of a lawsuit and the concession was to build EV DC fast stations, which eVgo was selected as the distributor (and of course there was a lawsuit over that too since eVgo was going to do CHAdeMO vs SAE Combo). Anyways, part of the agreement would be that the DC fast charging be a pay-per-use model in California.
I don't know if the agreement prevents a large scale "free charging" but its probably more a numbers issue. I think most people here would accept a QC once in awhile even if you had to pay a bunch for it (pay-per-use). Its harder to swallow a pay-per-month plan if you don't use the system extensively. eVgo is most likely using this to get Leaf (and i) owners hooked on QCing so they will stay and pay for a plan.
I will say this is a great deal for any leaf owner in Texas. Most Nissan dealerships also give a complementary eVgo fob for a week or so for new leaf purchasers too to try out the system (they were doing this before this plan came about).
As for the eVgo itself, I have had nothing but good things come with them and have been extremely happy. While I probably don't QC enough all the time to justify the cost, the company support has been outstanding, EVSEs are never down more than a day or so (try getting that service with Blink), they will offer to tow and or drive you to a destination if you happen to go to a charger that was listed as opperational and becomes broken when you are there. In addition, when I had my OBC problem, eVgo with AV were the first people to actually believe us that something was wrong and was contacting Nissan on our behalf to get our car fixed. To me, that type of customer service goes a very long way.
