ChargePoint -- is charging for time typical?

My work installed a bunch of ChargePoint charging stations. They are rarely in use, so I gave them a try. I discovered that they charge $6 per hour for being at the station for more than 4 hours. After my first full work-day, I returned to see a charge of about $25. I thought I'd be in the clear since my car would stop charging after a few hours, but learned the hard way that the extra fee doesn't depend on whether or not you're charging. I should have realized that. Still, it felt underhanded to have the price jump so sharply without some kind of idiot-proof reminder or warning (especially given all the other notifications they send). I could just resolve to park for a few hours at a time, but prefer to avoid the hassle of monitoring my time mid-workday. Closed my account and will avoid them (joining the other e-cars I see parked near but not at the stations). I can get along without them, and this way I don't have to worry about any other costs that I should have realized.

I'm curious, is this price structure typical for ChargePoint?

Prices are set by the host, not ChargePoint. Your company set it up that way. Maybe the EV drivers could petition for change? Sounds like they want to discourage squatters.

My company charges $0.40/hr while actively charging, and then, nothing. But there's no competition for it yet, so I can stay there all shift. That could change someday.

I know the price structure varies. Just wondering how common the one I encountered is.

I haven't seen it before, but it's a good idea if they have a squatter problem.

The price structure usually shows on the unit's screen.

Right, it's there to see. They aren't deceptive about it. I just wasn't thinking clearly, or lacked experience.

Meh, live and learn. So, was it $24 of post 4 hours fee? So cost to charge was $1? That would be worth moving the car midday for, maybe? You can always sign back up.

Heck, if no one uses them, send someone out to just unplug you.

Sounds like they need to call a meeting and rethink policy.

Did you rule out that the first time you use a pay station, ChargePoint charges $25 to your account no matter what the cost to charge was? The unused balance will show in your account. I had forgotten about that the first time I used a pay station. I still have the remaining $24 left to be subtracted from for future pay station use...

I did, but good point. At first I thought that's what was going on, but it wasn't. In fact, this put me slightly over the first $25, so they took another $25. The charging in blocks of $25 is also something that struck me as odd. I can't say that's so horrible, but it was another unpleasant surprise. I suspect that they also did that $6 per hour thing in whole-hours only (no partial hours) another annoyance.

The cost of the energy itself was cheap. I think $0.11 per kWh, matching the lowest of the variable rate that I pay at home. No complaints on that front.

Once I asked, they agreed to close my account and refund whatever was unused of my second $25. I really don't think they were deceptive. It was just an unpleasant experience. I'm relieved to not have any real need for their service.

My company charges $1/hr plugged in (power flowing or not). I have spoken with the facilities person who told me that was to encourage folks to move out of the spot. They are looking at changing to a steep increase (like to $6/hr or more) after the 4 hour stated limit is exhausted as a way of getting folks to move out of the spot. We only have 2 spots for a rather large company with an increasing EV population.

Of course taking the 15-20 minutes to move the car (large building, have to walk all the way to front, then find parking in the lot on the other side which will be full by time I move the car and walk back in) is a pain in the tail end. Good for getting a bit of exercise I suppose.

I wish my company would install a bank of 120v plugs at the bottom of the parking lot where nobody parks much and allow all day trickle charging instead. Oddly the cost is less of a barrier to me than the inconvenience of moving the car.

Luckily I don't "have" to charge at the office if I plan decently so I can just avoid using the plugs. But if the purpose is to enable folks to drive in from the fringe of their range I suspect they are missing the mark (I would not choose to move the car mid-day every day for sure!).

So plug in or unplug on your lunch hour.
Or do you stay in? Would drive me crazy... I have to get out for a bit.

smkettner said:

So plug in or unplug on your lunch hour.
Or do you stay in? Would drive me crazy... I have to get out for a bit.

Click to expand...

Yup could happen some days. Never know which ones.. you know how some days you are working along and busy enough that you lose track of time? Yeah, that seems to happen anytime I do plug in in the morning, ha! I look up and suddenly it is 6pm.... Working with a team spread across 4 time zones doesn't help matters... who's lunch hour?

I hope if my work ever does install charging stations, that they just do a bank of lvl1 chargers with no restrictions and no charge. I hate being forced to move, an 8 hour workday is still a good amount of trickle charging, and the low cost will help as more and more EVs come to fruition.

Also wouldn't want it in premium parking spots.

+1, L1s are the way to go. Moving your car mid-shift everyday is a hassle. They mean well, but corporate decision makers probably don't drive EVs yet, so haven't learned that. In this case, the $6/hr squatter fee, which might be a good idea in a public setting, is counter-productive, as no one is using the EVSEs. Perhaps this type of thing will alleviate when more cars have 48 kWh packs and could charge every other day for the full 8 hours?

DNAinaGoodWay said:

+1, L1s are the way to go. Moving your car mid-shift everyday is a hassle. They mean well, but corporate decision makers probably don't drive EVs yet, so haven't learned that. In this case, the $6/hr squatter fee, which might be a good idea in a public setting, is counter-productive, as no one is using the EVSEs. Perhaps this type of thing will alleviate when more cars have 48 kWh packs and could charge every other day for the full 8 hours?

Click to expand...

More likely the leaders don't need to charge at work as they are driving longer range EVs (i.e. the Teslas I've seen at my office parking lot). So they don't need to charge at the office.

The charging station at my workplace is clearly there for 'other' reasons IMO. I'm sure it is not a coincidence that it is in the front of the building between the guest parking and the expectant mother's spot... more about looking good than actually serving employees. Still I'm lucky to be in this building - none of the other 6 buildings housing my company on the street have one. Can you guess which building has customer visits most often? Our cafeteria still is the only one with separate cafeteria trash cans for "compost", "recycling", and "other trash"....

Inconvenience and such can help keep utilization down and thereby allow them to say "we tried it but there just wasn't enough usage/demand to justify additional investment in that area."

DNAinaGoodWay said:

+1, L1s are the way to go.

Click to expand...

I do wonder about this..
My first thought is "Yep, L1 makes sense."
But for business, since you really still need 1 plug per circuit, you still need electrical work to get the "bank" of L1s.
I wonder, if a company is doing that, as L2 EVSEs aren't really that expensive (compared to install) and the electricity costs probably won't be that large..
I wonder if L2 makes more sense, even tho L1 should be fine...
When you consider the total cost of ownership, I'm not sure the cost of the EVSE is actually that big of a deal..

desiv

L1 would be good for plug in hybrids for a while yet. L2 will be better for BEVs when packs have more capacity. At the OPs work, $0.11/kWh is a good deal. I'd rather be fully charged leaving work, do more driving then.

desiv said:

DNAinaGoodWay said:

+1, L1s are the way to go.

Click to expand...

I do wonder about this..
My first thought is "Yep, L1 makes sense."
But for business, since you really still need 1 plug per circuit, you still need electrical work to get the "bank" of L1s.
I wonder, if a company is doing that, as L2 EVSEs aren't really that expensive (compared to install) and the electricity costs probably won't be that large..
I wonder if L2 makes more sense, even tho L1 should be fine...
When you consider the total cost of ownership, I'm not sure the cost of the EVSE is actually that big of a deal..

desiv

Click to expand...

Keep in mind that when planning, they have to assume all circuits are in full use at the same time. So you can at least double the number of plugs for L1 as you can with L2 (likely even more than that) for the same total peak load capacity. Thus you end up allowing more cars to be plugged in at once and reduce need for moving cars - it then becomes "ok" to plug in all day.

Like everything it depends on what you are trying to optimize for... As battery capacity increases in BEV, the relative value of L1 goes down (if you could only add 10% charge plugged in for your work day, would it really be useful?), but also the percentage of drivers NEEDING to charge to make the round trip to work, errands, home will decrease.

IF the intent is to enable drivers who live too far away to make the round trip on a single charge, then the L1 option can add what, about 4 miles/hr or 32 miles in an 8 hr day? That could likely increase the number of employees able to comfortably make the round trip.