Kudos to eVgo

[strombo1]

So I decided to charge at an eVgo station for the first time (new owner, figured how hard could it be?). I had a hard time getting my card to work and then couldn't get the charger to work AT ALL. It kept saying it couldn't find my car. So I went in to the store it belonged to and asked the guy if he knew anything about it. He replied, "oh no, it doesn't work."

I was on the plugshare site and marked the charging station as not working.

Shortly thereafter I got an email from Jim at eVgo. He is the sales manager for the Chicago area. I called him and he wanted to know what was wrong with the charger. I told him what had happened, and he asked if I'd had the lever all the way up. I said something highly intelligent like, "ummm, lever?" I explained I had just gotten the car, didn't know what I was doing, and would have assumed it was my fault if the store clerk hadn't said it didn't work.

He offered to meet me either at the oasis where I was charging, or a Whole Foods near me to walk me through the process. I ended up calling him from the oasis the next morning and he talked me through it. Good thing too, because I didn't know you had to use the card to stop the charging too.

He was extremely generous with his time and knowledge and obviously wants to help EV owners make it work. Thanks to him I can now confidently use the QC chargers.

 

[mwalsh]

The CHAdeMOs can be a bit tricky. I haven't used one in a while, but on the older units I recall a delicate ballet between pushing the connector fully into place and pulling that lever up into the locked position.

Yes, kudos to eVGo indeed for the great customer service!

I remember there being a "how to" guide on MNL at some point. It might be helpful for you to find it and check out some of the suggestions/tips.

 

[DaveEV]

The connectors on Nissan QCs commonly found at eVgo locations are extra tricky as there is also slide latch over the big handle, too that must be moved. There's 3 different variants of this connector out there, and they all suck.

The single thumb button plug is the one that needs to be used everywhere - it's much easier to use, very similar to J1772 aside from a bit of extra force required to insert the handle.

 

[jnc4558]

I had to contact evgo twice because my card would not work (ez-charge card never registered even though it said successful). Extremely nice customer service. They activated the machine over the phone and got with the ez-charge folks to fix my issue.

 

[vsiev]

They should be providing this type of customer service for the amount they charge to QC...

Sorry I don't like evgo with their ridiculous QC charge rates....cost more than gas and I have to wait to fill up. Props for him though for helping other EV drivers.

 

[mwalsh]

Sorry I don't like evgo with their ridiculous QC charge rates....cost more than gas and I have to wait to fill up. Props for him though for helping other EV drivers.

The last two eVgo QCs I've used have been completely FREEEEE (though limited to 30 minutes of use per go via a timer on the QC).

I suspect the amount charged may be dictated by the host rather than by eVgo. Could anyone confirm?

 

[walterbays]

Best customer service people, best charger reliability and maintenance, best growing network of locations.

But, as some have noted they have one of the worst web sites on the net, and their back end IT infrastructure is no better. A few months ago my credit card number changed, so I went to their web site to enter the new information. eVgo provides no means to view your account information so I had to just assume that everything was okay. No notification from them that anything was amiss. When I next went to charge my eVgo card wouldn't work. I called one of those nice helpful customer service reps who told me my last subscription payment had been denied. He took my credit card information, billed it for my current account balance, verified that they had my correct information in their files, started the charger for me, and I charged. Still of course no way to view my account information but no notification that anything was amiss, so now surely everything is okay, right?

Wrong. Today my eVgo card failed again to work. I skipped the car charging and phoned customer support, determined to stay on the line with them until they promised they had my new card number and would use it. No such luck. In the mean time they had another $15 subscription fee, didn't bill it to my credit card, declared it past due, assessed late charges, with still no notification. Then they closed my account for non-payment, and then added a $29 early termination fee since "I" closed my account early, and somehow added this all up to $77. Which they still didn't bill to my credit card. So my account is still dead, with charges being accrued for unknown reasons, and eVgo still unwilling to bill any amount to what they swear is my correct credit card.

Their car charging is great. But in computer skills they make Blink look competent by comparison.

 

[Randy]

They should be providing this type of customer service for the amount they charge to QC...

Sorry I don't like evgo with their ridiculous QC charge rates....cost more than gas and I have to wait to fill up. Props for him though for helping other EV drivers.

You should try penciling out what it costs to put in the equipment, pay for the operational expenses, including labor, backend, utility, etc. and then compare it to the rates they're charging. If you do your calculations somewhat correctly, you'll see that they are priced fairly (maybe even a bit low)...

Yes, gasoline has come down in price. But that has nothing to do with the costs that it takes to bring you fast charging stations.

I owned my LEAF for many many months before fast charging was available in San Diego on a limited basis, and I much prefer the direction we're headed now with lots of choices and locations. Cost is really secondary to me, as I would rather have the station availability we have today vs. a couple of years ago...

Maybe you could consider one of their memberships and save money on fast charging that way....

 

[Deleted member 14724]

They should be providing this type of customer service for the amount they charge to QC...

Sorry I don't like evgo with their ridiculous QC charge rates....cost more than gas and I have to wait to fill up. Props for him though for helping other EV drivers.

You should try penciling out what it costs to put in the equipment, pay for the operational expenses, including labor, backend, utility, etc. and then compare it to the rates they're charging. If you do your calculations somewhat correctly, you'll see that they are priced fairly (maybe even a bit low)...

Yes, gasoline has come down in price. But that has nothing to do with the costs that it takes to bring you fast charging stations.

I owned my LEAF for many many months before fast charging was available in San Diego on a limited basis, and I much prefer the direction we're headed now with lots of choices and locations. Cost is really secondary to me, as I would rather have the station availability we have today vs. a couple of years ago...

Maybe you could consider one of their memberships and save money on fast charging that way....

I think EVs are not very good values if you cannot charge at home (or work for free). Public charging is expensive, inconvenient, or both, compared to ICE cars. I don't think eVgo is doing anything wrong. It's just not competitive.

 

[desiv]

You should try penciling out what it costs to put in the equipment, pay for the operational expenses, including labor, backend, utility, etc. and then compare it to the rates they're charging. If you do your calculations somewhat correctly, you'll see that they are priced fairly (maybe even a bit low)....

The question tho isn't whether or not it's fair.
It's whether or not the market will pay it. ;-)

If it's too expensive (and I'm not saying it is), then people will charge at home (or work if available) mostly and not use it.
If people don't do use it, businesses don't see a market and the chargers start to go away.

Of course, that doesn't mean the market wouldn't be viable.
Maybe it will support higher costs. If you use it infrequently, but it costs much more when you do, maybe that's enough.
Or, maybe it needs to be subsidized a bit. Lots of possibilities there. Local businesses, government, advertising, group package deals, etc...

The issue seems to be that right now, the market is in flux and hasn't figured it out.
Also, the market is possibly going to have different answeres for different areas.
What makes sense in a small tourist town might not make sense in Los Angeles.

That said, personally, if it costs more to charge my EV that it would to gas up my Subaru, then I won't use that public charger unless I have to.. Which won't be often..

desiv

 

[vsiev]

They should be providing this type of customer service for the amount they charge to QC...

Sorry I don't like evgo with their ridiculous QC charge rates....cost more than gas and I have to wait to fill up. Props for him though for helping other EV drivers.

You should try penciling out what it costs to put in the equipment, pay for the operational expenses, including labor, backend, utility, etc. and then compare it to the rates they're charging. If you do your calculations somewhat correctly, you'll see that they are priced fairly (maybe even a bit low)...

Yes, gasoline has come down in price. But that has nothing to do with the costs that it takes to bring you fast charging stations.

I owned my LEAF for many many months before fast charging was available in San Diego on a limited basis, and I much prefer the direction we're headed now with lots of choices and locations. Cost is really secondary to me, as I would rather have the station availability we have today vs. a couple of years ago...

Maybe you could consider one of their memberships and save money on fast charging that way....

I was actually comparing the gas prices to the usual price of $4-$5 and not to today's prices (cause today's gasoline is not a good comparison since gas will always rise) and gasoline is still cheaper than NRG's rates. $5 initiation fee plus $0.20 a minute is a ridiculous rate. 30 minutes charging and it will cost me $11 to go 60 miles. A 30 mpg car can go more with $11 of $4-$5 gas and don't even have to wait the 30 minutes. Even subscription based is expensive if not used often and it's ties you to a contract or pay early termination fee to get out. I've charged at San Juan Capistrano and Irvine Spectrum (Chargepoints) at $0.15 a minute no initiation fee or subscription fee...if those stations are charging those rates when they have to install and manage those stations, makes me wonder why NRG can't....

 

[epirali]

They should be providing this type of customer service for the amount they charge to QC...

Sorry I don't like evgo with their ridiculous QC charge rates....cost more than gas and I have to wait to fill up. Props for him though for helping other EV drivers.

Honestly I could live with the high rates, and some of the issues. IF ONLY THEY HAD AN APP AND I COULD PAY FOR ONE TIME USE AS I GO.

I mean to have to have a card, and set up an account, etc etc etc seems to much of a pain. Specially for something that is more technically on the edge (like charging an electric car).

Why can't I just sign up, pay and use the darn eVgo station with an app?

 

[Deleted member 14724]

They should be providing this type of customer service for the amount they charge to QC...

Sorry I don't like evgo with their ridiculous QC charge rates....cost more than gas and I have to wait to fill up. Props for him though for helping other EV drivers.

Honestly I could live with the high rates, and some of the issues. IF ONLY THEY HAD AN APP AND I COULD PAY FOR ONE TIME USE AS I GO.

I mean to have to have a card, and set up an account, etc etc etc seems to much of a pain. Specially for something that is more technically on the edge (like charging an electric car).

Why can't I just sign up, pay and use the darn eVgo station with an app?

That's another impediment to adoption. You don't have to set up an account with a gas station to buy gas. You don't have to buy credits in advance like Semconnect. You don't even have to provide them with any personal information.

 

[Randy]

I was actually comparing the gas prices to the usual price of $4-$5 and not to today's prices (cause today's gasoline is not a good comparison since gas will always rise) and gasoline is still cheaper than NRG's rates. $5 initiation fee plus $0.20 a minute is a ridiculous rate. 30 minutes charging and it will cost me $11 to go 60 miles. A 30 mpg car can go more with $11 of $4-$5 gas and don't even have to wait the 30 minutes. Even subscription based is expensive if not used often and it's ties you to a contract or pay early termination fee to get out. I've charged at San Juan Capistrano and Irvine Spectrum (Chargepoints) at $0.15 a minute no initiation fee or subscription fee...if those stations are charging those rates when they have to install and manage those stations, makes me wonder why NRG can't....

Of course, pricing is the choice of the provider, and I'm sure they have their reasons for why they do things the way they do...

A couple of things to point out. You don't need to stay for 30 minutes at a Freedom Station to get the maximum benefit. In fact, as the car charges more, the charging rate goes down. It is actually to your benefit to stay the least amount of time (just get the miles you need to make it home, etc.) and then leave to minimize the billing. The best bang for your buck is to stay 10 to 15 minutes max. You'll get the majority of your charging in that time...I believe that is the pricing message that eVgo is trying to send you (to encourage you to move on and open up the spot for someone else)...It is typically the "no charge to charge" newer owners that I see hanging out for the entire 30 minutes and getting that last "trickle"...

As far as San Juan Capistrano goes, that is a whole different animal. It is a Fuji 25 kW station, so the electricity costs are much less for that station (because of reduced demand charges). It doesn't charge as fast, but it isn't that much slower for a typical LEAF so it works out. It is a good compromise - a semi-fast charging station that has reduced operating costs, but you really can't compare it to the operational economics of a traditional 50 kW DC Fast Charge station.

My point is that even if you pay $5 or $10 here or there for a fast charge, it doesn't really increase your average cost per mile for fuel a whole lot, and lets you continue to drive electric...

 

[vsiev]

I was actually comparing the gas prices to the usual price of $4-$5 and not to today's prices (cause today's gasoline is not a good comparison since gas will always rise) and gasoline is still cheaper than NRG's rates. $5 initiation fee plus $0.20 a minute is a ridiculous rate. 30 minutes charging and it will cost me $11 to go 60 miles. A 30 mpg car can go more with $11 of $4-$5 gas and don't even have to wait the 30 minutes. Even subscription based is expensive if not used often and it's ties you to a contract or pay early termination fee to get out. I've charged at San Juan Capistrano and Irvine Spectrum (Chargepoints) at $0.15 a minute no initiation fee or subscription fee...if those stations are charging those rates when they have to install and manage those stations, makes me wonder why NRG can't....

Of course, pricing is the choice of the provider, and I'm sure they have their reasons for why they do things the way they do...

A couple of things to point out. You don't need to stay for 30 minutes at a Freedom Station to get the maximum benefit. In fact, as the car charges more, the charging rate goes down. It is actually to your benefit to stay the least amount of time (just get the miles you need to make it home, etc.) and then leave to minimize the billing. The best bang for your buck is to stay 10 to 15 minutes max. You'll get the majority of your charging in that time...I believe that is the pricing message that eVgo is trying to send you (to encourage you to move on and open up the spot for someone else)...It is typically the "no charge to charge" newer owners that I see hanging out for the entire 30 minutes and getting that last "trickle"...

As far as San Juan Capistrano goes, that is a whole different animal. It is a Fuji 25 kW station, so the electricity costs are much less for that station (because of reduced demand charges). It doesn't charge as fast, but it isn't that much slower for a typical LEAF so it works out. It is a good compromise - a semi-fast charging station that has reduced operating costs, but you really can't compare it to the operational economics of a traditional 50 kW DC Fast Charge station.

My point is that even if you pay $5 or $10 here or there for a fast charge, it doesn't really increase your average cost per mile for fuel a whole lot, and lets you continue to drive electric...

I'm sorry, but it's not the most bang for the buck if they charge a "connection" fee of $5 per charge. I understand if they rolled the "connection fee" into the rates e.g. $0.30 a minute instead of $0.20. But to be charged for a "connection" is ridiculous. I'm not considering their subscription since it's contract based, the monthly fee charged, and the early termination fee I have to pay to get out since I won't be needing the full year term once my lease is up.

I used to not rely on public charging, but things change. Now I have to rely on these QCs and I can't charge at work. Based on my situation of traveling to LA and back on the weekends, I usually have to charge to 90% to make it where I need to go and it's faster (but cost more) if I stay charged at one station instead of taking the chance of the next station being broken, crowded, or iced. There has been so many times I had to wait for an available station, backtrack, or charge on a slower L2 just to get home because the next station was unavailable.

Irvine Spectrum (Chargepoint) is a 50kW DC fast charge station as I mentioned earlier and they have two at that location. Connell Nissan also has theirs on Chargepoint with the same fee. They charge $0.15 a minute ($9/hr prorated by the minute) like San Juan Capistrano if that makes a better comparison.

I understand this is a case by case basis, but for those who rely on public infrastructure like me, the fact that the charging cost more than gas and I have to wait for the "fuel" beats one important incentive of an electric car. Where's the fuel savings if I have to pay more than gas and waste more time to fill up?

 

[walterbays]

Best customer service people, best charger reliability and maintenance, best growing network of locations.

But, as some have noted they have one of the worst web sites on the net, and their back end IT infrastructure is no better.

Great customer service people beat poor web site. eVgo sorted out my account, reversed the spurious charges, and reactivated my card.

As far as cost goes, yeah it looks different now than when I bought my car. SDG&E has raised electricity prices (from their original pilot rates) by almost 100% while Saudi Arabia and fracking dropped gasoline prices by almost 50%. And public charging is more expensive per mile than burning gasoline. But still I have a car I drive almost all the time at half the cost of gasoline, and occasionally at more than the cost of gasoline, and I still come out ahead.

As infrequently as I need eVgo fill-ups I'd actually pay less on eVgo's pay as you go plan. But I still like the subscription because I think of it not so much as fuel than as car maintenance. $15/month is an inexpensive alternative to replacement of my prematurely degraded battery. I can drive wherever I like with no worries, even more so than when my battery was new and there were no quick charging stations.

 

[mwalsh]

The last two eVgo QCs I've used have been completely FREEEEE (though limited to 30 minutes of use per go via a timer on the QC).

Hmmm...free not so much. Just received a rather unwelcome bill for the two charging sessions last week. $20 in total. If I'd known that going in it's not so much that I wouldn't have charged, but I would have probably limited my charging to what I actually needed.

Why did I think it was free? Well, it's marked that way on Plugshare. I've since submitted an inaccuracy report.