EVGO, why?

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tzzhc4

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
Messages
139
EVGO is building a closed charging network in Texas. You can only use it if you sign a 3 year contract for no less then 79 dollars a month ($948 yearly or 2844 for three years). The only play they have that might make sense (read as that I can rationalise signing up for since I am not fond of their model) is the one that includes electricity at home but since I live in an unincorporated area that has an electric co-op I can't get that plan.

Is anyone actually signing up for this and if so why? Is anyone in the same situation as me?

//Corrected my math :)
 
tzzhc4 said:
EVGO is building a closed charging network in Texas. You can only use it if you sign a 3 year contract for no less then 79 dollars a month (yearly of $2844.00). The only play they have that might make sense (read as that I can rationalise signing up for since I am not fond of their model) is the one that includes electricity at home but since I live in an unincorporated area that has an electric co-op I can't get that plan.

Is anyone actually signing up for this and if so why? Is anyone in the same situation as me?

EVGO Charging network @ $2844 per yr? To quote an old metaphor from the south: "That dog won't hunt"
 
Is anyone in Texas really that gullible?

tzzhc4 said:
EVGO is building a closed charging network in Texas. You can only use it if you sign a 3 year contract for no less then 79 dollars a month (yearly of $2844.00).
 
tzzhc4 said:
EVGO is building a closed charging network in Texas. You can only use it if you sign a 3 year contract for no less then 79 dollars a month (yearly of $2844.00).
$79*12 = $948, $2844 is all three years, which makes it close to what the purchase and install of an EVSE has been costing some people. Anyway, I predict they will end up opening up the network when the equipment is going unused.
 
A boycott might make them change their business model or at least add some options for people who don't want to rent their chargers from EVGO. But I guess some people are going with EVGO though for the life of me I can't figure out why.

Guess I will stick with using Chargepoint stations and getting as many miles out of every KW I can.
 
mogur said:
Is anyone in Texas really that gullible?

tzzhc4 said:
EVGO is building a closed charging network in Texas. You can only use it if you sign a 3 year contract for no less then 79 dollars a month (yearly of $2844.00).

I don't know, I guess I might be. I'm really considering it. I'm also stupid enough to want to make my Leaf my families only car. (We can get away with this since both my wife and I have jobs in close proximity to DART). If we are going to dump gas completely we are going to need Fast Charging some times. If a more distributed Free or Pay-per-use options come online in the next few years, then we might consider canceling after the contract is up. But, until then, it's really not that bad of a deal given we are all early adopters. (There is always an early adopter premium. Remember when the Kindle was $400?!)

BTW:
The lowest rate for EVgo is $49. At that price, $49/month*12 months/year * 3 years is just $1764. That's about the same as if you got the base price for the Aerovironment Home Charger from Nissan and financed it along with your Leaf. (Since my garage is so far from my circuit box, my home assessment was more like $2600, before financing it, through I know there are cheaper chargers than AV.)

To that extent, even the $90 plan isn't that bad:

($2000 for home charger installation) + (24 kWh/100 miles)*(12000 miles/year)*($0.11/kWh)*3years
= $2950
vs.
($90/month)*(3 years) + free fast charging when you need it + electrons from your home charger= $3240

So, I said before, if you financed the charger with your Leaf you will probably end up paying more for it than if you went with EVgo. And you don't get to use their network today and are left hoping someone else puts together a ppu or free charger for you some time in the future.

...or maybe, as you said, I'm just gullible. If so, please correct me. I check in this message board every few days.
 
why?.. because it allows you use 70 L3 private charging stations, and no chance that the spot will be occupied by an ICE car.
 
Why? because someone got a bit greedy with an excel spreadsheet. I am sure a competitor will come along and eat their lunch.
 
Competition is good, IF EVGO makes a go of it and profits then even better as other charging stations will prop up everywhere. I did some calculations back when it was announced and I dont see how they can make it..

EVSE and their installation are expensive now, but that will change very quickly.
 
Herm said:
Competition is good, IF EVGO makes a go of it and profits then even better as other charging stations will prop up everywhere. I did some calculations back when it was announced and I dont see how they can make it..

EVSE and their installation are expensive now, but that will change very quickly.

It's a bet, for sure. They are betting that once people start seeing their Charger everywhere, people will be more likely to consider an electric car and will go to them for their service. Even if another competitor jumps in the fray to compete, EVgo will be able to brag that they have the largest network with the most charging stations. That's a good deal for them.

They know good and well they are not going to make money in the short term. This is a LONG term investment. They probably won't make money for ten years. But again, this is a long term investment.
 
dallasmay said:
BTW:
The lowest rate for EVgo is $49. At that price, $49/month*12 months/year * 3 years is just $1764. That's about the same as if you got the base price for the Aerovironment Home Charger from Nissan and financed it along with your Leaf. (Since my garage is so far from my circuit box, my home assessment was more like $2600, before financing it, through I know there are cheaper chargers than AV.)

To that extent, even the $90 plan isn't that bad:

($2000 for home charger installation) + (24 kWh/100 miles)*(12000 miles/year)*($0.11/kWh)*3years
= $2950
vs.
($90/month)*(3 years) + free fast charging when you need it + electrons from your home charger= $3240

So, I said before, if you financed the charger with your Leaf you will probably end up paying more for it than if you went with EVgo. And you don't get to use their network today and are left hoping someone else puts together a ppu or free charger for you some time in the future.

...or maybe, as you said, I'm just gullible. If so, please correct me. I check in this message board every few days.
It's not that quite clear cut if I understand EVGO correctly. At the end of 3 years you can either re-up for the service for whatever price it is going for or EVGO removes the charger. At least with the Aerovironment install you own the EVSE.
 
at the rate it's taking the government in WA to get charging stations in, and if I was not able to get in on the EV project free station, it would be tempting for me to sign up for a private program that assures there are stations along the main corridors. Lately I've been wondering if L3 is ever going to happen. Right now, the only charging stations I can count on are the one in my garage and the ones at the Dealers. that said, I'm surprised how much driving I can do even without a network of charging stations, practically everything.
g
 
I am sure charging stations will be a race to the bottom in pricing, and will end up like gasoline -- you make almost nothing off of it, and your profit is actually just drawing someone into a convenient store as they have time to kill.
 
GaslessInSeattle said:
at the rate it's taking the government in WA to get charging stations in, and if I was not able to get in on the EV project free station, it would be tempting for me to sign up for a private program that assures there are stations along the main corridors. Lately I've been wondering if L3 is ever going to happen. Right now, the only charging stations I can count on are the one in my garage and the ones at the Dealers. that said, I'm surprised how far much driving I can do even without a network of charging stations, practically everything.
g

I read an article today that stated that WSDOT "is on the verge" of awarding the installation contract.. however, they are expecting a public/private partnership in regards to who will host these stations (ie: burgerville, starbucks, joe's truck stop, etc), and these businesses in turn need to "bid" on providing space.

Ultimately, the lowest L3 bidder and the business who fronts the most cost will get the charging station and contract.

I am cringing at this logic, as i am sure they will just end up building a completely unusable deployment with gaps in it (like the steven's pass charging station that nobody can actually drive to).
 
shay said:
It's not that quite clear cut if I understand EVGO correctly. At the end of 3 years you can either re-up for the service for whatever price it is going for or EVGO removes the charger. At least with the Aerovironment install you own the EVSE.

Here is the information I just recieved from EVgo:

"Cancelling is easy….no fees up to prior in install…so say you signed up next week and then you cancelled your LEAF…no obligation…Once you have the equipment installed it is $25 per month times the remaining number of months (36 is our standard, so $900 worst case), and you cancel whenever you want. If you fail to allow us to get the equipment back, an additional $350 comes into play.

At the end of the term, and this is still being worked through, but we envision the following:
Continue on your current plan
Request a new plan with your current charger.
Request a new plan with a new charger. Who knows what technology will be available including drive on induction charging.
Request to purchase current charger for FMV-Face Market Value.
Terminate contract and ask us to pick up charger. Understand that the installation of 240 Volt service is already yours installed.

From a removal standpoint, we would coordinate with you for our folks to pick it up. Only fee comes into play if you don’t return it (attaching the terms/conditions to explain for you)."

So take that for what you would like.
 
dallasmay said:
BTW:
The lowest rate for EVgo is $49. At that price, $49/month*12 months/year * 3 years is just $1764. That's about the same as if you got the base price for the Aerovironment Home Charger from Nissan and financed it along with your Leaf. (Since my garage is so far from my circuit box, my home assessment was more like $2600, before financing it, through I know there are cheaper chargers than AV.)

To that extent, even the $90 plan isn't that bad:

($2000 for home charger installation) + (24 kWh/100 miles)*(12000 miles/year)*($0.11/kWh)*3years
= $2950
vs.
($90/month)*(3 years) + free fast charging when you need it + electrons from your home charger= $3240

$49 a month doesn't include access to their charging network. And the Aerovironment EVSE is ludicrously over priced. 1200 for labor is insane, I had x4 20A outlets wired from by garage into my living room (triple the distance the AV would be wired) for 300 dollars (labor plus breakers, romex, outlets, faceplates etc). Get an Ingineer upgrade or some of the other EVSE or just use the trickle charger. On top of all this you don't own the EVSE after the 3 years is up.
 
Herm said:
why?.. because it allows you use 70 L3 private charging stations, and no chance that the spot will be occupied by an ICE car.

I dove by the EVGO L3 charger at Walgreens in Dallas and there was an ICE car parked in front of it and the EVGO L2 in McKinney always has at least 1 ICE car parked in front of it because it is a normal spot right in front of the library. Most of the Chargepoint chargers are marked EV only all other towed.

Speak politely to ICE drivers most will move and most are interested in how your car works. If you want to pay $79 a month so you don't have to deal with people be my guest but I prefer to support open networks that don't force me into a long term contract.
 
tzzhc4 said:
On top of all this you don't own the EVSE after the 3 years is up.

I spoke with a representative of EVgo and he said that you could cancel at any time, and the fee for doing so was $25/month remaining on contract. And if you wanted to keep the charger they would charge you $350 dollars for it at that time. Or, if you sign up again, they will upgrade you to the latest and greatest charging stations. I don't think that's a bad deal. As I said, it's roughly the same as financing the charger.

You can do as you like, most of the time I would rather own too. (I'm buying my leaf, for example, not leasing.) But until there is another option, I'm signing up with EVgo.
 
dallasmay said:
shay said:
Here is the information I just recieved from EVgo:

"Cancelling is easy….no fees up to prior in install…so say you signed up next week and then you cancelled your LEAF…no obligation…Once you have the equipment installed it is $25 per month times the remaining number of months (36 is our standard, so $900 worst case), and you cancel whenever you want. If you fail to allow us to get the equipment back, an additional $350 comes into play.

At the end of the term, and this is still being worked through, but we envision the following:
Continue on your current plan
Request a new plan with your current charger.
Request a new plan with a new charger. Who knows what technology will be available including drive on induction charging.
Request to purchase current charger for FMV-Face Market Value.

EVGO is renting you the EVSE and at the end of the 3 year contract you can continue renting the same EVSE, rent a new EVSE or pay what the EVSE costs to keep it.

Is EVGO taking the tax credit for charging equipment and then depreciating the equipment over the 3 years allowed for rent to own equipment by the IRS and then selling it back to people who have rented it or renting that same equipment further? If people really start signing up it is a brilliant money making idea for EVGO, basically the equipment is all but paid for by the tax credit then +2 years of gravy. If the customer cancels they are on the hook for enough to cover the remainder of the equipment cost.
 
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