Walgreens chargers no longer free?

IMFineHuRU said:

My best response to the cost of charging your EV at Walgreens. I would use the service essentially to top off my car. For instance, my drive to and from work totals 50 miles. If I knpw that I may not be able to charge my car completely at home, before leaving for work the next morning,I would stop at Walgreens and purchase, say 8Kw for $4.00 and then plug it in at home to finish the job--less time at Walgreens--and still equivalent to around 80 mpg. Cheaper would be better, but so would 480 volts and a free lunch

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Yep, agree. Since those other posts in September I've used Walgreen's chargers maybe 4-5 times with the SemaCharge cards. Each time it was a top-up to get me home. In every case I wasted more money on a meal break at a nearby restaurant than I did on the cost of charging.

ITestStuff said:

Oliverovan said:

I called the manufacturer and found out this was a decision by the owner and not Walgreens.

I say we wage a full fledged and very public boycott of Walgreens to protest this atrocity.
Thoughts?

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My thoughts: :roll:

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I believe, at this moment in time with respect to bringing electric vehicles into the marketplace and on the roads, that this charging for access is short sided and bad public policy.

The Walgreens in my area has been charging. I spoke with them about this and they basically said that that was just how it is...a sign of the times. (Greed by my observation. Just look around. It's all over the place.) I no longer shop at Walgreens.

Even my neighboring town went from free to charging. (They were owned in partnership with the village, but when the owners of the equipment, (I go Car sharing,) were bought out by Enterprise, Enterprise began the charging policy. Now if this isn't capitalism with out a soul, what is.)

It's as if those who want clean air planted these chargers and set them to be accessed for free, (to grow the use of electric vehicles,) were picked clean of the fruit they were just beginning to produce. What conscious farmer or gardner would ever do that. They act as if they were stranded on Donner Pass with this push for more revenue and profits.

I wonder why they even bother. Every time I drive by a walgreens theres no car being charged there. So they get a car or 2 a day, so what? So what's the daily haul? 10 bucks? Wow at that rate it will take millennia to pay for the installation cost for the station. I'd say the money is in the car manufacturers making sure plenty of those stations are available so that people buy their cars, ala tesla. I don't care if it costs a buck or if it free. I do have a problem with those 8 dollar quick chargers. That amount of money is no longer trivial.

I'm very glad the walgreens stations cost money, even more then gasoline. Keeps the PHEVs and freeloading EVs away so I can charge when I need to.

Free is not always a good thing...

JeremyW said:

I'm very glad the walgreens stations cost money, even more then gasoline. Keeps the PHEVs and freeloading EVs away so I can charge when I need to.

Free is not always a good thing...

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Sounds like you are all about me, which created the issue in the first place.

Sad to see an electric car driver with this perspective.

There was a huge difference when the charging stations and were free. Quite often I would find it in use. But the owner was sitting in the car. I don't care if electricity at home is 40 cents per kwh, and the public charger was free...its always better to charge at home where you have other things to do than it is to waste 2 hours so you can save 4 bucks. I never could understand why suddenly the stations stopped being used once they started charging for it. They were emergency top off stations for me when they were free!

greengate said:

JeremyW said:

I'm very glad the walgreens stations cost money, even more then gasoline. Keeps the PHEVs and freeloading EVs away so I can charge when I need to.

Free is not always a good thing...

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Sounds like you are all about me, which created the issue in the first place.

Sad to see an electric car driver with this perspective.

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How does giving away free electricity help anyone? I think if you actually knew Jeremy, you would realize how backwards your comment is.

drees said:

greengate said:

JeremyW said:

I'm very glad the walgreens stations cost money, even more then gasoline. Keeps the PHEVs and freeloading EVs away so I can charge when I need to.

Free is not always a good thing...

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Sounds like you are all about me, which created the issue in the first place.

Sad to see an electric car driver with this perspective.

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How does giving away free electricity help anyone? I think if you actually knew Jeremy, you would realize how backwards your comment is.

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Don't know Jeremy but I agree with his sentiment. Too many people will grab the few available EV charging spots when they're free, even if they don't need the charge, so that they're almost always occupied. With a small reasonable fee, (like the 49 cents/kWh I see often with ChargePoints around here), this tends to keep the units available for those who are actually in need to top off. In other words, yes, "free is not always a good thing"!

drees said:

greengate said:

JeremyW said:

I'm very glad the walgreens stations cost money, even more then gasoline. Keeps the PHEVs and freeloading EVs away so I can charge when I need to.

Free is not always a good thing...

Click to expand...

Sounds like you are all about me, which created the issue in the first place.

Sad to see an electric car driver with this perspective.

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How does giving away free electricity help anyone? I think if you actually knew Jeremy, you would realize how backwards your comment is.

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Of course I don't know him. My comments are based upon his posting. If I misunderstood, I'm sorry. I'm not here to flame anyone.

Giving away free electricity is a way to subsidize the promotion of electric vehicles, for all of the various reasons. I see this as very important. It's good for the manufacture, the consumer, the dealer, the environment as well as the one "giving away the free electricity." Giving is good for the heart and it goes a long way toward making this a better world in which to live. There's ample evidence to show that for each "unit" one gives, they receive the like or even greater in return.

Corporate policy needs to have this as a working asset. Unfortunately, It has been operating in the opposite direction. They have continued to take things away from society. IE: resources, unions, off shoring of production and finances, rewards for the employees for increased productivity, pensions, health care, job security and the 40 hour work week, just to name a few.

If gasoline were sold for its actual cost, given its many subsidies, its been said that it would be around $20 or $25 a gallon, yet it sells for roughly $3.50 a gallon today.

A few cents toward the fuel for an electric vehicle pales in comparison. Wouldn't you agree?

I think the cost of the elecricity pales in comparison to the cost of the charging station and installation. Maybe the manufacturers and installers ought to work for free too.

greengate said:

A few cents toward the fuel for an electric vehicle pales in comparison. Wouldn't you agree?

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Oh, I completely agree. When I have EV visitors at my house, I always encourage them to plug in if they might need it. No, I don't ask them for anything in return.

But that is completely different than public charging, and there, the cost of electricity is not the issue.

The issue for the cost of electricity, that instead prevents people who _need_ to charge to get where they are going because people will instead plug in their car and charge and then leave their car plugged in for hours after charging is done.

Adding more charging stations, unfortunately, costs a LOT more than a couple cents - it costs thousands to install an EVSE. Can you imagine how much it would cost to outfit an entire parking lot with free charging stations so everyone can plug in?

If stations aren't getting used enough - then lower the price accordingly. With most stations being networked, it should not be rocket science to adjust pricing so that demand and supply are balanced better.

greengate said:

A few cents toward the fuel for an electric vehicle pales in comparison. Wouldn't you agree?

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I know of many free stations. The problem is "free" is often abused. People stay connected longer then they need to because there's no incentive to move. People plug in "just because" it's free... In the last few months we've had so many new drivers join our ranks whether it is PHEV or EV that I simply cannot count on those free stations to get me where I'm going. I was happy to pay $7.40 for a charge at Walgreens because I can't plug in at my Mother's apartment and like a good son I have to see her at Christmas time. I even splurged and stopped at a blink QC for th $5 charge on the way back since I was going to my girlfriend's house and didn't want to cut it *too* close (she likes heat and doesn't like LBW :lol: ). Over an average month I pay about half to the same price I pay at home for charging but I get A LOT less kWh. But those are very valuable kWh, since they let me get to where I'm going since the leaf is my only car.

I thought free for charging was pretty cool when I first got the leaf. I still think free has a business case for places that encourage you to shop/eat while your car charges. But the world runs on money and I'll gladly pay for my kWh to get where I'm going. Even just a nominal charge will cause people to move out of the space when they are done.

The subsidies for low cost charging belong at the apartment complexes and workplaces where the infrastructure is truly needed. Oh! and for more quick chargers. We can always use more quick chargers.

After typing out all that I see Drees' post covered pretty much the same thing. Oh well.

greengate said:

A few cents toward the fuel for an electric vehicle pales in comparison. Wouldn't you agree?

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The problem (at least in the SF Bay Area) is that there are now enough EV's and enough people choosing to occupy these free charge stations when they don't need a charge so that, when you actually need to charge, you can't find an available charge station... unless it's a paid charge station. Thus, I'm actually happy to see paid charge stations!

Of course it would be different if there were enough public charge stations to go around for everyone (regardless of need) but that seems rather unnecessary and uneconomic.

Anyway, it's not like free public charging is needed to make EV's successful – they're still cheaper to own and drive and more fun to drive and less impact on our environment and you can make your own fuel/electricity at home! Win, win, win! (We just need more range... which will come.)

Christopher said:

greengate said:

A few cents toward the fuel for an electric vehicle pales in comparison. Wouldn't you agree?

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The problem (at least in the SF Bay Area) is that there are now enough EV's and enough people choosing to occupy these free charge stations when they don't need a charge so that, when you actually need to charge, you can't find an available charge station... unless it's a paid charge station. Thus, I'm actually happy to see paid charge stations!

Of course it would be different if there were enough public charge stations to go around for everyone (regardless of need) but that seems rather unnecessary and uneconomic.

Anyway, it's not like free public charging is needed to make EV's successful – they're still cheaper to own and drive and more fun to drive and less impact on our environment and you can make your own fuel/electricity at home! Win, win, win! (We just need more range... which will come.)

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AH, the San Francisco bay area...to much of everything; sunshine, great food, weather, parks, ocean, too many people with smiles on their faces and now EV's!!

I get your point.

Unfortunately, we don't have that problem here, so I see how charging is a remedy for your situation.

I should only hope that the same "problem," would exist here.

I am hopeful though, as the prevailing winds go from west to east.!

The OP hit the nail on the head. Charging at $1/hr or more is extortion and if these companies continue this practice, I would like to see the public funding they grabbed to install these turn into a loan that they must now pay back. The reality is that many people won't use them at that price. It wouldn't surprise if they made more by lowering the cost. On the positive side, It is clear that the chargers owned by the govt remain free.

TBag said:

Charging at $1/hr or more is extortion and if these companies continue this practice, I would like to see the public funding they grabbed to install these turn into a loan that they must now pay back. The reality is that many people won't use them at that price. It wouldn't surprise if they made more by lowering the cost. On the positive side, It is clear that the chargers owned by the govt remain free.

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Everything you said is nonsense.

• In many places you pay more than $1/hr just to use a parking space, let alone suck up electricity.
• The reason for public funding, where provided, was to make the planet more habitable for our children.
• Never doubt that merchants are canny at business economics. If they could make more money at a lower price, they would lower the price.
• They aren't chargers, they are just EVSEs.
• Some few are owned by local governments, but most are privately owned.
• So do you want the governments to raise your taxes to pay for EVSEs they own?

Frankly, the whole tone of your post seems to be "GIMME, GIMME, GIMME." Like you're out to get everything possible for yourself, and never mind how it affects your fellow citizens.

Ray