NRG eVgo in New England

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DNAinaGoodWay

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 17, 2012
Messages
2,774
Location
Central Massachusetts
Lots of new QC and L2s on PlugShare lately, so far mostly in VT and around Boston.

I've asked by email and by phone about wether one card will serve all markets and am getting confused and conflicting responses. Will have to test it and see.

Was told by email that they will credit back the $4.95 set up fees for extra cards if you sign up for multiple Flex plans.
 
Another new one at Pheasant Lane Mall, Nashua, NH

ChargePoint and Greenlots rely on having a host request an install, but NRG is working Tesla style by owning and operating their own units.

Mitigating the billing issues by going with the Flex plan. At $1.50/hr, it's $0.25/kWh for L2, about the same as what National Grid was charging for R-1 home rate all winter. The QC is pricier, but it's good to finally have some new locations, and malls are ideal.
 
DNAinaGoodWay said:
Another new one at Pheasant Lane Mall, Nashua, NH

ChargePoint and Greenlots rely on having a host request an install, but NRG is working Tesla style by owning and operating their own units.

Mitigating the billing issues by going with the Flex plan. At $1.50/hr, it's $0.25/kWh for L2, about the same as what National Grid was charging for R-1 home rate all winter. The QC is pricier, but it's good to finally have some new locations, and malls are ideal.


I just added that to plug share. The contractor said ( I think) that there are another 16 or so he's scheduled to do. he seemed to think all the Simon properties are getting them.

To the south of the Nissan CHADEMO unit is a pad for future expansion (confirmed by contractor). They had 8 potential spots for EV charging with the 1 J1772 and 1 Chademo (though I'll bet they only put signs up for 4 now.
 
Stopped by the Auburn (MA) Mall on my way home to take pics if it was painted now and with signage. Not yet, but met Jonathan Lee, Market Lead for Boston. He couldn't tell me all of the upcoming locations, but he did mention Manchester and Hyannis. He said they worked on Simon Malls for two years, so good bet that all of them will be getting them. Simon probably owns most of them, don't they? He said that they all have an extra pad, and that will have a dual plug unit as they can't get the Nissan branded Sumitomos anymore.
 
Quick look at Simon's map and I'll bet on:
Fox Run - Portsmouth
Northshore - Peabody
Square One - Saugus
Greendale - Worcester

On the flip side, my wife, who often goes as far as Concord NH for work, will want to take the LEAF now. She gets paid mileage.
 
Before I forget, Jonathan Lee also mentioned that the Coply Place station comes with one hour free parking. For now, just show your NRG card, but they're working on an automated system that ties into the parking garage's system somehow. Also, mentioned that NRG is working on an app so we can track our account and charge status.
 
North Shore Mall in Peabody is up on PS now. Cruised around Greendale Mall but no sign of an install there yet.

Got the RFID card, but no hit on my CC yet. Maybe they only do those transactions once a month too? Hard to say at this point. Guess I'll have to actually go somewhere and see if it works.
 
Tested the Solomon Pond Mall QC and the card, which worked. QC took me from 20% to 90% before it timed out at 30 minutes, still putting out ~10 kWs at the end. Put some pics on PS.

Lot of chatter on PS and elsewhere about how pricey they are, but on the flex plan it doesn't seem so bad, for occasional use, and any station is better than no stations. If the cost leaves them more available, that'll be OK.

Jonathan Lee also mentioned that the QCs are PM'd every two weeks, filters and such. Leaps and bounds better than most Nissan Dealers, except Milford, MA, they're OK.
 
Jonathan Lee also mentioned that the NCTC program was about to start in Boston, now confirmed by Transport Evolved, so that probably plays into all these new QCs, NRG will collect some fees from NIssan.

Still nothing on my credit card.
 
NRG definetly timed their deployment to coincide with the introduction of NCTC here. If you sort PlugShare for NCTC only, you get all the new NRG stations and the L2s at Patriot Place, and that's it!

Now have both a Boston card and a VT card:

image.jpg

Tested the VT card at the Auburn Mall QC and it worked fine, so I guess any one card would work in New England.

The Solomon Pond QC times out at 30 min, but Auburn does not, better for winter charging.
 
I guess I will have to sign up for NRG eVgo, then. I saw the North Shore Mall unit was on that system on PS, so I skipped using it. There is a Nissan dealer not too far away.
 
Also a new one in Portland Maine.

It is more conveniently located than a pre-existing charger in South Portland, but South Portland is free.

I've never used EVGO but I don't understand why Plugshare says they cost $9.95 for 30 minutes of quick charge, but on their website if you buy the flex plan you would apparently get charged $10.95 for the same 30 minutes. Why buy a plan if it would cost you an extra $1 per charge...?
 
Good question. I've never used one without an nrg card, will it work without one, with just a credit card? Not that I'd care, it's only a buck.

New one in Providence RI just yesterday.
 
My issue with the eVgo system is the $14.95 monthly charge. This is very high, if you only use a quick charger a couple of times a year.
 
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