NRG eVgo in New England

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One of three plans that appeared under Boston, Massachusetts is the FLEX plan, that I took:

Their FLEX plan is $4.95 for set up fee,
No Monthly Charge
$4.95 per session plus $0.20 per minute for DC Fast Charge
Level 2: $1.50 per hour.

That makes a DC fast charge $10.95 for 30 minutes - a tad high, but I only plan to use it in an emergency.
 
Thanks for that information. That is quite high, considering the monthly fee has to be paid no matter what. Chargepoint is no monthly fee and costs ~$6 for an hour of charging.
 
To follow up on my earlier post: I emailed NRG about how their pricing without any plan cost less than the pricing with a plan.... And someone updated all the pricing on Plugshare. The price without a plan went up so now the plans are comparatively slightly less.
 
If you can charge at home or work, the flex plan is the way to go. NRG QCs are going up fast, at good locations, and already outnumber ChargePoint QCs and even the dealer's often broken ones. And there's usually two CHAdeMOs now.
 
BostonLance said:
NeilBlanchard said:
...considering the monthly fee has to be paid no matter what.

The NRG eVgo FLEX plan has NO monthly fee - just as ChargePoint has NO monthly fee.

The Flex plan has no L3 quick charging. That is almost useless, because there are LOTS of L2 charging stations that are free or lower cost than what eVgo offers.

Chargepoint has no monthly fee for quick charging, and it costs less per charge, as well.
 
Neil - I don't have a dog in the race about whether Charge Point or NRG eVgo is better. I noted in my post that NRG eVgo is a tad expensive.

But my point stands: the NRG eVgo FLEX plan listed for Boston does have Level 3 in their FLEX plan (i.e. listed as D.C.Quick Charge in their plan and in my post above). Is there a concern that D.C. Quick Charge isn't the same as Level 3?
 
Their site may be wonky, because I selected Boston as well, and there is no mention of L3 aka quick charging aka DC-FC on the Flex plan. If it did, I would do it, because they are the only system that has any CCS chargers (for our e-Golf).
 
I've done a trip from Montpelier, VT to Boston area in my leaf. It is doable with an L2 stop in Concord for about 20 min. I wonder why there isn't a QC in Manchester or at the big rest stop? There are Tesla Superchargers there. Seems it would be easy for EvGo to put a couple of QC units there too. That would make the 89/93 corridor real. A unit in Concord would be better of course. I wonder how we as consumers can make this happen? May be the demand isn't there yet.

DNAinaGoodWay said:
Some new QC stations of note lately, 2 in RI, York ME, and one just north of the White Mountains. Central NH is still a QC desert though.
 
So, the Flex plan Quck Charging costs the set up fee plus $4.95 plus 20¢ / minute? So for a full hour to fully charge a nearly depleted 24kWh Leaf, or an e-Golf would be ~$12?

Yikes!
 
Actually, almost all of them shut off after 30 minutes, so that would be $10.95.
If you stayed for a full hour it would be another $10.95, as you'd have to start another session. So almost $22 for an hour.

In contrast, the ChargePoint QCs at UMass Amherst are $5/hr Max.
 
They almost might as well not exist, then. That is a crazy amount of money to charge a car to drive 75-100 miles.
 
For the near future, I think most of their revenue is coming from OEM promotions, like NCTC, and other, similar programs. People paying cash are just incidental. For my very occasional use, it's worth it as I want a fast charge at a good location, and they usually have two per site so there's backup if one is down. I can amortize the cost, and I'm happy to help show there's demand, so they build even more. But I'd sure like to see more lower cost ChargePoint units.
 
DNAinaGoodWay said:
For the near future, I think most of their revenue is coming from OEM promotions, like NCTC, and other, similar programs. People paying cash are just incidental. For my very occasional use, it's worth it as I want a fast charge at a good location, and they usually have two per site so there's backup if one is down. I can amortize the cost, and I'm happy to help show there's demand, so they build even more. But I'd sure like to see more lower cost ChargePoint units.

This is exactly my take on the situation too.

Programs like NCTC can be a great way to assure revenue for these networks. And then the OEMs don't have to build their own proprietary network like Tesla did. Unfortunately this method is taking longer to get off the ground. If it does, it will be truly game-changing due to the openness to all makes of cars.

I would use a QC on average 2-4 times per month. I would pay these prices for now to show demand. The hope is that as networks grow, so does competition. There is no way they can charge $22/hr if there is a ChargePoint nearby charging $5/hr. Once the market hits critical mass, free market competition can take over. Until then, there is no guarantee that we will ever get to critical mass.
 
I'm jealous of your network. This new unit is not far off the path I take to visit my brother in Portland, ME. Already a 200-mile EV could *almost* make the trip. It would be a little nerve wracking getting from Syracuse to New England, though, with only L2s to back me up. I guess I could just stay off the highway and slow down.
 
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