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Source: https://insideevs.com/news/423141/electrify-america-exclusive-interview-pay-by-kwh/

Exclusive: Electrify America Will Transition To Pay By kWh Pricing, And More

Much is learned in an InsideEVs exclusive interview with CEO Giovanni Palazzo.

Tom Moloughney

One of the biggest complaints that many users of the Electrify Americanetwork have will soon be history. In an exclusive interview with Electrify America's President and CEO, Giovanni Palazzo, we learn that the dc fast charging giant will transition to a pay-by-kWh pricing structure.

The departure from their current pay-by-time model was undoubtedly inspired by California's decision to require EV charging stations to charge according to the amount of energy given to the vehicle, and not by how long the car was connected to the charging station.

Electrify America news

The California legislation applies to all newly-installed Level 2 chargers beginning in 2021, and to new DC fast chargers beginning in 2023. Chargers installed before 2021 can continue to use time-based billing until 2031 (for Level 2 chargers) or 2033 (for DC fast chargers).
"We totally believe this is the right decision and we don't want to wait until 2023. We're going to implement this well ahead of 2023" - Electrify America CEO Giovanni Palazzo on transitioning from a time-based charging methiod to kWh based
However, Electrify America isn't going to wait until 2023. They have decided that the pay-by-kWh is a more fair method, and promise to make the switch well before 2023. Palazzo wouldn't offer an exact date but stressed that he's completely on board with the transition, and would have likely come to this conclusion even if California hadn't mandated it.
We embrace this. When we started out as a new organization we believed that a tier-based policy would help. At the time, we were the only ones bringing out 150 kW and 350 kW stations... kWh based pricing is our future. We want to make it right and we want to make it simple - Giovanni Palazzo
Palazzo explained that some stated won't allow kWh-based pricing because they don't allow entities to resell electricity. In those states, Electrify America will continue to sell "time" on their charging station. This is most likely why Electrify America started out with the pay-by-time pricing structure because they wanted to have one pricing scheme everywhere.

Palazzo said that the company will offer the pay-by-kWh pricing wherever they are allowed to, and only stick with the time-based pricing in states where charging by the kWh isn't allowed.

While we think this is great news, we'll have to wait to see what the cost structure is. If it's $.50 per kWh, then this isn't exactly good news, right? In my most recent charging session on the network, I paid $12.42 to charge a 2020 Chevy Bolt to 80% and took in 51 kWh of energy. That comes out to about 24 cents per kWh. That's not bad considering the residential cost for electricity is about 17 cents per kWh where the charging station is located.

Porsche Taycan Electrify America to switch to a pay by kWh charging model 2020-chevy-bolt-dc-fast-charging-


2020 Chevy Bolt DC fast charging on an Electrify America station

So transitioning to a kWh-based price structure doesn't mean it will necessarily cost less, it just means that everyone will pay the same amount for the electricity, as that's not the case with time-based pricing.

The interview with Palazzo lasted nearly an hour and more was learned. We'll continue with part two of the interview tomorrow, and talk about network reliability, Hyundai Kona Electric and Kia Niro EV pricing plans, my recent problems charging a Nissan LEAF to 100% on their network, the effect the COVID-19 shutdown has on the company and more.

However, this pricing structure transition was too important not to report on immediately, as we know many of our readers have been unhappy with the way the time-based charging scheme was implemented, and we knew this would be very welcome news.
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dryii

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I heard somewhere they couldn't sell by the kWh because then they'd be considered a "utility". Not sure how accurate my information/memory is. Nice to see this being addressed, and I really do hope it changes quickly. Makes the charging experience much simpler.
 

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I heard somewhere they couldn't sell by the kWh because then they'd be considered a "utility". Not sure how accurate my information/memory is. Nice to see this being addressed, and I really do hope it changes quickly. Makes the charging experience much simpler.
They say in the article that certainly states or municipalities do not allow charging by the kWh as only utilities can "sell power" so they will focus on changes where it's allowed.

As a Bolt EV owner, I am actually happy with current model, works out to be only about $0.29/kWh as long as you don't try to top off. See table of last 4 fast charges on a 400mi road trip.
Porsche Taycan Electrify America to switch to a pay by kWh charging model Screenshot_20200514-121020


For the Taycan they have 3 years of free for 30min the $0.25/min in the USA.
 

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When I first started charging at Electrify America in January, Porsche had their 30 min. free deal offered, but the Porsche App to facilitate connecting to EA wasn't yet working. I simply paid cash and kept track of each charge session. I put them all on a spreadsheet and have turned it in to my sales rep. He says he will get me a reimbursement from Porsche, which I believe will turn out to be true (though I'm not holding my breath). The times I paid for I figure equaled about $8.00 per session. Still it is remarkably cheap per mile to drive this awesome car! And even better with Porsche picking up the first 30 minutes. I see it as $0.16/mile!!
 

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When I first started charging at Electrify America in January, Porsche had their 30 min. free deal offered, but the Porsche App to facilitate connecting to EA wasn't yet working. I simply paid cash and kept track of each charge session. I put them all on a spreadsheet and have turned it in to my sales rep. He says he will get me a reimbursement from Porsche, which I believe will turn out to be true (though I'm not holding my breath). The times I paid for I figure equaled about $8.00 per session. Still it is remarkably cheap per mile to drive this awesome car! And even better with Porsche picking up the first 30 minutes. I see it as $0.16/mile!!
Cool....thanks for sharing.....and back on the Porsche App for EA......what was involved in getting wkg?
 


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Cool....thanks for sharing.....and back on the Porsche App for EA......what was involved in getting wkg?
Install Charging NA
Login with your Porsche ID
If not linked to car call dealership or Porsche North America.
 

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So.....no card.....must use smart phone?
I have seen these card readers on the units to be somewhat flaky so using the app is generally preferred anyway in my experience using Chargers from most any vendor. I have used Electrify America & EVgo all through the app and virtually never have a problem then.

And to be clear, not with NFC but simply activate with app button.
For ChargePoint I have needed the RFID card to do certain functions like stop the charge on a level 2 station cleanly.

I consider the smartphone solution to be faster for me as I can simply plug in the car back in and start the charge from the comfort of the vehicle. This is especially handy if the weather is not conducive for standing outside.
 


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Cool....thanks for sharing.....and back on the Porsche App for EA......what was involved in getting wkg?
Gregg, the app Porsche told me to get is called Charging America (downloaded from the App Store). It will activate the Electrify America chargers and Porsche will cover the first 30 minutes of the session. The remainder of the cost (if you roll on past 30 min) will be billed to your My Porsche account. If I activate the charger using the EA app, then Porsche has no awareness of the session, and I pay the full cost of the charge through my EA account.
As an early adopter I had several calls with Porsche and with customer service at EA in January before they sorted it out and got me set up with the Charging America app solution. Since then it has worked perfectly (when I remember to not use the EA app), and I have been billed as little as $0.15 for going over the 30 minutes by a little. I've tried to stop it at exactly 30 minutes a couple of times just to see if I can (in my Covid 19 boredom).
I hope that explains it.

Cheers
 

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Gregg, the app Porsche told me to get is called Charging America (downloaded from the App Store). It will activate the Electrify America chargers and Porsche will cover the first 30 minutes of the session. The remainder of the cost (if you roll on past 30 min) will be billed to your My Porsche account. If I activate the charger using the EA app, then Porsche has no awareness of the session, and I pay the full cost of the charge through my EA account.
As an early adopter I had several calls with Porsche and with customer service at EA in January before they sorted it out and got me set up with the Charging America app solution. Since then it has worked perfectly (when I remember to not use the EA app), and I have been billed as little as $0.15 for going over the 30 minutes by a little. I've tried to stop it at exactly 30 minutes a couple of times just to see if I can (in my Covid 19 boredom).
I hope that explains it.

Cheers
@GreggT I believe the app is called "Charging NA" and you should see it's from Porsche.
I thought the cost is $0.25
/Min if you go over 30min. Still a bargain.

Also beware of the Idle charge, if you let the car sit without charging for more than 10 minutes you will be charged $0.40 per minute. I think this is reasonable because we really need to keep these spots free for other EVs.
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