EVgo Pilot Flying J Charging Stations - US

[SergeyIndy]

I wonder if anyone used EVgo managed charging stations at Flying J truck stops branded as GM Power Ultium.



I am planning a trip and looking for backup charging stops to EA stations where I am going. So, I decided to test one out around the area. The car had it listed, I selected it as the charging destination, the battery started to preheat using a lot of power to do so dropping my usual around town efficiency from 35kW/100 miles to 42kW/100 miles. I arrived at the station, and after trying several stalls, I got an error as shown below, which is not helpful understanding what is wrong. I did not care to spend time figuring it out and went on my way to an EA station that worked as expected.

I called EVgo to see what's going on. They told me the system was down for an unplanned maintenance (7pm on a Saturday) for about an hour. My conclusion was that they are also not reliable, so if I would be on my trip a month from now in the middle of winter and needing to charge, I would have used way too much energy to preheat and then have to wait for who knows how long when their system gets up and running if there is not an alternative charging point close by. The app did not show that the station is down, it showed that 4/4 were available and green and the screens acted as everything is fine, until I plugged in, and provided payment.

This is not the station I visited, but it looked like this, to show that it is brand new and well designed. I wish it worked as good as it looked, but I will give it another chance.

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[Gino]

Good to see more EV charging alternatives popping up but many are very expensive even if they actually work.
Any idea what the cost per kWh for charging was at this station compared to EA? Where is it located? In California EA is 64 cents/kwh which is not a good deal compared to gas. I didn’t pay a premium for a luxury EV to pay more than I would pay for gas. If gas stays cheaper than EV charging then I will use my ICE Porsche, Hummer & Mercedes Sprinter instead.
I assume many are making as much profit as they can up front to recover their investment in facilities but at some point will have to become price/kwh competitive.
I have found other stations like EVgo & ChargePoint which not only charge 69 cents to 99 cents per kWh but they also charge at least a 99 cents charging session fee. These prices are absurd for anything but emergency charging since they start to make it less expensive to drive my Hummer (ICE).

These companies are simply making as much profit as they can get away with. At some point they will hopefully not see high enough utilization at their stations where they begin to offer lower charge rates for lower usage periods to maximize utilization & profit per station.
I have found several stations in remote areas between LA/OC & Las Vegas where peak charging rates are up to 99 cents per kWh but between midnight & 4am they are as low as 28 cents per kWh.
I suspect over time as charging infrastructure becomes more saturated that competition will begin driving charging rates down to the point they are at least equal or cheaper than the gas equivalent.

I know they are counting on people who can’t do the math to know they’re being taking advantage of, people who don’t care if they pay high charge rates or simply people that don’t know any better and assume all EV charging options are cheaper than buying gas or diesel.
I will always keep both an EV and ICE vehicle in my garage because it’s natural for energy companies to do the bait & switch with customers to get them to switch from ICE to EV with low initial charging rates but then jack them up once the customer base for EVs is large enough where a certain percentage have no choice but to pay the higher rates. This is especially problematic for people who cannot charge at home or work.
The same thing happened when LNG & Propane was the cheaper alternative to fuel oil for home heating. The ROI for a $5K furnace was less than 5 years at the initial cost/btu of LNG or propane. The only problem with that ROI was that the price more than doubled in that same 5 year period so the ROI ended up being 7-10 years instead of 5.
Eventually all energy alternatives must compete at the same cost/btu of energy.
EVs are still in the subsidized stage with artificially low cost/btu (or free) charging options.
If ICE vehicles are eliminated at some point this would be very bad for cost conscious EV owners charging outside of their home.

 

[SergeyIndy]

I think it is well understood if you are going to charge at a public station and pay for it, expect wide price swings and outrageous pricing.

The 3 charge points managed by EVgo that I plan to use as backups charge .59 to .69 cents per kWh plus .99 session fee plus taxes. EA in the local area showing pricing between .48 to .64. The EVgo points are in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. I will do a test charge to see how outrageous that will be but this is certainly a one off for out of town trip. However, your point is well taken that the advantage of going EV for long family trip is long gone and getting worse. Home charging for me is .14 cents per kWh and EV registration fees are going up exponentially every year.

 

[Gino]

I think it is well understood if you are going to charge at a public station and pay for it, expect wide price swings and outrageous pricing.

The 3 charge points managed by EVgo that I plan to use as backups charge .59 to .69 cents per kWh plus .99 session fee plus taxes. EA in the local area showing pricing between .48 to .64. The EVgo points are in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. I will do a test charge to see how outrageous that will be but this is certainly a one off for out of town trip. However, your point is well taken that the advantage of going EV for long family trip is long gone and getting worse. Home charging for me is .14 cents per kWh and EV registration fees are going up exponentially every year.

Yes, I pay 25 cents per kWh at home which is not great but still cheaper than gas. At this point companies building charging infrastructure need a way to justify the initial expense so I don’t blame them for trying to make as much as possible before they have to compete more vigorously in another 3-5 years when there are plenty of chargers everywhere.
No such a good deal for people driving EVs long distance on a regular basis where they have no choice but to pay high charging rates. They have to really love their EV like I do love my Taycan but my next vehicle will be an ICE Porsche, maybe a Macan or Boxster convertible like I used to have but got t-boned/totaled.
I was at a station recently in a remote area that was charging a 99 cents connection fee and $1.29 per kWh. Once I saw the price I drove away but the 6 chargers were full with people that didn’t realize what the cost was or didn’t care.

 

[SergeyIndy]

One thing that I did not mention @Gino is that these high public charger prices are not helping EV adoption for anyone who cannot have at home charging.

 

[Gino]

One thing that I did not mention @Gino is that these high public charger prices are not helping EV adoption for anyone who cannot have at home charging.

That is completely correct. The days of incentives appear to be coming to an end under Trump which does surprise me a bit considering it will hurt Tesla but I’ll bet Musk will make more from his fat government contracts at SpaceX that he won’t really care if he doesn’t make as much at Tesla.
Tesla got the ball rolling with free charging forever on 2018 & earlier vehicles. Everyone else started with 3 years free unlimited charging and now many of the EV manufacturers are giving a specific limit of kilowatt hours or charging time which is worse value at slow charge rates.
I do believe broad EV acceptance will be impeded as the effects of high charging rate costs start to be the same or higher than a fill up of an ICE vehicle. All my ICE vehicles get at least 450 miles to 500 miles per tank but that’s with 26 gallon & 31 gallon tanks respectively. The cost to charge my Taycan at EA in California to go 180 miles is roughly $50 so to go 450 miles in my Hummer costs $150 in gas @$3.75/gallon and to go 450 miles in my Taycan costs $125 at 64 cents per kWh.
My Mercedes Sprinter van costs $65 to go 180 miles on diesel at $4/gallon which is not much more than the cost to run my Taycan. If I couldn’t charge at home I would have never bought any EV where the free charging is only for a limited time.

 

[Hirschaj]

I charged at one of these for the first time on Friday.

Things I liked:

• Covered so there was shade (sunny day) but would also keep me dry if raining
• Trash cans right there to dispose of road trip waste
• Grassy area right next to the EVSEs to walk the dogs (could have just been this one though)
• Fastest charging speed I have ever gotten (IIRC) 264.8kW
• Wife used the restroom and said it was clean

Things I did not like:

• Having to pay for charging (but my free 3 years of EA is almost at the end) @ $0.59 per kWh
• Charging rate dropped to ~175kW when another car pulled in and used the other cable on the same EVSE

Overall, these new charging stations are a step in the right direction. The charging infrastructure in the USA needs way more locations but it's slowly improving. Photo's below to prove my work...

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