EVgo DC chargers were horrible up until the beginning of 2018. They're still not perfect, but improvement is being made.

[gpsman]

To date, there is only one location where I need to use EvGo. And I’ve only had to use it 4 times in my first year of ownership. (My Bolt is 1 year old with 13,500 miles on it.)

I make a point to complain profusely about the 30 minute sessions every phone call.

I say “Your brand just doesn’t work for those of us with larger cars with larger battery packs.” And “I would use you guys more, only if you did not have this time limit.” And “Generally I avoid EvGo like the plague”...

I give them as much negative feedback as possible.

I have found (and posted photos) of some with 60 minute limits. But those were found by accident on a route I never travel.

Seems like the time limit is up to the property owner and there is no technical or system-wide software reason for the 30 minute limit.

I too have had ONE occurance out of four on the above route when my charge session ran to 50 minutes on a 30 minute EvGo. It was my first ever use of an EvGo. I think it was because unwittingly I asked for it. At the time, (March 2017) when I called in, they offered me TWO different price plans.

I could pay either:

A) 9.99 flat rate for up to 30 minutes (no refund for leaving early) or

B) 5.99 plus 0.35 per kWh

That first time, I went with plan B. It never shut off. I unplugged at 50 minutes because I was ready to leave. I was not offered plan B on future calls.

 

[BoltEV]

OK, it's a "manual" restart - you have to use a telephone and (gasp) TALK with someone !!! OMG! The following was inspired by a MichaelLAX post - one of the most useful posts he ever made on this forum. (but the below has been modified by me).

You're both (SparkE & MichaelLAX) out of date:

The EVgo App allows for a Restart by remote control without having to use a telephone and TALK with someone:

 

[SeanNelson]

The EVgo App allows for a Restart by remote control without having to use a telephone and TALK with someone:

Not useful for we Canadians, who cannot download and install the app even if we have an EVgo account.

 

[JeffN]

The EVgo App allows for a Restart by remote control without having to use a telephone and TALK with someone:

Not useful for we Canadians, who cannot download and install the app even if we have an EVgo account.

Try downloading when you are roaming on a US-based cell phone network or get a cheap VPN app that let you pretend to be accessing the Internet from another country such as the US while you are actually in Canada.

 

[SeanNelson]

Not useful for we Canadians, who cannot download and install the app even if we have an EVgo account.

Try downloading when you are roaming on a US-based cell phone network...

I tried that, no joy.

 

[marshallinwa]

Update to EVgo charging.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1115535_evgo-simplifies-cuts-electric-car-fast-charging-prices-nationwide

 

[mwk]

I wish I had known about the new rates. I decided to try the fast charger near my house, just to see if it worked (I've not had occasion to use fast charging with my car yet). I did get the 45 minute session, but it cost me $16.25. That's just crazy. I guess it would have been half that, if I had done it today. Oh well.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

And no more yearly contract commitment, so if you only travel in the summer, you can switch to membership for a month or two and back to pay as you go with no penalty.

 

[SparkE]

I was just coming to post this info - I'm late to the party !! I got an email :


The new Membership plan is only $9.99 / month:

- Monthly fee becomes a CREDIT and covers your first $9.99 of charging every month
- No session fees
- $0.15 / min DC fast rate - now through June 30th, 2018*
- 45-minute charging sessions initiated between 6:00am and 7:59pm
- 60-minute charging sessions initiated between 8:00pm and 5:59am

We also have a new Pay As You Go rate for less frequent charging:
-Only $0.20 / min DC fast rate - now through June 30th, 2018*
- No session fees or monthly fee
- 45-minute charging sessions

If you'd prefer to keep your current Flex plan, no action is needed. Further questions? Please check out our FAQ.

* The $0.15/min Membership rate and the $0.20/min Pay As You Go rate is a limited time promotion in California. As of July 1st, Membership rates in California will be between $0.18-0.21/min, and Pay As You Go rates will be between $0.25-$0.35/min, with actual rates depending on region where charger is located

 

[SparkE]

Or, Bolt drivers could complain about the policy, and in the meantime assume that EVGo chargers are practically for half hour sessions only, and advise others of that.

PS : maybe this worked! (above post was from a year ago)

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Plus, now no one will feel like they have to stay 30 minutes because they paid a $4.95 session fee. You can do 10 minutes if you want.

 

[gpsman]

Sounds like positive changes to me.
But talk about baby steps.

 

[SparkE]

Frankly, I think this will greatly help them - I would only have used an EVgo charger if I absolutely had to (I have gone down to under 15 miles range to make it to a non-EVgo DCFC in the past). Besides my hate towards the previous owner of EVgo (and how the EVgo network was financed in Calif), I considered their subscription plans to be ridiculously expensive and pretty much out of touch with the realities of most EV drivers.

I think that there are a LOT of cheap *******s like me, and the change in the subscription structure - NO connection fee and the fact that the monthly subscription fee is now basically a minimum monthly cost which is simply deducted from total monthly usage - will greatly increase the number of subscribers / members. $10/mo is *about* 50-70 minutes of charging, which is about 40-50 kWh. Anybody can use 50 mins of charging a month, when the cost is about $0.25/kWh. Three 15 min stops during the month at the supermarket when the battery is under 40%? Easy to do. (EVgo has about 100 DCFCs around the SF Bay Area - most of them at "shopping locations" such as malls, food marts, warehouse stores, Walmarts.)

IMO, with this change, EVgo just went from "what - pay $20 a month so that I can have the privilege of giving them more money if I need it?" to "That's not much more than what I pay at home anyways, and it's just one fill-up-worth, and it's a great safety net to have." I think a BUNCH of people are going to sign up for this. For many apartment dwellers (if no home charging avail) it's pretty much a no-brainer. Even for people who can charge at home - it's a $1-$3 (incremental, additional cost) monthly insurance policy. And with no connection fee - you can plug in for 10-15 minutes when stopping somewhere anyways, to jump up from 25% to 35-40% SoC.

I think that this will fuel a quick expansion of EVgo DCFCs. In places where they are already present, they can "fill in" additional DCFCs - quickly becoming the local "go to" fast charging solution. In places where they aren't already dominant, especially along major travel corridors, if they can quickly line up spots and install chargers a maximum of 50 miles or so apart - close by major freeways AND the larger population densities - they could easily become THE EV fast charging network. (50 kW stations in metro areas for short, quick adds of juice, 150 kW stations every 75-100 miles along interstates at "EV fueling stops" right next to the freeway for travelers).

EVgo has basically gotten rid of the TWO major negatives of their billing model : a monthly fee and/or a connection fee (they had a plan that had both). AND it looks like you will get better prices with a card (the 'free' non-subscription plan) than you would if you just use a credit card as a non-member - so why wouldn't people sign up?

 

[JoeS]

I'm also quite pleased with EVgo's changes. For me, their hardware has always worked, but I avoided EVgo whenever possible because of their cost structure.

Moderator - in view of EVgo's dramatic improvement in their billing and expanded charging time (which is especially applicable to the Bolt's large battery), perhaps consider changing the title of this thread? We could debate the title - for example, "EVgo - Gone From Bad to Good" :roll:

 

[gpsman]

I’d say they have gone from bad to better.
A Bolt EV still needs about 90 minutes to do a full charge, and an hour to do a decent charge.

I used them today on the new structure.
45 minutes gave me 20.4 kWh (one-third of a “tank”)
And cost me $9.20.

Yup. $9.20. Not a big deal, but 45 minutes x $0.20 per minute comes to $9 even.

Seems I was “connected to their network” for 45 minutes and 18 seconds. Even tho thier system started and stopped my charge system automatically, they learned from the cell phone companies how to charge for partial minutes. Also, since it was my first time and I didn’t pay that close attention, I don’t know if I was being charged during the 1 to 2 minutes of “handshake” time while thier network was communicating with my account, and the car was making a handshake with the charger.

Still better. But not as cheap or as good at ChargePoint. ChargePoint is most commonly $0.25 per kWh with no time limit, though I’ve seen higher, and they usually only charge by the kWh, although busy stations sometimes tack a per minute charge also, to encourage you to “move along” as soon as possible.

EVgo cost me $0.45 cents per kWh.

I'm also quite pleased with EVgo's changes. For me, their hardware has always worked, but I avoided EVgo whenever possible because of their cost structure.

Moderator - in view of EVgo's dramatic improvement in their billing and expanded charging time (which is especially applicable to the Bolt's large battery), perhaps consider changing the title of this thread? We could debate the title - for example, "EVgo - Gone From Bad to Good" :roll:

 

[SparkE]

Moderator - in view of EVgo's dramatic improvement in their billing and expanded charging time (which is especially applicable to the Bolt's large battery), perhaps consider changing the title of this thread?

The OP (the person who created the thread) can change the thread title if s/he so wishes. Any user can type whatever they wish into their posts as the "Subject:".

 

[Evoforce]

Well they seem to have finally started to listen. While they are still the most expensive, they are now in the realm of planet Earth. This change, has been fought for (by some of us) that have been in the EV community for a while. This will help EVgo secure more users and also hopefully allow them to lower prices further.Very glad that they have come down to Earth. This is not the "end all" but it is a good start.

 

[IMAdolt]

I’d say they have gone from bad to better.
A Bolt EV still needs about 90 minutes to do a full charge, and an hour to do a decent charge.

I used them today on the new structure.
45 minutes gave me 20.4 kWh (one-third of a “tank”)
And cost me $9.20.

Yup. $9.20. Not a big deal, but 45 minutes x $0.20 per minute comes to $9 even.

Seems I was “connected to their network” for 45 minutes and 18 seconds. Even tho thier system started and stopped my charge system automatically, they learned from the cell phone companies how to charge for partial minutes. Also, since it was my first time and I didn’t pay that close attention, I don’t know if I was being charged during the 1 to 2 minutes of “handshake” time while thier network was communicating with my account, and the car was making a handshake with the charger.

Still better. But not as cheap or as good at ChargePoint. ChargePoint is most commonly $0.25 per kWh with no time limit, though I’ve seen higher, and they usually only charge by the kWh, although busy stations sometimes tack a per minute charge also, to encourage you to “move along” as soon as possible.

EVgo cost me $0.45 cents per kWh.

Pretty pricey, especially for what is essentially "half speed" fast charging

 

[BoltEV]

Besides my hate towards the previous owner of EVgo (and how the EVgo network was financed in Calif), I considered their subscription plans to be ridiculously expensive and pretty much out of touch with the realities of most EV drivers.

Maybe now you'll let MichaelLAX return to this board after you entered into a feud with him over the facts about how that network was financed and then had him banished from this board.

 

[SparkEVPilot]

I’d say they have gone from bad to better.
A Bolt EV still needs about 90 minutes to do a full charge, and an hour to do a decent charge.

I used them today on the new structure.
45 minutes gave me 20.4 kWh (one-third of a “tank”)
And cost me $9.20.

Yup. $9.20. Not a big deal, but 45 minutes x $0.20 per minute comes to $9 even.

Seems I was “connected to their network” for 45 minutes and 18 seconds. Even tho thier system started and stopped my charge system automatically, they learned from the cell phone companies how to charge for partial minutes. Also, since it was my first time and I didn’t pay that close attention, I don’t know if I was being charged during the 1 to 2 minutes of “handshake” time while thier network was communicating with my account, and the car was making a handshake with the charger.

Still better. But not as cheap or as good at ChargePoint. ChargePoint is most commonly $0.25 per kWh with no time limit, though I’ve seen higher, and they usually only charge by the kWh, although busy stations sometimes tack a per minute charge also, to encourage you to “move along” as soon as possible.

EVgo cost me $0.45 cents per kWh.

Pretty pricey, especially for what is essentially "half speed" fast charging

Doesn't the Bolt charging rate start to taper off after 50%? Also, was the station a 50 kWh ABB or the 40 kWh Drive the Arc? My Spark EV starts tapering off at 80%. However, I usually charge to 90% or 95% and, from my current statement, I am averaging 1.4 min per kWh [50 kWh ABB] for the entire charging session. At my current special offer rate of $0.15 per minute, my cost is $0.21 per kWh. At my regular EVgo membership rate of $0.21 per minute, my cost will be $0.30 per kWh. Note: For comparison, my current PG&E cost per kWh is $0.21169 for tier 1, $0.27993 for tier 2 and $0.43343 for tier 3 [rate plan E-1].

You averaged 2.21 min per kWh which suggests to me you were into the "tapered" charging area. You might want to check you minute / kWh rate before and after 50% to see how they differ as you approach 80 to 90% full charge.