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

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It looks like OP changed the title of the thread a few days ago, so I went back and changed the "Subject" lines of the past dozen or so posts (those after Aug 10th) so that the new thread title is reflected.

If am posting this informational note to that users of those modified posts can change them back to the old Subject (if they choose to) - you only have to go back a page or two to find the old subject. The reason I changed a few subject lines is because a "reply" will mirror the subject of the post it refers to, and the thread title has been changed.

But anyone is free to set the subject of their own post(s), so that's why this post.
 
I did some more long distance driving this summer, after last summer's splurge, and I still find the silly 30 minute limitation, and difficulty in reaching the full 80% of my battery capacity when I use EVgo's DC fast chargers. EVgo still seems to be locked into servicing low range LEAFS rather than high range Bolts.

Also, I am finding that handicap drivers think that the charging spots are good places to park. I was hauled out of a Hannaford supermarket because my car was blocking a "handicap" spot, when in fact I was in a legitimate EVgo charging spot. Of course, I just moved my car while the handicapped guy entered his van, but those green hatched lines look like hatched lines in a handicap spot to some people.
 
rgmichel said:
I did some more long distance driving this summer, after last summer's splurge, and I still find the silly 30 minute limitation, and difficulty in reaching the full 80% of my battery capacity when I use EVgo's DC fast chargers. EVgo still seems to be locked into servicing low range LEAFS rather than high range Bolts.

EVGo increased the session limit to 45 minutes a while ago. BUT you have to sign up for the new plan, or they keep you on the old one with the 30 minute session. That second detail was poorly advertised, IMO.

And of course EVGo is set up for Leafs more than Bolts - they have a partnership with Nissan (via their no-charge-to-charge program) but nothing with Chevy. Nissan has helped subsidize many of the EVGo chargers that we have today, and I for one am grateful for it. I don't fault them for gearing their network towards Leafs. Looking forward, though, they really need to up their game or Electrify America is going to quickly eat into their business.
 
GetOffYourGas said:
rgmichel said:
I did some more long distance driving this summer, after last summer's splurge, and I still find the silly 30 minute limitation, and difficulty in reaching the full 80% of my battery capacity when I use EVgo's DC fast chargers. EVgo still seems to be locked into servicing low range LEAFS rather than high range Bolts.

EVGo increased the session limit to 45 minutes a while ago. BUT you have to sign up for the new plan, or they keep you on the old one with the 30 minute session. That second detail was poorly advertised, IMO.

And of course EVGo is set up for Leafs more than Bolts - they have a partnership with Nissan (via their no-charge-to-charge program) but nothing with Chevy. Nissan has helped subsidize many of the EVGo chargers that we have today, and I for one am grateful for it. I don't fault them for gearing their network towards Leafs. Looking forward, though, they really need to up their game or Electrify America is going to quickly eat into their business.

And not just EA, Recargo is nearing its first multi-kiosk station with what they call "high power". And unlike EA Recargo is placing CHAdeMO and CCS ports on each kiosk--not just one like EA. Nissan and CHAdeMO are still a player.

BTW. We just stopped at an EVgo station in Visalia for a truly quick charge (30 mins). It worked flawlessly and gave us more than enough juice fro the drive home. The trip to Fresno was just out of the Bolt's range for the return to Bakersfield.

Paul
 
SparkE said:
I would also appreciate some additional detail. When ChargePoint 'forum user' says "all ChargePoint DCFC stations on I-5", does that mean all the stations in the CEC plan, from Yreka in the North (near the Oregon border) down to Santa Clarita in the south?

If so, there appear to be 16 new ChargePoint stations on I-5 in the CEC plan - all 16 will be active by October 2018?

Well, it's Sep 26th (almost "by Oct") and the ChargePoint app/map doesn't show any new DCFCs along I-5 in Calif ("new" meaning "since 2017 when the 50 kW unit was installed in Redding"). Also, many, many (?most?) of the public 24 kW DCFCs along northern I-5 and southern US-101 have been taken off-line.

Any comment(s) from ChargePoint ?? I have gone to their web site to look for official notices on the status of these stations...
 
BarfOMatic said:
Well, it's Sep 26th (almost "by Oct")

Obnoxiously, in marketing speak "by October" means "by October 31st". I agree, that's not what the word "by" means, but that is how it is used. Still, that only gives them another month to meet this goal.
 
Just the other day I used EVgo to charge under my new Chevy plan for Free Fast Charging at EVgo, and found the 30 minute limitation has been upgraded to 45 minutes. This is an improvement that is quite welcome. I didn't know that there was an improved 45 minute limitation and that you had to change your plan to obtain it. Why don't companies communicate with us properly? I hate that. Anyway, I am now at a 45 minutes, which is good.
'
 
So I responded to an email from EVgo and received a $175 credit for charging my Bolt. I tried it for the first time at a station at the mall near my house. I expected it to disconnect after 45 minutes, but it went for the full 60. I guess this freebie is considered a "Plan" in their parlance, so you get the full hour. Regardless, it worked well. It was interesting though, to watch my car throttle down the charge. I was sitting in the car listening to "Sandyland" on my XM radio and eating lunch, and watching the charge meter in the car. I had just below 1/2 charge. It started out at 48KW, then as soon as it hit the half way mark on the charge meter, it started dropping off fast. By the time it got to the 3/4 mark, it was down to 24KW.
 
mwk said:
... I expected it to disconnect after 45 minutes, but it went for the full 60...

Session length for California plan participants depends on time of day;

"Membership and Pay as You Go drivers can charge up to 45 minutes at DC fast chargers. As a bonus, those with an EVgo Membership plan can charge up to 60 minutes during “off-peak” hours (charges that initiate between 8:00 pm and 5:59 am local time). Level 2 charges have no time limit."

Not sure if this applies in all states.
 
keijidosha said:
mwk said:
... I expected it to disconnect after 45 minutes, but it went for the full 60...

Session length for California plan participants depends on time of day;

"Membership and Pay as You Go drivers can charge up to 45 minutes at DC fast chargers. As a bonus, those with an EVgo Membership plan can charge up to 60 minutes during “off-peak” hours (charges that initiate between 8:00 pm and 5:59 am local time). Level 2 charges have no time limit."

Not sure if this applies in all states.

I believe it does apply in all states. I know it applies in New York, as I have benefited from the 60-minute charge limit when I plugged in at 8:15, but usually get cut off after 45 minutes (same charger).
 
BarfOMatic said:
SparkE said:
I would also appreciate some additional detail. When ChargePoint 'forum user' says "all ChargePoint DCFC stations on I-5", does that mean all the stations in the CEC plan, from Yreka in the North (near the Oregon border) down to Santa Clarita in the south?

If so, there appear to be 16 new ChargePoint stations on I-5 in the CEC plan - all 16 will be active by October 2018?

Well, it's Sep 26th (almost "by Oct") and the ChargePoint app/map doesn't show any new DCFCs along I-5 in Calif ("new" meaning "since 2017 when the 50 kW unit was installed in Redding"). Also, many, many (?most?) of the public 24 kW DCFCs along northern I-5 and southern US-101 have been taken off-line.

Any comment(s) from ChargePoint ?? I have gone to their web site to look for official notices on the status of these stations...

Well, it appears that the new 50 kW ChargePoint in Yreka is now live - I am basing that on the fact that the ChargePoint app shows it as being available. There are no other new DCFC stations on I-5 that I can see in the CP app. That would be the most logical one to start with - 50 kW site on I-5 closest to the OR border.

More good news is that two ChargePoint 50 kW DCFCs have appeared this year on north US-101 (near-ish to Eureka, CA) as part of the CEC plan. That opens up the northern CA Pacific coast to long-range EVs (well, the Bolt). Unfortunately, they appear to be individual units whereas the CEC plan has two units at each site at those locations.

Edit: Hmmmm. PlugShare has a picture of the DCFC location in Loleta (on northern US-101, near Arcata) and it shows 2 units. The CP app only lists one. Bizarre.
 
Just returned from a 600-mile round trip from the SF Bay Area to Lake Tahoe in a non-Bolt (62-mile EPA range Mitsubishi i-MiEV with CHAdeMO). Just want to report that all but two of the 20 stations I used were EVgo dual-port (CCS and CHAdeMO) and they were all available and functioned perfectly! Like I've said before, I've never had an issue with EVgo hardware and now, with their revised rate structure, I consider them quite reasonable. Before leaving I called them up and changed over to their monthly membership plan and asked them a few questions and they were really nice and responsive over the phone. Hey, credit where credit is due!
 
Yeah, it appears that EVgo's new "subscription" plan is "no contract" (you can switch out whenever you want, you don't have to stay for a year) - but I could be wrong. If that is true, it's worthwhile switching to their subscription plan just before a road trip in an EV ; the $10 monthly fee covers the first $10 worth of charging each month, and the per-minute rate is 25% lower (not to mention, the 'connection session' can be 15 minutes longer!)

The route SF Bay Area <-> Reno/Tahoe is *saturated* with EVgo chargers, making the trip stress-free in even a 60-mile-range EV.
 
SparkE said:
Yeah, it appears that EVgo's new "subscription" plan is "no contract" (you can switch out whenever you want, you don't have to stay for a year) - but I could be wrong. If that is true, it's worthwhile switching to their subscription plan just before a road trip in an EV ; the $10 monthly fee covers the first $10 worth of charging each month, and the per-minute rate is 25% lower (not to mention, the 'connection session' can be 15 minutes longer!)

Yes, that is true. I signed up for a few months in the summer, and cancelled when the kids went back to school. I will sign up again for the Thanksgiving/Christmas season since we travel a lot then too.

Overall, it's a much more customer-friendly setup than before.
 
SparkE said:
BarfOMatic said:
SparkE said:
I would also appreciate some additional detail. When ChargePoint 'forum user' says "all ChargePoint DCFC stations on I-5", does that mean all the stations in the CEC plan, from Yreka in the North (near the Oregon border) down to Santa Clarita in the south?

If so, there appear to be 16 new ChargePoint stations on I-5 in the CEC plan - all 16 will be active by October 2018?

Well, it's Sep 26th (almost "by Oct") and the ChargePoint app/map doesn't show any new DCFCs along I-5 in Calif ("new" meaning "since 2017 when the 50 kW unit was installed in Redding"). Also, many, many (?most?) of the public 24 kW DCFCs along northern I-5 and southern US-101 have been taken off-line.

Any comment(s) from ChargePoint ?? I have gone to their web site to look for official notices on the status of these stations...

Well, it appears that the new 50 kW ChargePoint in Yreka is now live - I am basing that on the fact that the ChargePoint app shows it as being available. There are no other new DCFC stations on I-5 that I can see in the CP app. That would be the most logical one to start with - 50 kW site on I-5 closest to the OR border.

More good news is that two ChargePoint 50 kW DCFCs have appeared this year on north US-101 (near-ish to Eureka, CA) as part of the CEC plan. That opens up the northern CA Pacific coast to long-range EVs (well, the Bolt). Unfortunately, they appear to be individual units whereas the CEC plan has two units at each site at those locations.

Edit: Hmmmm. PlugShare has a picture of the DCFC location in Loleta (on northern US-101, near Arcata) and it shows 2 units. The CP app only lists one. Bizarre.

Well, it's Oct 29th (definitely "by Oct", and almost "by Nov") ...

On I-5 N of Sacramento (going N to South), new ChargePoint 50 kW DCFC have gone live at :
- Yreka (in Sep)
- Weed (early Oct)
- Mt Shasta (today! Oct 29)
- Dunsmuir ??? (not sure if on or not - appears to be installed)

The ones at Lakehead, Anderson, Red Bluff, and Dunnigan don't appear to be ready yet. The new sites off I-80 at Vacaville and Fairfield aren't up either.

On I-5 S of Sacramento ,
- TWO ChargePoint 50 kW DCFCs have gone live at Gustine (near Los Banos, about 60 mi south of Manteca, 110 S of Sac).

The CEC-funded ChargePoint sites on I-5 "South" at Coalinga, Buttonwillow, Wheeleer Ridge, Lebec, Castaic, Castaic Junction, and Humphreys still aren't live.

Slowly but surely ...
 
Excerpt from https://electricrevs.com/2018/10/31/evgo-350-kw-charging-site-sparks-to-life-on-halloween-eve/ . (which is about the Baker site upgrading to 350 kW) :

"EVgo had begun life in 2010 as a brand created by NRG Energy. NRG was a Texas electric utility that got caught up in California’s electricity trading market crisis of 2000-2001 that resulted in rotating brown-outs and allegations of corruption among power plant operators. In a 2012 legal settlement with the CPUC, NRG agreed to build and operate over 200 fast DC charging stations throughout California."
 
SparkE said:
Excerpt from https://electricrevs.com/2018/10/31/evgo-350-kw-charging-site-sparks-to-life-on-halloween-eve/ . (which is about the Baker site upgrading to 350 kW) :

"EVgo had begun life in 2010 as a brand created by NRG Energy. NRG was a Texas electric utility that got caught up in California’s electricity trading market crisis of 2000-2001 that resulted in rotating brown-outs and allegations of corruption among power plant operators. In a 2012 legal settlement with the CPUC, NRG agreed to build and operate over 200 fast DC charging stations throughout California."
Yes: Governor Brown took a ten year old lemon (stalled civil litigation) and turned it into lemonade for the growth of EV charging infrastructure in California.

http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/General.aspx?id=5936
 
So is the current more sane EVgo pricing also the result of CA pressure ?

BTWay, stopped for a charge at Chargepoint HQ and their new EVSE station showed 51kw rate into a BoltEV. I was told that the version will also be way more reliable than the current 50kw station. But they are a bit behind production.
 
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