High public charger pricing - war on EVs?

[Maquis]

Yeah, y’all have much better pricing up north of the border it seems!

Canadian dollars…don’t forget the exchange rate.

Sponsored

 

[B177y]

Doesn’t Walmart use Electrify America chargers? They’re always super simple/intuitive to use

Wally World is mostly EA but they sometimes have other brands. Wally also announced earlier this year (2025) that they are installing their own brand chargers at many more Wally Worlds.

 

[Deleted member 21405]

Wally World is mostly EA but they sometimes have other brands. Wally also announced earlier this year (2025) that they are installing their own brand chargers at many more Wally Worlds.

They’ll probably do a better job of it on their own

 

[DerMot]

As a side note, this was my fastest charging session at 190.6 kW - Electrify Canada and it was free for some reason.

 

[RickLightning]

After 5,300 miles of solely charging at home, yesterday I stopped at the Walmart in Georgetown, KY to charge on a level 3 for the first time. I was shocked. First of all it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to get it going. Then while I was charging another guy showed up in a Kia EV, couldn't figure out how to start a session, and left. Then a third couple showed up in a Hyundai and tried for 5 minutes to get their car in a position where the cord would reach their charge port. Ridiculous.

Then, it charged me $40 bucks for 43% of a charge! Good grief...my previous F-250 was less expensive to fuel and had 90% more range.

I'm glad that I can do 99% of my charging at home because if I had to rely on public charging it would absolutely be a deal breaker for me.

The Georgetown EA is 64 cents. 43% of 131 is 56kWh. 56 x 64= $36... Had you joined EA's membership prior to charging for $7, you would have saved $9 on that one charge and saved $2 net.

This is where trip planning comes in. Tesla north and southwest of there would have been much, much cheaper.

 

[DavidS]

In the last five years charging rates have definitely increased significantly. However, I just checked my logs and on subscription, EA has been generally 36 cents per kWh. While on my latest summer trip from WI to NC and back through PA, my costs at Tesla superchargers varied from 28 to 40 cents per kWh with most being around 36. I’ve definitely seen some others charge significantly more. If you’re charge more than once a month at a Tesla or EA, the subscription pays for itself but also you can’t use plug and charge. Meanwhile at home I’m paying something like 13 cents per kWh.

 

[Scorpio3d]

Doesn’t Walmart use Electrify America chargers? They’re always super simple/intuitive to use

Many places they have installed their own!
https://www.bing.com/search?q=Walmart+EV+charging&form=APIPH1&PC=APPL

 

[Scorpio3d]

Canadian dollars…don’t forget the exchange rate.

That would be less US dollar is higher than Canadian dollar.

 

[Maquis]

That would be less US dollar is higher than Canadian dollar.

Yep - hydro power is relatively cheap.

 

[Jseis]

We just put in 2 dual port/omni port/long corded Charge Point L2s as workforce chargers at one of our facilities and set the price at $.28/kWh which is typical for our area. Thought about a couple of DC fast chargers but the initial capital cost is $$$ (~$250,000+) and particularly for the transformers to serve a couple DCFCs.

$.28 per kWh is about 50% (or less) of the charging cost typical of a Tesla or EA DCFC chargers. Chargers are available to the public, not just nearby workers.

Our local utility cost? $.064 per kWh.

 

[DNap4]

I compare to what I would save if I were using my old Camry at 33mpg that I traded in for the Lightning or the Tacoma I would’ve gotten at 19mpg.

@ 2.4 mi/kWh, the break-even point would be:
$0.196 / kWh - Camry
$0.341 / kWh - Tacoma

@ 2.0 mi/kWh, the break-even point would be:
$0.164 / kWh - Camry
$0.284 / kWh - Tacoma

With home charging of $0.11 / kWh off-peak rate, I definitely beat the break even point at both 2.0 and 2.4kWh by a large margin.

The problem is always fast charging on long road trips where rates are > $0.44 / kWh up to $0.60 / kWh. At those rates, I spend a whole lot more compared to driving a Tacoma or Camry at both 2.0 and 2.4 mi /kWh thresholds.

Thankfully I charge at home and I budget trips to reduce costs using PlugShare to find economically charging stations, but most are def over $0.40 / kWh

 

[Maxx]

Well if some of the charging was free the whole comparison is kinda meaningless. Minimally not apples to apples

It is OK to compare apples and oranges as long as we do it everywhere. For example, for the trip I am on right now, for which I took the ICE, my choices were not between an ICE F150 and Lightning. Real life choice was between a 4 cylinder outback and Lightning so his comparison chart would not apply to me. But for two nights of my two weeks vacation, I did have available level 2 charging (and could use them if I brought Lightning) so I think his inclusion of those is fair. However in similar situation, I would not ask people I am staying with on this trip to charge at their home. I would and have when it was my brother. Overall, Lightning still would be more expensive for me. More importantly, for the specific unplanned trip I took, more stressful for charging and parking.

However in my home turf, I regularly get free charging in public locations. I agree with OP that DCFC is expensive for Lightning for long road trips. For short ones, you get one pack filled with home juice. And for something like Ioniq 6, EV road trips always makes sense.

 

[FirstF150InCasco]

After 5,300 miles of solely charging at home, yesterday I stopped at the Walmart in Georgetown, KY to charge on a level 3 for the first time. I was shocked. First of all it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to get it going. Then while I was charging another guy showed up in a Kia EV, couldn't figure out how to start a session, and left. Then a third couple showed up in a Hyundai and tried for 5 minutes to get their car in a position where the cord would reach their charge port. Ridiculous.

Then, it charged me $40 bucks for 43% of a charge! Good grief...my previous F-250 was less expensive to fuel and had 90% more range.

I'm glad that I can do 99% of my charging at home because if I had to rely on public charging it would absolutely be a deal breaker for me.

The only public charging I use is Tesla. All the other ones suck.

 

[flypony53]

We just put in 2 dual port/omni port/long corded Charge Point L2s as workforce chargers at one of our facilities and set the price at $.28/kWh which is typical for our area. Thought about a couple of DC fast chargers but the initial capital cost is $$$ (~$250,000+) and particularly for the transformers to serve a couple DCFCs.

$.28 per kWh is about 50% (or less) of the charging cost typical of a Tesla or EA DCFC chargers. Chargers are available to the public, not just nearby workers.

Our local utility cost? $.064 per kWh.

This is the issue now in the US with removal of the subsidies. These companies now have to compete on true costs. Only Tesla has figured out how to build at scale with manageable costs. Tesla is around 40-50k per stall vs the $150k per for other manufacturers.
Tesla lost the initial subsidies early on, so they were forced to cut costs to survive. Now other manufacturers of cars and dcfc have the same forced function.
Definitely not a fan of subsidies in any industry. They only prop up manufacturers at taxpayer expense. Forcing a company to survive on a better, cost effective product is the only way long term.
Look at solar, it has had decades of subsidies and still is not cost effective or efficient in many regions.
Just my opinion, others feel free to disagree.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Well if some of the charging was free the whole comparison is kinda meaningless. Minimally not apples to apples

Nonsense.

The cost to take the trip is the cost to take the trip. If I could have found $0.50/gallon gas, you wouldn’t proclaim that it’s only valid to compare $3/gallon to DCFC.

Sponsored