[Franks2017]

Have you ever wondered what is the true and accurate cost to charge your Bolt at the different providers? Well wonder no more because here are my stats. First of all, let's establish some conditions and assumptions: 1) Average of 4 m/kWH, 2) Total "tank capacity" of 60 kWH, 3) Complete charge session from 0 to 100%.

Scenario: Given we live in a free market, capitalistic society...of at least some or most of us on this forum...you arrive at a crossroads where three major EV providers are located, one on each corner, and a petro/gas station. Which do you choose for the best value?

Providers include Chargepoint, EVgo, EA, Greenpoint (which was just purchased by Shell so that location also provides the petro/gas). Each provider is slightly different in their pricing approach. !) Chargepoint is a flat rate per kWH, 2) Greenlots, EA, EVgo charge by time, 3) EA adds a $1.00 fee.

Another assumption is that none of the DCFC will keep a steady charge rate from 0 to 100% but rather taper from 54 to 23 kWH during the process so as not to blow up your battery pack. L2 chargers are pretty much steady the whole way. My home L2 averages about 3 kWH.

Just for grins, I also included the "what if" I drove my hybrid 40 mpg vehicle to the same crossroads. Feel free to comment if you think my math is off but this is from my actual cost data. Enjoy!

 

[Sean Nelson]

EA and EVgo are the highest cost providers, yet (in my area at least) they have the best installations with multiple charging stations. I'll gladly pay the extra dollars for reliable charging opportunities, especially since I save so much money charging at home that it far more than makes up for the charging expenses of the occasional road trip.

 

[The Other Tom]

EVgo in my area charges at 35kW, not 50, so they are by far the highest. But, from my experience, they are a lot more reliable than EA, so I guess it doesn't matter how much you pay if they don't work. And...what Sean Nelson said.

 

[Fivedoor]

Have you ever wondered what is the true and accurate cost to charge your Bolt at the different providers? Well wonder no more because here are my stats. First of all, let's establish some conditions and assumptions: 1) Average of 4 m/kWH, 2) Total "tank capacity" of 60 kWH, 3) Complete charge session from 0 to 100%.

Scenario: Given we live in a free market, capitalistic society...of at least some or most of us on this forum...you arrive at a crossroads where three major EV providers are located, one on each corner, and a petro/gas station. Which do you choose for the best value?

Providers include Chargepoint, EVgo, EA, Greenpoint (which was just purchased by Shell so that location also provides the petro/gas). Each provider is slightly different in their pricing approach. !) Chargepoint is a flat rate per kWH, 2) Greenlots, EA, EVgo charge by time, 3) EA adds a $1.00 fee.

Another assumption is that none of the DCFC will keep a steady charge rate from 0 to 100% but rather taper from 54 to 23 kWH during the process so as not to blow up your battery pack. L2 chargers are pretty much steady the whole way. My home L2 averages about 3 kWH.

Just for grins, I also included the "what if" I drove my hybrid 40 mpg vehicle to the same crossroads. Feel free to comment if you think my math is off but this is from my actual cost data. Enjoy!

View attachment 27742

Your data is for your home location only. In many states it is illegal to sell electricity by the kWh, so charge-point charges by the min in those states. Also, EVgo and EA both have special "plus member" pricing... and worst of all, your time estimate for 0 to 60 kWh is off by 33 min on the EA station, it actually takes 138 min, and I don't know of any EVgo stations, Greenlots stations, or Chargepoint stations that will charge that fast... most of them are 100 amp (156 min to full) with some 125 amp (145 min to full).

Later,

Keith

 

[Franks2017]

Keith, you are absolutely right! My data is for California which only affects me directly. As I said in my original post, this is my actual data. I am not so concerned about the time aspect versus the total cost. So given your adjusted time for an EA charge, that would increase their overall charge cost to $35.50 assuming $0.25/min x 138 + $1.00 fee.

I have found some Chargepoint DCFC in my area that charge by the kWH at max 45 kWH. The EVGo and Greenlight were both coming in at 54 kWH max then stepping down to 38 and finally 23.

Personally I would never go below 10% and wait over two hours for a complete charge. These are extrapolated numbers based upon charge $ and time factors.

Your results may vary of course. Once again, in a free market, if I had to choose, volume versus time is a better value...especially for me.

Maybe one day, somebody will actually try "turtle-ing" into a DCFS and charge to 100% in order to provide us with real world stats.

 

[Franks2017]

EVgo in my area charges at 35kW, not 50, so they are by far the highest. But, from my experience, they are a lot more reliable than EA, so I guess it doesn't matter how much you pay if they don't work. And...what Sean Nelson said.

Sorry to hear that! Slower charge rate over time equals more money out of pocket! EVgo probably figured that one out a long time ago unfortunately. Most of the EVgos I've used start at 54 kWH when your SOC% is below 50% then step down to 38 kWH from 51 to 69% and finally 23 kWH at 70+%.

The moral of the story is that DCFCs are good in case of emergencies but don't depend on them to save you money!

In Keith's (aka FIvedoor) scenario of EA taking 138 minutes to charge on EA, it would be cheaper for me to drive my ICE hybrid on a long distance trip...actually better because traveling from California east, the gas prices drop like rain.

 

[Vertiformed]

Lots to take issue with here…

• People almost never start charging at completely empty
• People almost never stop DC-fast charging at completely full (you'd have to be made to endure the incredibly costly slowdown at the end and pay for it)
• A typical (“50kW”) ChargePoint, EVgo or Greenlots charger is 100A or 125A, whereas 150kW EA chargers max out at 300A.
• The usable capacity of a Bolt battery is typically not 60 kW
• The efficiency of Level-2 charging and DC-fast charging is different.
• Most Level-2 chargers aren't 3 kW.

All of this renders the analysis pretty much useless.

It would be more reasonable to consider charging from 10% to 70%, or perhaps 15% to 80%. To help you model it better, here's some expected charge times for ideal conditions.

10% to 70% (60% gained):

• 63 minutes are required on a 100A (“50kW”) charger to get from 10% to 70%
• 53 minutes are required on a 125A (“50kW”) charger to get from 10% to 70%
• 47 minutes are required on a 150A+ charger to get from 10% to 70%

15% to 80% (65% gained):

• 73 minutes are required on a 100A (“50kW”) charger to get from 15% to 80%
• 65 minutes are required on a 125A (“50kW”) charger to get from 15% to 80%
• 59 minutes are required on a 150A+ charger to get from 15% to 80%

10% to 60% (50% gained):

• 53 minutes are required on a 100A (“50kW”) charger to get from 10% to 60%
• 43 minutes are required on a 125A (“50kW”) charger to get from 10% to 60%
• 37 minutes are required on a 150A+ charger to get from 10% to 60%

 

[Vertiformed]

See also this thread and this post within it.

 

[Fivedoor]

Sorry to hear that! Slower charge rate over time equals more money out of pocket! EVgo probably figured that one out a long time ago unfortunately. Most of the EVgos I've used start at 54 kWH when your SOC% is below 50% then step down to 38 kWH from 51 to 69% and finally 23 kWH at 70+%.

The moral of the story is that DCFCs are good in case of emergencies but don't depend on them to save you money!

In Keith's (aka FIvedoor) scenario of EA taking 138 minutes to charge on EA, it would be cheaper for me to drive my ICE hybrid on a long distance trip...actually better because traveling from California east, the gas prices drop like rain.

I road trip my Bolt all the time, and it cost me less to charge at DCFC than it would to drive my 30 mpg Miata on the same trip using Midwest gasoline prices... I seldom charge past 66%, and I am a plus member on Electrify America... that means there is no $1.00 hook up fee, and price per min is slashed down to $.15 per min..so going from 10% to 60% my cost per kWh is typically $5.55 for 30 kWh, $0.185 per kWh. And if I am getting 3.5 miles per kWh that comes out to $.053 per mile. The Miata cost me double that per mile, usually between 10 and 11 cents a mile depending on current gas prices.... once again Midwest gas prices, not California gas prices.

Keith