Submitted by bostonglobe t3_123nkej in massachusetts
From Globe.com:
Electric vehicle adoption is booming, even as Massachusetts is far behind in its plans to reduce carbon emissions from cars and trucks. But charging outside of the home is the Achilles heel of the EV industry, with inconsistent and sometimes high pricing policies, frequently broken equipment, and a lack of chargers in key locations for everyone but Tesla drivers.
It’s enough to give EV drivers a constant headache — and to make people thinking about going electric wait a little longer. Compounding the frustration is that the price of electricity in Massachusetts has skyrocketed, and that increase is already hitting drivers looking to recharge.
To capture the current state of EV charging, the Globe did an informal survey of the pricing and performance of DC (Level 3) fast chargers around Greater Boston over the past three months. While most current EV owners charge at home overnight using slower Level 1 and 2 chargers, DC fast chargers are critical for longer trips and for people who can’t charge at home. Based on the experiences of a reporter charging four different vehicles across five charging networks, a few themes emerged.
Reliability is a major issue, with chargers going offline for weeks or months at a time. Some stations charge by the minute rather than by the amount of electricity consumed, leading to unpredictable pricing. Others have multiple subscription plans or charge different rates at different times of day. Overall, there have been some significant price increases over the past few months.
“It seems like there are so many factors at play,” said Ed Harrison, a Nissan Leaf owner in West Newton who prefers to charge at home as often as possible. “If I’m doing it elsewhere, it’s because I have to, so I’ll pretty much pay whatever they charge me.”
And whatever they charge is going up.
Electrify America, one of the largest operators of DC fast-charging stations in the state, just raised prices by 16 to 19 percent. Smaller rival EVgo made its rate plans more complicated and added a new fee. And Tesla, which raised prices at many of its chargers last year, is slowly opening its national network to other car brands but with higher prices for non-Tesla vehicles.
Charging companies said they needed to raise prices after utilities increased their rates. Electricity prices jumped to 39 cents per kilowatt-hour in February from 27 cents a year earlier, a 44 percent rise in the Boston metro area, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In EVGo charging sessions by a Globe reporter, prices averaged 61 cents per kilowatt-hour in March after the new rate plan took effect, compared to 42 cents in January. At Electrify America, effective rates per kilowatt-hour calculated by the Globe rose from 20 cents to 26 cents (though the company charges by the minute, adding an element of uncertainty).
At ChargePoint terminals owned by MassDOT, such as along I-95 and Route 24, prices have remained steady at 35 cents per kilowatt-hour. And prices have been steady at 70 cents — the highest in the survey — at the Nouria network. That new entrant is owned by convenience store chain Nouria Energy and has installed a few DC fast chargers so far in the southeastern region of the state. The calculations include fees and taxes tacked on by the operators.
[deleted] t1_jdvh6yc wrote
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