EV driving life is an app driving life, Part II

EV Driving

About two years ago, I did a piece that suggested that an EV driving life is an app driving life. At that time, this was true in nearly all cases.

I am about to take an extended trip that will require the use of on-the-road Level 3 charging stations and have been thinking about this. Because my previous electric vehicle (EV) came with two years of free charging with Electrify America, I used them exclusively. That experience was generally positive, so I’ll want to be sure my app is up to date.

At which point I thought, if I had a gas powered car I could pull up to any pump and simply pay with a credit or debit card or cash and be on my way. Why not a charging station?

So I searched for charging stations that simply take credit cards — cash would not be relevant as I have yet to see a station with a human operator. Lo and behold, the landscape has changed.

All these networks now accept credit or debit cards or smart phone taps:

• Electrify America
• EVgo
• ChargePoint
• EV Connect
• (Some) Tesla Superchargers

However, this will likely come at a premium. Pay-as-you-go rates are often higher than membership rates. The network apps often provide “discounts” to members or users with an account.

Which then leads to the thought, why should this be the case? Why should it cost more to be a non-member?

I don’t have a definitive answer here, but I have three memberships: Electrify America, EVgo, and AmpUp. The last one operates the Level 2 stations at the apartment complex.

The key is that all of these memberships hold a deposit. Again, why?

And again, I don’t have a definitive answer, but I believe it has to do with financing the build out of the charging networks themselves. The individual deposits are not large, but taken together are likely substantial.

I also came across the suggestion that there may be additional costs for the hardware and software required to support credit card readers, “which can be less reliable than app-based or RFID payments.”

I don’t buy it. I’ve encountered issues with both the Electrify America app as well as the AmpUp app. At those moments, both left me “uncharged”.

Clearly charging infrastructure is evolving and I look forward to a charging world that behaves like a gas-up world.

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