BEWARE - EVGo at Pilot Flying J - ripoff pricing

[Jiji]

Once I pick up my truck....I plan on "filtering" out all chargers except for Tesla and Rivian Adventure Network. Stupid ? Perhaps, but dang at that price I might as well be driving a Raptor.

It works well unless you live in area of no RAN chargers.

But the Rivian app and in-vehicle nav are not very reliable presenting charging stations, if I am on a trip I like to know my options before departure so I can make changes as I go. In the case of the OP, the Rivian app and in-vehicle nav don’t ever show the EvolveNY location (managed by EV Connect) that is just 4 miles up the road so you have very imperfect information to go on.

Also the Rivian app is flawed as it only allows selection of a single charging range, in-vehicle you can select, none, one or more or all charging speeds. Then to make matters worse, the Rivian app (and not in the vehicle) show the EVolveNY locations as 150kW max when in fact they are a mix of 150kW/350kW units.

Another Rivian app bug compounds this as the fast range is 150+kW to 350kW, which hides all of these very convenient state-funded charging stations until you select the mid-range. If the high range was 150kW and up this error would be avoided.

The moral of the story is that Rivian trip planning is poor and solely relying on it could allow you to miss out on charging locations. Caveat emptor

Sponsored

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Is it price gouging or just business as usual?

Almost all gas stations right on the interstates like most Pilot/Flying Js charge $0.10-0.50 more per gallon of gas for the convenience. Drive another half mile off the interstate and fuel way cheaper.

A bit of both. Similar business model as Chargepoint, where they provide hardware and service plans to the site owner/operator. The latter decides how much to charge to make a profit and payoff their investment/overhead. Tesla and Rivian own their own hardware, so fewer middlemen involved, less padding.

 

[sub]

We should all just exclusively change at EA stations in Nebraska.

$7.09 / 60.528 KWH = $0.12 per KWH

I have no idea how that could possibly be profitable for them, even if they are getting free electricity from the state. But if it is profitable, it really illustrates how ridiculous anything close to $1.00 is.

 

[TollKeeper]

None of this surprises me... There is a 7-Eleven near me that charges 42.88 for the first 15 minutes, and a $0.49 a kWh after that. And a $1 minute idle time.

It is a only a 200 kWh station.

 

[NC-Rivian]

Stopped at an EVgo charger at a Pilot location 146 near Albany NY. Cost was outrageously high…$.81.9 per kWh.

Emailed EVGo CS - Via email, EVgo Customer service said Pilot/Flying J sets pricing not EVgo, and the price is on the EVGo app.

Regardless it is price gouging and sleazy…price button is in very small text and hardly noticeable.

Yikes! However, my philosophy is that it is better to have an option (even a ridiculously high priced one) and not need it than to need it and not have it. One can always do a splash-and-dash to get down the road to a more attractive solution.

 

[Autolycus]

We should all just exclusively change at EA stations in Nebraska.

$7.09 / 60.528 KWH = $0.12 per KWH

I have no idea how that could possibly be profitable for them, even if they are getting free electricity from the state. But if it is profitable, it really illustrates how ridiculous anything close to $1.00 is.

Looks like maybe that's one of the few stations that still charge by the minute -- based on the EA Pass+ discount rate of $0.33/min? With really fast-charging cars, that's always been much cheaper than per kWh rates.

 

[nellbarr]

I guess I will defend free enterprise and ask you to vote with your feet. Sure the phone app print is tiny but the Plugshare reviews all complain about the cost and I will guess it was also available at the dispenser. But Pilot has the best location and you perhaps fell for the convenience to I90 and didn’t check Plugshare, you missed out on an EVolveNY site just up the road at likely half the cost.

But Pilot/FlyingJ is making an investment and many complain about charging locations without amenities, here you have possibly everything you need In a bright, well-lit location. Or maybe there are too many fingers in the pie, here you have GM, Pilot, and EVgo wanting a cut of the action.

Unfortunately charging is hard and until trip planning can optimize for travel time, distance, and charging cost, the burden is on us to figure out the optimal result. If you can grade locations for availability and charging speed perhaps a price score is in some future update.

s
pilot was purchased by Berkshire Hathaway and has been upgrading all the stations to better serve long haul truckers and EV. HOWEVER you should complain, and people should stay away if the price is too high (and equals gouging). If people re-route to the competition and the demand is less because they are twice as much....

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

s
pilot was purchased by Berkshire Hathaway and has been upgrading all the stations to better serve long haul truckers and EV. HOWEVER you should complain, and people should stay away if the price is too high (and equals gouging). If people re-route to the competition and the demand is less because they are twice as much....

This. Don't use it and tell them why (spread the word on all social platforms). They think they have a captive audience and are gauging what they can get away with. Let rule of supply and demand tell them how wrong they are.

 

[zefram47]

At least they're finally making it prominent in the app that pricing does not follow standard EVgo pricing and plans don't work with those stations. When I took a trip in early April I'd gotten one of the plans and was surprised that it didn't work with the Pilot/Flying J stations. Really not a good look for EVgo. I'll still use them when I see them for the shear convenience of having everything available in one stop. I'd emailed their CS back in April and got basically the same response though. The sites I stopped at were charging around $0.65/kWh at the time...easily the highest I've seen next to Telluride, CO EVConnect which was $0.75/kWh.

 

[jjswan33]

I have no idea how that could possibly be profitable for them

EA isn't making money at .56/kWh... you are basically stealing from them at the per/min prices.

 

[emoore]

It works well unless you live in area of no RAN chargers.

But the Rivian app and in-vehicle nav are not very reliable presenting charging stations, if I am on a trip I like to know my options before departure so I can make changes as I go. In the case of the OP, the Rivian app and in-vehicle nav don’t ever show the EvolveNY location (managed by EV Connect) that is just 4 miles up the road so you have very imperfect information to go on.

Also the Rivian app is flawed as it only allows selection of a single charging range, in-vehicle you can select, none, one or more or all charging speeds. Then to make matters worse, the Rivian app (and not in the vehicle) show the EVolveNY locations as 150kW max when in fact they are a mix of 150kW/350kW units.

Another Rivian app bug compounds this as the fast range is 150+kW to 350kW, which hides all of these very convenient state-funded charging stations until you select the mid-range. If the high range was 150kW and up this error would be avoided.

The moral of the story is that Rivian trip planning is poor and solely relying on it could allow you to miss out on charging locations. Caveat emptor

The filtering on the Rivian app is terrible too. I have 150kw+ selected but it won't show any EA stations unless I filter for 50-150kw. But then I lose the higher speed superchargers and EVGo. I guess there isn't a way to select both of them? Seems like a bad filter algorithm.

 

[bigsky]

Might as well price electricity like gas, down to the 0.9 cents.
That works out to $27.36 per energy equivalent to a gallon of gas.
Even Tesla rates @ $0.36 work out to $12 per gallon of gas energy equivalent.
Beyond absurd. Go elsewhere. There are plenty of lesser gouging networks in many places.

Wonder how ICE drivers might feel paying similar prices for gas.
EVs are the new cash cow for these companies, and state governments also.
I always will stick to the Tesla SCs when taking very long trips. At least I can charge through the Tesla app and not pay surcharges or monthly fees; same charge price paid for Teslas.
Fortunately, most of my trips have been where I can fully charge at home and keep paying these obscene prices to a minimum.
Or, better yet, I will drive my Tesla Model S Performance; extremely comfortable (and powerful) on long trips, which gets free electricity at Teslas SCs for life. Thank you, Musk!!

 

[Flexnet]

I charged at a couple of these on a trip from Texas to Arizona. I’ve been using BlueDot app and still got my charging at $0.25. I just checked EVgo app and that charger is $.60 through EVgo. They also now seem to have a disclaimer that member rates may not apply. Not sure how long BlueDot will be around if they are just eating the charge cost difference but works great since I’ve used it since November.

If anyone is interested, use my link for $25 credit once you’ve met the use requirements.

Use https://bluedot.app.link/6tVnEp0w4Ib

 

[TollKeeper]

I charged at a couple of these on a trip from Texas to Arizona. I’ve been using BlueDot app and still got my charging at $0.25. I just checked EVgo app and that charger is $.60 through EVgo. They also now seem to have a disclaimer that member rates may not apply. Not sure how long BlueDot will be around if they are just eating the charge cost difference but works great since I’ve used it since November.

If anyone is interested, use my link for $25 credit once you’ve met the use requirements.

Use https://bluedot.app.link/6tVnEp0w4Ib

Is BlueDot a credit card? Thats the vibe I am getting from the webpage.

 

[EVTrukHog]

I paid $1.75/kWh at a DC Blink charger this past weekend... for a whopping 80kW rate! It was literally the only DC option in the region and I had to have 25kWh to complete my trip. This guy knew he had the entire market and charged accordingly... need more competition!

Sponsored