For AZ this is a terrible deal as the price will go up to $2.4 to $3.6 per hour. Making it an even easier decision to use the ICE. See details below " Introducing Kilowatt-Hour Pricing In order to offer more competitive rates, CarCharging will introduce kWh pricing on charging stations owned by Blink and operated on the Blink Network in states where kWh pricing is permitted. Currently, these states include California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and Washington, along with the District of Columbia. CarCharging is a proponent of kWh pricing because it is usage-based and EV drivers pay fees based on the actual amount of power consumed during the charging session rather than the amount of time that the car remains plugged into the station. Fees for Level 2 EV charging stations owned by Blink and operated on the Blink Network in kWh eligible states will range from $0.39 to $0.79 per kWh, depending on the state and individual’s membership status. Fees for DCFC chargers owned by Blink and operated on the Blink Network in kWh eligible statewill range from $0.49 to $0.69 per kWh, depending on the state and individual’s membership status. Reduced Time-Based Charging Increments To enhance our time-based charging policy, we will also reduce the time increment for stations owned by Blink and operated on the Blink Network located in states where kWh pricing is not permitted. Time-based charging fees will no longer be rounded to the nearest hour, but rather, up to the next 30-second interval. Fees for Level 2 charging stations owned by Blink and operated on the Blink Network in non-kWh eligible states will range from $0.04 to $0.06 per minute, depending on membership status. Fees for DCFC chargers owned by Blink and operated on the Blink Network in non-kWh eligible states will range from $6.99 - $9.99 per session, depending on membership status. "
I received the email from Blink this morning as well, and was excited when I first read they were introducing kWh pricing instead of time pricing, until I saw the fees. On the time charging, for the PiP you get 2 kWh for $1, or a full charge of 3 kWh for $2 (since it's per hour charging). That works out to $0.50/kWh if you stay one hour, but jumps to $0.66/kWh for more than one hour. Now, it might go down to $0.39/kWh, but could go up to $0.79/kWh or anywhere in between (unless the upper range is simply the "basic" membership, which I think they should get rid of anyways since it doesn't seem like they're charging for their upgraded membership anyways, unnecessary complications). I also didn't understand why L2 Charging will range from $0.39-$0.79/kWh whereas L3 Charging will range from $0.49-$0.69/kWh. For comparison (at least for the PiP, assuming one gallon of gas and 12 kWh of electricity both move you 50 miles), $3.50/gal gas = $0.292/kWh, and $4/gal gas = $0.33/kWh. So $0.39/kWh would be about $4.68/gal gas, and $0.79/kWh would be about $9.48/gal gas (all these numbers are based on the Prius mpg ratings, of course they would be different for different cars and different efficiencies). The only good thing about their changes is they change charging increments to 30 second intervals from 1 hour intervals, so you now pay for what you get versus rounding up a huge amount. However, it seems the pricing will go up significantly for those who own cars capable of charging at 6.6 kW and were using the Blink network on the $1/hour charging.
When I first got my PiP and investigated ChargePoint and Blink, I was immediately struck by Blink's ripoff rates. I will never use one of their chargers. Ever.
And just as an aside, note that Blink rates are tied to the user's account, whereas with Chargepoint, the rate is set by the charging station owner. With Chargepoint, you don't even really need an account with them; you can just call them and provide a credit card to activate a charging station. Different business model.
