The cost of ChargePoint charging - worth it?

congrats and welcome!
well, the first hundred bucks is free, so why wouldn't you?

after that, i agree. i don't have a charge point card. although, some locations like whole foods, are free.
i'm running 65% ev, even though home electricity costs more than gas. i do it for the environment, to promote ev, and because ev is so much fun!

 

Yes congratulations! There might be one other teenie advantage of using a free chargepoint card - or for that matter, driving in EV Mode as often as possible, even if you're not doing it for saving pennies. Consider the more miles you run on EV mode, the longer the ice will last. Very few people own cars until they're driven into the ground nowadays, but even subsequent owners are going to take notice if all other features match, once you decide it's time to put Pepe lePrime out to pasture .
.

 

No point in paying for charging, but you're given $100 free so you may as well use it.

Agree that electric rates in Massachusetts are extortion and the cost of plugging in is almost the same as buying gas.

 

I've found having the @ChargePoint Team and Blink cards in the wallet makes sense as a fallback. You don't have to use it but if you need/want one someday, they are handy. For example, our BMW i3-REx has a charge sustainment mode that by accident, I turned off on a trip home from the eclipse bringing the SOC to under 50%.

I stopped for supper as the sun was becoming a problem driving West, I used the Blink card at an L2 charger to bring it up to 70%:

Connection Start Time: 2017-08-21 17:59:23.0 (ET)
Connection Finish Time: 2017-08-21 19:08:22.0 (ET)
Total Connection Duration: 01:08:15
kWh : 0.0 (~6.4kWh rjw)
kWh or Time-based Fee: 2.74
Total Fee: 2.74​

Bob Wilson

 

I am traveling now. I did register with ChargePoint. One advantage I found was parking. We are on the cape and the parking lot downtown is $10. The ChargePoint station right outside of the lot is $1.50 per hour. Had a nice dinner and returned to a fully charged car for under $4.00 (not including the cost of the dinner unfortunately). I am still working on my $100.00 credit. So the parking and charge was free.

I plan to shop around once the $100.00 is used up or expires. There are a few stations that are free or include parking. So there are some deals out there if you shop around. In my case 95% of the time my car will be charged at home. It is nice to have the ChargePoint option when things like free parking are included. There are a number of stations that are free but you need a ChargePoint card/account to use them. So I will probably give them a credit card when the $100.00 credit is used up or expired. It is a nice option for me.

 

You can use a free Chargepoint station without a credit card on file.

 

Good to know. Thanks

 

Sorry we didn't see you on the Cape last weekend... after a month of ownership, we've yet to see another Prime in the wild.

We did about the same thing: drove into downtown Hyannis and parked at the FREE charging station in the town hall public parking area. Had a nice meal and did a little shopping and came back to a fully-charged car.

One disappointment was to find the only EVSE location in Dennis, at a resort hotel, was broken and showing a "service" indicator light. We informed the manager but it's not clear that he understood or was particularly concerned.

So far, all of the ChargePoint stations we've used have been free but have required the ChargePoint card to unlock. I also learned that the ChargePoint stations can be activated using any major credit car which contains an RFID chip -- something which is indicated by a "WiFi" kind of graphic symbol printed on the credit card. Most of my credit cards lack this symbol, but my bank ATM card has the RFID capability.

 

You are right about the cost of a charge. If you had an electric car you might not have much of a choice. The only time I got juice besides home was someplace I needed to be anyway for baseball tournament. (It was free BTW). Also, the charging places I have seen supply the cable, so you don't need to take your own. Perhaps some hotels with a handy 110VAC outlet might require yours. I have a 240VAC charger at home, and take my 110VAC cable with me on trips (along with a temporary spare). Some of the local casinos have charging stations you can use for free while you gamble or gnosh. I saw another free one at a Christian Library in Santee. 2 paid ones at a grocery store. Perhaps if there was one at the mall or a movie theater you could charge while you are there already. It would be REALLY nice if they installed them at rest stops if you had to catch a nap on a long trip... hopefully powered by solar panels.

 

All public (non-home) Chargepoint stations have to be unlocked somehow. (1) Chargepoint RFID card, (2) Chargepoint smartphone app, (3) Tap and Pay with smartphone app on NFC-capable smartphones (4) calling a service desk and giving them a credit card number and the identifier on the station you want to use, and (5) RFID-capable credit cards. The last is also called a contactless card. This is different from the contact cards (with the silver square) that are issued these days, that you have to push into the reader and leave it in there while the transaction is processed. Contactless cards are not very common at this time.

 

We've also recently introduced tap to charge for iPhone, Android, and Apple Watch!

To use this new feature, all you need to do is hold your phone (with the ChargePoint app installed) against any ChargePoint station to start charging. See how it works in the video below.

We have more information on tap the charge, right here!

 

This is a great feature -- thanks! I've really enjoyed using ChargePoint stations so far and this makes it even easier.

Cheers,
Bryan

 

The cost of ChargePoint charging - worth it?

That's an interesting question when dealing with a chain-store not interested in plug-in vehicle owner feedback.

1.5 years ago this location opened. I pointed out the obvious painting & signing mistake, emphasizing how much money was spent for a charger no one would actually ever be able to use.



Management there said they'd make corporate aware of the innocent error. Nothing happened. I tried again. Still nothing. Finally, I contacted corporate myself trying to get them to fix it as part of the construction for other new nearby locations. They said they'd look into it. Nothing happened still. Several other locations were built. None have that same mistake, only at that Hy-Vee in Lakeville, Minnesota.



Quite annoyed by the complete lack of response and such a waste of a perfectly good charger, I'm raising awareness here. When they put up a tower (that green sign has a large wind-turbine on top) to promote the chargers, you'd think they'd want you to actually use the chargers.



@Team ChargePoint how do we get this fixed ?

 

At least they are perfect for the handicapped EV owners out there. You could say they are way ahead of the curve.

I got to use my charge point card for the first time yesterday in Auburn Hills, Michigan, using free Toyota credits. However, if I was doing it on my own dime, it would be cheaper to charge at home. Cost $1 for an hour of charging. Home is 12 cents a kilowatt.

 

It would be interesting if they would have actually made the spot handicapped accessible. They didn't though. It was clearly an error with the contractor who did the signage. None of the other locations have that issue. Only this one... which would take a matter of minutes to fix... a quick paint-over of the spot and a few turns of a wrench to replace the handicapped sign with the EV sign used at other location.

The point is they paid all that money to offer a charger virtually no one could ever use. What a waste.

 

Kudos to HyVee though for putting EV stations in though at all their new or refurbished locations. Even though they screwed that one up, let's give credit where credit is due. Most of them are spot on. They've even done DC Quick Chargers down in Missouri. All of them free.

 

They have been given a great deal of praise for their support. But with continued new location builds, being unreceptive to feedback makes it very difficult to continue praising. How will growth ever by achieved without hearing from actual users?

Remember, we have ChargePoint wanting to provide more charging spots. Usage situations left unresolved hold back that progress.

 

Without seeing the entire parking area plan, it's hard to say... but I think John is right about this "hadicapped accessible" space being just plain wrong. You will note that row of handicapped accessible spaces along the front of the building. I think those conform to the ADA standard by being proximate to the entrances to the building. They probably also have a path of travel between the spaces and the building so that someone in a wheelchair does not have to pass behind cars which may be backing out of parking spaces.

Keep in mind that, in most states, the store is under no mandate to provide EV charging stations. But it is required to conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act. I'm sure that management does not want to be in violation of Federal law.

 

There are a lot of handicap spaces and they are better located. It's very clear this was a mistake when the spot was painted. None of the other locations have this issue. The painter messed up and management simply didn't want to deal with it.

The waste is disappointing. You really don't want any business devoted to supporting us losing out from an error like this. It sends an unfortunate message, much like the unaddressed problems with spots being ICE'd.

Getting assistance from the ChargePoint experts isn't a complicated request. They have the experience to resolve situations like this. We just need to ask for the help.