EA Pass+ and pricing change update

[pickupman2022]

Locally to me at least, they don't seem to be making progress.

The Memphis EA station (only "fast" DCFC in the city except for 3 Tesla supercharger sites) has been completely down for 2 months, since the beginning of Memorial Day weekend. The next closest EA sites on I40 east (Jackson, TN) and west (Forest City, AR) both appear to be chronically throttled, and not making anywhere near "rated" current.

The closest EA station to Memphis on the I22 corridor in Alabaster, AL is chronically throttled, and the 350kw cabinets there have been down I think since March at least which is the last time I drove through.

So...

My experience in the Southeast is the only a minority of EA sites are fully functional. The overwhelming majority of 350kw cabinets either don't work at all or are throttled, and when sites or cabinets are reported as broken they stay broken for months. The uptime for EA stations in my area has deteriorated significantly since My R1S was delivered in March, and the stations/cabinets that were broken then are still broken.

Franklin, TN and Clarksville, TN have been broken and/or throttled for months also. Franklin used to be awesome.

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[Joe schmoe]

The station isn't fun for Rivians. I typically back into charger 1 (near the transformer box) at an angle. You can pull into one of the 350kW spots. The other 350kW spot you have to park on the opposite row of parking spots to reach. The last one is unusable by a Rivian.

I've had 3 people almost ram my truck while charging as they back out from picking up groceries.

Thanks for the heads up

I’ll likely be coming through at odd hours, and will be sneaking out from the airshow once or twice to find a DCFC near Oshkosh

 

[bike123.com]

Hi Joshua, Thank you for being part of the Electrify America family and supporting the e-mobility movement. It's electric vehicle (EV) owners like you that make our electric journey possible. Electrify America is reaching out to make you aware of pricing changes to your account that will soon be taking place. Beginning August 17, 2023, we’ll shift from uniform energy or time based pricing nationwide to a station-specific pricing model and resume charging for idle fees at most nationwide charging stations. The Electrify America mobile app will have pricing information for a given charger, but you should check the pricing of a charging station at the charger when you start charging.

​ Pass+ customers will continue to save 25% on charging (excluding idle fees), across our stations nationwide. The monthly fee for Pass+ will increase to $7 per month.

The Electrify America Terms of Use are changing to reflect these changes. To view the Electrify America Terms of Use, click here. A number of important changes are as follows:

We are clarifying that the pricing for a charge will be the pricing stated on the charger when you start a session. Those prices may include idle fees or other kinds of charges, but you will always be informed at the charger before you charge. The app is informative about pricing, but because prices may change over time, you should always check the price at the charger. As a Pass+ subscriber, you will no longer receive a fixed price, but instead will get a 25% discount on the per-kWh or per-minute price for a given charger that you use. This change will be reflected in the subscription details you view in the app. The new $7 monthly fee will be reflected in the subscription details you view in the app. We are updating the arbitration provisions to clarify the applicable arbitration rules, including a bar on class arbitration. We are updating and expanding the liability limitations.

These changes, including the $7 per month Pass+ subscription charge, will take effect on August 17, 2023. Please review the changes and decide whether you want to continue your subscription. If you do, just keep using the app and our chargers as usual. You will see the new prices when you charge on August 17, 2023. Your plan will continue to automatically renew each month as per the subscription terms, unless and until you cancel. You may cancel your subscription at any time within the Electrify America app. As always, we are happy to assist if you have any questions. Thank you again for taking this journey with us.

I’m all for charging idle fees, otherwise price increases are not great. I also am not a big fan of not knowing the charge until at the station, we shall see how this is actually implemented.

Thanks for posting
Just opted out
Only used it for road trips and will renew just in time for next one

 

[pc500]

Get ready for EA to be more in line with EVGO pricing and TOU rates. Peak hours will be much more expensive, Tesla also has TOU pricing in many places.

Also, some states like CA where electricity is spendy won't be priced the same as your house!

 

[Riviot]

Well, all this EA smack-talk and our trip has been great so far! Even in the heat, I got 193kW from a 350kW in Ellensburg and 150kW from a 150kW listed as down at Ritzville.

Thanks for the juju, y'all!

 

[norivian]

At$4/mo I could leave the pass going all the time but $7/mo is enough for me to cancel it if we aren't using it. Especially now that there are pretty good RAN choices in my state.

At $7/mo subscription and variable (25%) charging rate, EA is probably getting close to (hopefully not more than) what Tesla charges. What EA doesn’t offer is consistency and reliability. So this price increases/change may no longer make EA a viable choice for me and will probably make me cancel. (PS: I drive a Tesla now).

 

[norivian]

I'll pay the price increase if they fix their sh$t. we need reliability with EA.

On top of charger reliability, number of EVs waiting to charge is becoming an issue.

 

[norivian]

That's alotta ... Hopefully you're using a cash back card that gives extra back for EV charging. Costco Visa gives 4% on EV charging (same as gasoline).

… but how would they know the charge is for EV charging?

 

[LivingInKaos]

The "cost at the pump" metric is just a sly way of applying gas station tactics. This is actually worse, because they know that in many cases, when you get to the charger, you don't have enough to make it to an alternative if you don't like the price because they aren't as numerous as gas stations.... There is absolutely ZERO reason that they can't put the cost in the app. Energy costs are not THAT fluid that any delay from a new energy price from their provider to the time to enter it into the system is going to cause any of their accountants to lose any sleep. This part of their change is the upsetting part for me. Just an obvious attempt to gain the system.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

… but how would they know the charge is for EV charging?

I would presume based on the vendor ... Electrify America, EVGo, ChargePoint, etc ...

 

[norivian]

Get ready for EA to be more in line with EVGO pricing and TOU rates. Peak hours will be much more expensive, Tesla also has TOU pricing in many places.

Tesla can be expensive but at least you know you can successfully charge at any location. EA is getting as expensive and no assurance that you can charge there.

 

[jjswan33]

On top of charger reliability, number of EVs waiting to charge is becoming an issue.

Do you think if everyone starts using the Tesla network it’s going to be better?

We need all of these resources plus a lot more.

 

[SANZC02]

The "cost at the pump" metric is just a sly way of applying gas station tactics. This is actually worse, because they know that in many cases, when you get to the charger, you don't have enough to make it to an alternative if you don't like the price because they aren't as numerous as gas stations.... There is absolutely ZERO reason that they can't put the cost in the app. Energy costs are not THAT fluid that any delay from a new energy price from their provider to the time to enter it into the system is going to cause any of their accountants to lose any sleep. This part of their change is the upsetting part for me. Just an obvious attempt to gain the system.

I think the prices are going to be in the app they are just saying to verify the price at the pump in case app and pump are out of sync on pricing.

 

[norivian]

Do you think if everyone starts using the Tesla network it’s going to be better?

We need all of these resources plus a lot more.

IMHO, we need all and more networks… but tough to patronize one that isn’t reliable.

Whst is Tesla SC’s secret sauce that EA can’t do?!!!

 

[jjswan33]

IMHO, we need all and more networks… but tough to patronize one that isn’t reliable.

Whst is Tesla SC’s secret sauce that EA can’t do?!!!

I’ll admit that the SC seem more reliable but I don’t have first hand experience, second I haven’t really had extensive issues on EA with lots of experience so IMHO a lot of those concerns are over blown, in fact I think a lot of those concerns are what you mentioned above which is demand, that can’t be put on EA alone.

Regardless I hope those SC stay as reliable and foolproof after they no longer live in their closed tesla only eco system.

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