EV Charging Memberships

[moosetags]

We will be taking delivery of our R1T at the Factory in Normal in a couple of weeks. We will be driving back to Florida from there. We are new to EV's. As we will need to charge out in the wild, we are now wondering what EV charging networks we need to be members of. We also need to know what apps are available to help us locate chargers on our route.

We would appreciate any guidance that the group can provide.

Brian

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[jjswan33]

Electrify America is the only membership I have. You should download Chargepoint as well. Map out your route using ABRP if there is any other chargers besides EA or CP you need download any apps for them. Plug Share is also an essential resource.

Also congrats on the impending delivery after a long wait

 

[tgo10000]

Unfortunately you have to sign up as go or as your plan dictates and do as many as you can along your route to make it easier

 

[camaroz1985]

Definitely will want Electrify America for the trip at least, then drop the membership when you get home if you don't use it much. At only 2 charges per month EA Pass+ wasn't paying for itself so I just dropped it (here in PA we have per minute charging, $4/month would need over 57 minutes of charging per month to pay for itself, I only use about 40 at most). Still can use it just at the higher rate. As mentioned Chargepoint is good for some DCFC and Level 2 charging, and Plugshare will be helpful for checking to see if the charging Rivian's nav recommends is operational or reliable. You can also look at A Better Route Planner as an alternative/backup to Rivian's nav.

 

[JeremyMKE]

Definitely will want Electrify America for the trip at least, then drop the membership when you get home if you don't use it much. At only 2 charges per month EA Pass+ wasn't paying for itself so I just dropped it (here in PA we have per minute charging, $4/month would need over 57 minutes of charging per month to pay for itself, I only use about 40 at most). Still can use it just at the higher rate. As mentioned Chargepoint is good for some DCFC and Level 2 charging, and Plugshare will be helpful for checking to see if the charging Rivian's nav recommends is operational or reliable. You can also look at A Better Route Planner as an alternative/backup to Rivian's nav.

With the new price increases at EA I made up the 4 bucks in a single large session on a road trip last week.

 

[BeanEW]

I had membership on both EVGo and Electrify America but cancelled EVGo because every EVGo that I went to (maybe just my luck or unluck) were only getting 60+/-Kw. Too slow for a road trip.

 

[camaroz1985]

With the new price increases at EA I made up the 4 bucks in a single large session on a road trip last week.

My calculations were for the old prices. That said with the new rates, it is still only $0.08 per minute difference here, so 50 minutes of charge to break even.

 

[JeremyMKE]

My calculations were for the old prices. That said with the new rates, it is still only $0.08 per minute difference here, so 50 minutes of charge to break even.

Sounds about right... Your comments remain legit unless using it significantly it might not be worth the 4 bucks.

 

[camaroz1985]

Sounds about right... Your comments remain legit unless using it significantly it might not be worth the 4 bucks.

For sure on the trip from Normal to Florida (aka Abnormal) it would pay for itself.

 

[mikehmb]

I would recommend signing up for EA, EVGo, Shell Recharge, Chargepoint, and EVConnect. That should get you 95% of the chargers in North America at this point.

If you’re breaking the drive up and planning to charge overnight at an L2, recommend you get the Tesla app and an adapter in case you end up at one of their waypoint chargers. Not necessary, but helpful in a pinch.

Finally, get Plugshare and/or ABRP. I use Plugshare when I’m mapping out a trip to the middle of nowhere (and out West, we have a lot of that). Otherwise, the truck tells me when and where to charge, and it’s been very accurate so far.

ALL OF THAT SAID - this is total overkill. But it does open up your options and really helps tamp down the range anxiety if you’re new to the “sport.”

 

[Taco Corp]

EA is pretty common and my most frequently used fast charge. PlugShare is really one of the most important apps to have IMO. ABRP and Rivian can both tell you where there are chargers but PlugShare will let you get intel on whether or not they are actually working. For example one of my EA stops driving from Seattle to California last weekend was limited to 50KW a station due to some maintenance issue which I only learned from PlugShare. Because of that I was able to stop earlier and charge enough to skip that location.

I tend to map things out for charge stops on ABRP then double check those in PlugShare to confirm they're functional. Finally put that charger as the destination into the onboard navigation so the battery will pre-condition for charging.

 

[DB-EV]

Electrify America is the only membership I have. You should download Chargepoint as well. Map out your route using ABRP if there is any other chargers besides EA or CP you need download any apps for them. Plug Share is also an essential resource.

Also congrats on the impending delivery after a long wait

List of apps and accounts:

EA (monthly fee worth it if you high speed charge 1 x per month or so - using it once 10-70 35 min saved me 12)
ABRP
Chargeway
Chargepoint
Shell Recharge
Tesla
Plugshare

Maybe overkill but I put them all in one sub app view thingy on my iPhone. Have charge point at home or else I probably would not have it.

 

[agame32]

I had membership on both EVGo and Electrify America but cancelled EVGo because every EVGo that I went to (maybe just my luck or unluck) were only getting 60+/-Kw. Too slow for a road trip.

Anyone know how widespread this slow EVgo thing is? I’m planning to use a well-rated EVgo charger prior to wilderness adventures in two weeks (Palm Desert, CA).

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Whatever you do, put a card key in your wallet right away after first testing it to make sure it works. Then make sure you have the FOB handy.

 

[Christopher]

Since you'll be driving in Florida, make sure to register on the FPL Evolution app. They have a lot of chargers on the highway.

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