Idle fee hate

[mkhuffman]

Yes, public fast charging is expensive and compares unfavorably to petrol. Your calculations would be much more favorable and true to the real-world if you would factor in the cost of the 79,600 miles you drove on home charges.

Next time book a hotel with level 2 chargers on site. They're usually free and don't have idle fees.

Free charging is a scourge. It's one of the biggest reasons why public charging sucks.

I understand people want to use their free DCFC included with the purchase of their vehicle, but then they end up adding to the congestion when they charge there instead of at home because it's free.

And I can't count how many abuses I have seen of free hotel and office building charging. People park there all day even though their car is fully charged. Or all night at a hotel. I never count on the hotel charging if it is free. Fortunately, more and more hotels are installing paid charging. That's awesome.

I think free charging should be banned.

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[blturner]

Many are posting about the frustration of busy chargers. I absolutely agree. I am talking about the opposite. Why do we want to force people to move when they are not in anyone's way and definitely won't be. It's a different kind of rude. Someone needs to invent something better. If the app alerted me that someone was waiting, or about to get there, that needed that spot, I would have put my customer on hold while I moved the truck.
Hays KS has more DCFC than level 2. It's overbuilt to accommodate future peak holiday travel. I guess that they need to recoup some of that investment by tacking on fees.

 

[mkhuffman]

Many are posting about the frustration of busy chargers. I absolutely agree. I am talking about the opposite. Why do we want to force people to move when they are not in anyone's way and definitely won't be. It's a different kind of rude. Someone needs to invent something better. If the app alerted me that someone was waiting, or about to get there, that needed that spot, I would have put my customer on hold while I moved the truck.
Hays KS has more DCFC than level 2. It's overbuilt to accommodate future peak holiday travel. I guess that they need to recoup some of that investment by tacking on fees.

But how do you know the charging station didn't get busy when you were not there?

 

[SANZC02]

Agreed - The ability to change the charge limit remotely has been huge for me at chargers where I might experience idle fees. I typically set the charge limit a little higher than I need and then monitor it while it charges. If it's getting close to my limit and I know I need more time (dining, shopping, sleeping) I'll just bump it up remotely. It does take a long time, especially on a L2 charger, to get to 100%.

The one place that doesn't seem to work is with the Electrify America chargers...The last two that I visited had a hard stop on their end of 80% - ignoring what I set in my R1S. Yet another reason not to use EA...

Tesla will charge fees at busy stations if charging over 80%. I have not had it happen but do see the message. Not sure when it changed but have seen it for awhile now.

 

[Seano]

Many are posting about the frustration of busy chargers. I absolutely agree. I am talking about the opposite. Why do we want to force people to move when they are not in anyone's way and definitely won't be. It's a different kind of rude. Someone needs to invent something better. If the app alerted me that someone was waiting, or about to get there, that needed that spot, I would have put my customer on hold while I moved the truck.
Hays KS has more DCFC than level 2. It's overbuilt to accommodate future peak holiday travel. I guess that they need to recoup some of that investment by tacking on fees.

This is similar to meters causing turnover when busy - but not needing to feed the meter evenings or weekends.

There is no reason the app can’t “see” what is going on at the entire station and adjust as necessary - like the rules on those parking meters. Unfortunately, they do not and idle fees apply even if 5 other chargers are empty for 8 hours.

Unless I read this thread - I would have had no idea about idle fees… 10 min 60 min whatever. Not everyone becomes an expert - or wants to.

And yeah - as much as I love my Rivian(s), there are plenty of times that taking the ol’ ICE is just plain more convenient - no matter how many yeah buts we all come up with.

 

[Rade]

Rivian really does not make it convenient or efficient to use the RAN chargers. They are some of the most expensive DCFC locations to charge a vehicle in my region, and regardless of what vehicle you are charging, it's the same rate. What gets me is our local RAN station is litterally 1000 feet from a Tesla charger, and the Tesla is 1/3 less per kW than Rivian without a subscription! Why would I charge at the RAN?

My husband just leased a 2026 Tesla Model Y. He gets the Tesla discount rate at the Tesla DCFC locations (I also do, since i bought the subscription to use them).

Rivian really needs to step up their game and start taking care of their client base.

 

[mkhuffman]

Rivian really does not make it convenient or efficient to use the RAN chargers. They are some of the most expensive DCFC locations to charge a vehicle in my region, and regardless of what vehicle you are charging, it's the same rate. What gets me is our local RAN station is litterally 1000 feet from a Tesla charger, and the Tesla is 1/3 less per kW than Rivian without a subscription! Why would I charge at the RAN?

My husband just leased a 2026 Tesla Model Y. He gets the Tesla discount rate at the Tesla DCFC locations (I also do, since i bought the subscription to use them).

Rivian really needs to step up their game and start taking care of their client base.

I think the Rivian Adventure Network is worth the premium. The charging speed is consistently faster, and there is less concern about charger congestion. If I can do an entire trip on just the RAN, I will. I am glad Rivian is charging a premium for a premium experience. Because it is.

The Tesla network is good because it is the largest, and as you said it is sometimes cheaper, but it is my backup. It works well, but then I have to worry about taking up two charging spaces. I hate doing that. In the times I have used a Tesla SC, I have been able to find a charger that allows me to avoid taking two spaces. But that is just luck, because the stations I have used have never been empty.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Unless I read this thread - I would have had no idea about idle fees… 10 min 60 min whatever. Not everyone becomes an expert - or wants to.

Not everyone can READ, you mean. If you plug in without looking at the pricing information, that's entirely, 100% a you problem.

 

[COdogman]

Rivian really does not make it convenient or efficient to use the RAN chargers. They are some of the most expensive DCFC locations to charge a vehicle in my region, and regardless of what vehicle you are charging, it's the same rate. What gets me is our local RAN station is litterally 1000 feet from a Tesla charger, and the Tesla is 1/3 less per kW than Rivian without a subscription! Why would I charge at the RAN?

My husband just leased a 2026 Tesla Model Y. He gets the Tesla discount rate at the Tesla DCFC locations (I also do, since i bought the subscription to use them).

Rivian really needs to step up their game and start taking care of their client base.

They are “taking care“ of you, but not in the way you think. Remember Rivian is using offsets to provide 100% sustainable power for RAN. That may not make a difference to many, but it does to me. Between that, wanting to support Rivian, and not wanting to put a penny in Leon’s pocket unless I have to, I would choose RAN every time.

https://rivian.com/support/article/...s-charging-networks-with-100-renewable-energy

 

[Mathme]

I don't mind surge pricing/idle fees once past 85% SoC, and this gets people moving off the plug so others can charge. EA stations used to be awful with all of the Hyndai's and VWs charging to 100% however, since they have initiated an 85% SoC cap at many locations, the stations have been much more available.

In this case, the OP didn't get back to his car for well past the idle period and paid the price for it. I don't have much sympathy as the Rivian App will tell you when the charge is complete and you have 10 minutes to move it before being charged. This is a case of put on your big boy pants, learn your lesson, and move on.

 

[sfvR1S]

Another it's me not you Rivian post.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Many are posting about the frustration of busy chargers. I absolutely agree. I am talking about the opposite. Why do we want to force people to move when they are not in anyone's way and definitely won't be. It's a different kind of rude. Someone needs to invent something better. If the app alerted me that someone was waiting, or about to get there, that needed that spot, I would have put my customer on hold while I moved the truck.
Hays KS has more DCFC than level 2. It's overbuilt to accommodate future peak holiday travel. I guess that they need to recoup some of that investment by tacking on fees.

Because if we don't change people's behavior, this issue will continue. You wouldn't park your ICE car at a gas station for 2 hours beyond your fueling time, would you? You said that if the app had alerted you that someone was waiting, you would have moved it, but if that were true, you would have moved it when the app told you it was done charging.

The whole problem is that you were not monitoring your vehicle's charge status and moving it when charging was complete. There's only one way to fix that, and that's to penalize those who decide to do it. I'm willing to bet that next time you're out charging somewhere, you're going to be more diligent on making sure to free up the charger when finished. EA has charged the same sort of fees after 10 minutes of idleness for as long as I've owned an EV, which has been since '22.

Tesla does it differently, but they charge more when a station is busy, which is worse IMO because whether or not you're charging only what you need, the station is still charging you a premium rate. I think the idle fee is the fairest way to handle the situation, as moving your car when charging is completed is 100% under your control.

 

[NY_Rob]

Why do we want to force people to move when they are not in anyone's way and definitely won't be.

Because people are lazy and forgetful, they need motivation to act and idle fees accomplish that.

Threats, warnings, windshield notes don't work, $$$ idle fee charges do work.

 

[cwardak]

I got hit by a $30.50 idle fee in Hays Kansas at a RAN Charger when I was the only user at a 6 charger site. I even went out in the middle of the night to avoid it. I was expecting the idle fee to be $0.50 per minute starting at an hour but it charged retroactively the whole hour.
Tesla has congestion fees that only apply when most the chargers are full. I go out of my way to be polite and I am still learning charger etiquette but this seems abusive.
I got up and plugged in so that it would be done about breakfast time. I got an emergency call from work that took a while. My wife went out to move it as we approached the hour mark but she struggled with unplugging and we went 1 minute over the grace period.

$0.55 per kwh is like $5.50 per gallon for gas. Add in the idle fee and it is like paying over $10.00 per gallon.

I have almost 80,000 miles on my Rivian and this is only its second trip over 200 miles. I ordered it 1 week after it was announced and waited 3.5 years to get it. Whenever someone asks I tell them I love it.
Right now I am feeling like a sucker not a pioneer.

I know that I am making flame bait here. But I want to get it out here rather than at some charger in the future. This kind of stuff has to end or I will be eating humble pie in front of all my EV negative in-laws.

I’m not sure how you didn’t notice but I got a notification in my App when the vehicle was close to being charged that there would be a .50 idle fee for every minute there after. Also, Tesla charging stations has been doing it for a few years now. You’d be amazed at how many people would just let there vehicles sit at the charging stations while not charging. It’s a good thing!!!!

 

[lefkonj]

Many are posting about the frustration of busy chargers. I absolutely agree. I am talking about the opposite. Why do we want to force people to move when they are not in anyone's way and definitely won't be. It's a different kind of rude. Someone needs to invent something better. If the app alerted me that someone was waiting, or about to get there, that needed that spot, I would have put my customer on hold while I moved the truck.
Hays KS has more DCFC than level 2. It's overbuilt to accommodate future peak holiday travel. I guess that they need to recoup some of that investment by tacking on fees.

So the charging company should put in cameras with AI integration to see if the site is busy and then charge an idle fee? But yet people complain about the cost of charging.

Sorry but when I plug into a DCFC I monitor it and know that when the target is reached I need to move, period end of story. That is the price we pay for EVs. Not a big deal really.

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