Various public charging networks

[hybridbear]

I thought that it would be useful to have a topic of all the public charging networks and their regions & pricing info.

I have heard of ChargePoint & Blink, but I imagine that there are others.

I'll start with ChargePoint.

ChargePoint
Regions: nationwide, few locations in eastern & western Canada
Cost: price set by station owner, some free
Cards: ChargePoint will provide 2 cards at no cost when you create an account, if you use pay stations your credit card is charged in $25 increments

I know a little about Blink, such as that they're mostly southern & western US. I'm hoping that those of you who are more experienced with Blink & other networks can post a similar description so that we can have all this info in one spot easy to access by anyone.

 

[jmueller065]

Sun Country Highway has pretty much all of Canada covered:
https://suncountryhighway.ca/

(I know you can, if you are crazy, make it from Windsor, Ont all the way to Montreal along 401 utilizing their chargers...even in an FFE:
http://jamiegeek.myevblog.com/2013/10/11/lets-take-a-road-trip/ )

Wow looking at their map they even show a few chargers in the US--don't know if those are courtesy of them or not (perhaps using their hardware).

 

[GladeStorm]

Blink: (now owned by CarCharging) is big (and pretty much the only choice) in Tennessee.
Cost: Back in Sept they changed their pricing structure from "per hour" to something more competitive: kWh in states which allow it and 4 cents/minute elsewhere. A few installations (I know of one in the Oak Ridge city park) are still free. State-by-state details here: http://www.blinknetwork.com/membership-faqs.html
Cards: Membership is free. Your credit card is billed for what you use at the end of the month.

 

[unplugged]

Here is my personal membership in charge networks:

Blink Network (noted above)

Chargepoint (noted above)

EV Connect (Charging stations located mostly in California)

NRG eVgo (Operates a system of stations in California and Texas. They are mostly known for opening Quick Charge DC stations for both Chademo and CCS)

ParkMobile (Known mostly for parking payments and parking payment apps on mobile phones, they have a handful of charging stations located in four states. I signed up in order to charge my car at San Diego Wild Animal Park.)

WattStation (Charging stations provided by GE throughout the U.S. This is a popular alternative to ChargePoint in Southern California.)

 

[NightHawk]

I used a Blink charging station yesterday for the first time here in Southern California.
There were 4 open Blink Stations in a shopping center parking lot near a Macy's store.
I only had it charge for about half an hour before I had to leave, but it appeared like though it was a L2 EVSE it was probably only 15-20A/3.3KWH (not the L2 EVSE 30A/6.66KWH I have at home).
As a guest it cost 59c/KWH and the total cost to me was about 78cents for probably ~1.3KWH in under 30min.
If I get their membership card, the rate would be reduced to 49c/KWH.
I'd only use that in emergencies if I think I need a little extra range when I'm down in that area (about 25miles away from my house).

 

[hybridbear]

EV Connect (Charging stations located mostly in California)

NRG eVgo (Operates a system of stations in California and Texas. They are mostly known for opening Quick Charge DC stations for both Chademo and CCS)

ParkMobile (Known mostly for parking payments and parking payment apps on mobile phones, they have a handful of charging stations located in four states. I signed up in order to charge my car at San Diego Wild Animal Park.)

WattStation (Charging stations provided by GE throughout the U.S. This is a popular alternative to ChargePoint in Southern California.)

Do any of these four offer free charging stations or are they ONLY pay stations?

 

[Steve0512]

Do any of these four offer free charging stations or are they ONLY pay stations?

My employer uses the Wattstation Network and offers four free hours of charging per day.


http://www.at.ford.com/news/cn/Pages/Ford%20GE%20WattStation%20Chargers%20Support%20Employee%20Electric%20Vehicle%20Charging%20Network.aspx

 

[Kakkerlak]

Blink and ChargePoint are most common in Washington State.

In general, I've found Blink units to be poorly maintained; I've never returned to a unit that I knew was out of order due to vandalism or other damage and found it has been repaired. Fortunately Blink stations are almost always are installed in pairs.

In Washington, Blink charges $0.39 per kWh and bills my credit card monthly.

ChargePoint stations are generally located in private garages or private parking lots, and charge by the hour. One station I've used charges $5 minimum, and then $1.08 per hour. In general, I've found ChargePoint stations to be newer, well-maintained, and unvandalized due to their more protected locations.

AeroVironment has the L2 chargers mounted next to the big ChaDeMo chargers of the West Coast Green Highway project. I've only used those for my long, slow road trip. Because they use a membership fee system and a bulkier key fob, and because they are uncommon in Seattle, I chose to use them only on a call-to-authorize basis.

 

[unplugged]

Do any of these four offer free charging stations or are they ONLY pay stations?

Yes. EV Connect and Wattstation units are run much like ChargePoint. The hourly price is set depending upon the owner (or public agency). There are a few free EV Connect stations in the area. Wattstations in my area are provided mostly by the Irvine Company and they have established a $1 per hour charge. EV Connect is all over the range, but most are either free or $.75 per hour. In our area, a few free ChargePoint stations remain because they are in expensive parking garages, but most have settled down to the $.75 per hour charge.

As an example, one of our major mall, South Coast Plaza provides free ChargePoint charging, but its competitors at the Spectrum and Fashion Island charges $1 per hour because they are both owned by the Irvine Company and they are WattStations.