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Charging an electric vehicle in public can range in price from free to very expensive. When we recently charged a new 2022 Chevrolet Bolt at an EVgo DC fast charger (DCFC) in Bedford, NH, we discover the pricey end of the spectrum can be more than it would cost to fuel a "gas-guzzling" V8-powered muscle car.
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$10.15 To Add 34 Miles of EV Range
We charged up a Chevy Bolt using the EVgo DC fast charger, and the bill was $10.15. That amount of money added 34 miles of range to the Bolt. So, the cost per mile of energy was 30 cents per mile. Let’s compare that to a 2021 Dodge performance car we tested the prior week.
The Dodge had 797 hp, and it returned a combined fuel mileage of 24 MPG in our use on the same route we tested the Bolt. We paid $2.90 per gallon for the gasoline it uses. Doing some “goes in’tahs,” the cost per mile for energy in the muscle car turns out to be 12 cents. Thus, the cost per mile to energize the Bolt was roughly triple what the V8 gas-powered car cost us.
Charging Etiquette
When charging in public one is supposed to quit charging when one’s EV reaches 80% state of charge. The reasons for this are two-fold. First, the rate at which charge can be added to an EV battery is more rapid below 80% and much more time-consuming as the battery reaches full. Second, EV chargers are in very short supply. We need to ration them.
On my route from the metro Boston area to the lakes region of New Hampshire, there are exactly zero public DC fast chargers. In order to charge at a DCFC, I took a slightly longer by time route to swing by one of only two DCFC charging spots in that area. Google “Henniker NH DC Fast Chargers” if you want to see what I mean about no chargers. I needed to top-off in order to complete the 200+-mile route I was making. So, I broke charger etiquette, and I charged to full.
I also charged at the DCFC because I wanted to test my EVgo membership RFID card and account and see how long the DCFC took to add back miles. Both were successful tests.
Charging For Free
Coincidental to my test, GM was running a free-to-charge promotion day during the week I had the Bolt. I think free anything is great, but I always wonder, what’s the hidden agenda? If charging up an EV is very affordable anyway, why does there need to be a promotion to make it “free?” If Dodge offered free gas to muscle car owners, I suppose folks would jump at the chance for a free fillup. But why make EV charging free?
The answer is to get EV owners to the chargers and have them try out the experience. You see, when we poll owners of EVs, most report that they only charge at home, and almost none report using DC fast chargers.
When I plugged into the EVgo DC fast charger, I hadn’t thought about the cost. After all, we constantly hear how affordable EVs are to power up. I have done the math at my own home, and I know that the cost is typically about five to seven cents per mile of range I add back on my home charger using my relatively pricey Boston-area electricity. $10.15 for just 34 miles was a “shock.” Get it, shock. Bet you never heard that in an EV story before.
Related Story: New Hampshire Innkeepers Demonstrate EV-Driving Guest Best Practices
Feel free to tell us in the comments below what you typically pay to charge in public at a DC fast charger and how that cost compares to your cost at home.
John Goreham is a long-time New England Motor Press Association member and recovering engineer. John's interest in EVs goes back to 1990 when he designed the thermal control system for an EV battery as part of an academic team. After earning his mechanical engineering degree, John completed a marketing program at Northeastern University and worked with automotive component manufacturers, in the semiconductor industry, and in biotech. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American newspapers and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on TikTok @ToknCars, on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin
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Comments
The receipt from the charging
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In reply to This is completely inaccurate by plasticarmyman (not verified)
The receipt from the charging station is shown in the story.
Dont use evgo they charge by
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Dont use evgo they charge by the minute. I usually use electrify america for my 2017 bolt. Had you used electrify america it would have cost you $2.95 with a subscription, or about $3.90 without.
Very good advice. I will
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In reply to Dont use evgo they charge by by William (not verified)
Very good advice. I will check out the Manchester and Salem locations when I can. Thanks, William.
This article doesn't make any
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This article doesn't make any sense. I have charged my Bolt from 17% to 90% (a total of about 175 miles) for about $16. Most DC fast chargers around here charge by the kw, not the time it takes on the charger. I think this charger must have been charging for parking too, because there are plenty of charging stations in Southern Michigan, and I have never paid so much for so little.
Unlike a lot of people in this survey, I use the DC fast charger a lot in the summer, as I do shows around the state.
Granted, winter travel is much harder when you live in a cold climate because your estimated distance goes from around 235 miles to about 130 miles. Of course, I'm a little heavy on the accelerator. Still, it seems that this writer started with a bias, and did his best to confirm it without bothering to actually learn much about EVs.
Hi Rebecca. The receipt from
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In reply to This article doesn't make any by Rebecca Antaya (not verified)
Hi Rebecca. The receipt from EVgo is shown in the story. What part of the charges confuses you? Have you charged at this DCFC in New Hampshire, or is your experience based on your local chargers' fees? Prior to this test, we had never paid so much money for so little added range either. In fact, much of the public charging we do is either free or has a more reasonable cost. As stated in the opening sentence of the story. Check my bio or credentials on Linked In if you feel my experience with EVs isn't worthy of such a report.
Oh yeah I mean if you're
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Oh yeah I mean if you're (dumb) and you go to the most expensive charger you can find yeah then you probably deserve to get overcharged......To say this doesn't exist in the land of gasoline is also stupid...... You think they're not going to charge differently by demographic like they do with gasoline and neighborhoods. Way to be a climate denier. (Edited for content. We took out the potty talk)
EVs are souless and dumb. And
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EVs are souless and dumb. And just shift emissions to the power plants.
Child slave labor mines the battery ore.
There are not enough rare earth resources to make enough EVs for mass adoption. Its a pipe dream.
Lots of streetable ce cars can hand plaid its ass. Just look at the latest hoonigan episode on you tube with the plaid vs audi.
Musk is a bloviating narcissist liar.
Stop drinking the koolaide.
My Model S came with
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My Model S came with unlimited free supercharging. In 6 years we've only had to use a public charger 3 times where we paid. Have also plugged into 110 outlets at vacation destinations when the need arose and a 240 outlet at an RV park
I was always wondering what
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I was always wondering what the cost to charge an electric was? Another thing how far can one go in zero weather with the heated seats on, heated steering wheel on and just the heater on. That's gotta be a huge drain on electric.
Sugarcoat all you want to.
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Sugarcoat all you want to..there is no way that this country can revamp the power grid and roll out electric vehicles in the time frame the tree huggers are wanting. Reality vs. pipe dreams. Oh yeah wait till the batteries crap out and you have to write that check. . Upwards of 20k....
What the heck are you talking
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What the heck are you talking about. I used an electrify America charger yesterday and to get 330 miles of charge it was $21? I don't know about evgo but there are far better options I guess.
This is what happens when you
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This is what happens when you buy a non Tesla - pay more for charge.
I have yet to charge at a
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I have yet to charge at a station. In ontario most community centres and libraries have charging stations as well as our EN route regular 'gas stations have EV chargers all along our major 400 series highways. Remember one reason we drive electric is also to lower our carbon footprint. Acceleration and low repair bills also factors! Love my Hyundai kona!
Just got 200 km at a tesla
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Just got 200 km at a tesla supercharger for $5.25. That's a whole lot cheaper than what you are saying.
You make a great point, Bob.
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In reply to Just got 200 km at a tesla by Bob Auld (not verified)
You make a great point, Bob. Tesla's private network of Superchargers is more affordable than many of the chargers available to the public. Particularly the public DC Fast chargers like the example in the story. Unless, of course, a manufacturer is paying for the energy. Like Tesla promised to do at one point, before the company reneged.
I want to to thank you for
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I want to to thank you for this fantastic read!! I certainly loved
every bit of it. I have you bookmarked to look at new things you post…
This article is whack. No way
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This article is whack. No way does a hell cat get that kinda of MPG. I have just an RT and I get a return of 20.1 MPG. Also the article really didn't hold up at all a year later we have unleaded priced at nearly 5 bucks a gallon near me. Factor in that a hell cat needs the premo juice and your at 90+ bucks a tank. A full charge from 0 to 100 on a model 3 LR is gonna run you anywhere from 10-20 bucks depending on the speed of the charger. Even less if you charge at home. Now I don't care about the whole going green thing. I'm trading in my charger for a model 3 because for less than 55k I can have a car that will smoke a hellcat cause for an extra 2k after purchase you can get a factory performance boost that get 0-60 to 3.7 seconds. There is no worry about the Tesla not hooking up off the line either unlike the hellcat. I thought I'd hate the model 3 and for the longest time I did. That was till I finally scheduled a test drive and now I'm sold on it. It's built better than my dodge and it's faster. Main reason I'm getting it. I was going to get an EV6 but it's the same price and won't go as far and is slower.
Time to update the article to
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Time to update the article to reflect today's gas prices. Sure, it's easy to cherry pick extreme prices. Why not compare the cost of a free charging station with the most expensive gas station in CA or Hawaii? And there are more free charging stations than ones that charge as much as the one cited here.
A better point of this article might be, "Lack of competition leads to higher prices."
Yes, prices change, You make
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In reply to Time to update the article to by Rising Dough (not verified)
Yes, prices change, You make a good point. No need yet to update the story, The very first sentence makes the point that charging can be free. Free is the 12th word in the story.
Updated example of DCFC
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Updated example of DCFC pricing: Posted March 11th, 2022 at Facebook Bolt owners club: "I charged at Electrify America last night. Started with 26% and ended with 77%. 50min total cost of $25.37." That equates to paying $25 for 125 miles of range. Or 20-cents per mile for energy.
This is precisely why PHEVs
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This is precisely why PHEVs are the best of both worlds. Charge at home for a fraction of the cost per mile driving and have the ICE for longer range outings. Not to mention the ICE would typically be a hybrid that gets better fuel efficiency anyway. RAV4 Prime is an outstanding option.
I just want to say thanks for
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I just want to say thanks for your story.
This is the one factor that seems to be conveniently overlooked so far & people need to know !
I have been driving a plug in hybrid (PHEV) since 2014 and have seen rates per KwH at public chargers that if compared to gasoline just boggle the mind at what they are currently getting away with charging !!
There will be a rude awakening if rates do not get regulated (limited) to a price comparable to gasoline or less.
Well you are an idiot if u
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Well you are an idiot if u buy an electric car without a place to charge it at home each night...
This article aged horribly
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This article aged horribly
A ridiculous "hit piece" on
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A ridiculous "hit piece" on EVs. Take the worse case EV scenario and pit it against the everyday reality of filling up with gas and call it journalism.
We're not falling for it. I'll be driving my Bolt from NY to Georgia this spring for about $40 total fuel costs. You will pay that just to get from NY to DC.
You have a 1 fuel supplier
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You have a 1 fuel supplier monopoly w electric.
After refuel it will soon ration your fuel in automated fashion. Sorry Charlie you've driven your monthly alotted carbon credits....it will not care that you must be at work 75 miles away or pick up your kids or... 1fuel supplier monopoly called your local city utility.. Aka political Pied piper. Duh.
Lucids new EV,s get from 400
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Lucids new EV,s get from 400-520 miles per charge....Yes they are luxury models and Range in price from,,75-150k ..Price will come down in future Models and as the Brand gets Established..Won Care if the year Award..Charge at home or use the free charging on Thier Charging locations being added.At this highest ranges you can travel many times around your city and road trips and charge at home..Lucid is the Highest range EV ever given by the EPA.verufied..Go Lucid
Lucids new EV,s get from 400
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Lucids new EV,s get from 400-520 miles per charge....Yes they are luxury models and Range in price from,,75-150k ..Price will come down in future Models and as the Brand gets Established..Won Care if the year Award..Charge at home or use the free charging on Thier Charging locations being added.At this highest ranges you can travel many times around your city and road trips and charge at home..Lucid is the Highest range EV ever given by the EPA.verufied..Go Lucid
This was a very cherry picked
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This was a very cherry picked example for EV charger
Where I live, the public chargers cost $0.22 per KW/h including taxes .. so $2 bucks instead of $10
Just out of curiosity, John,
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Just out of curiosity, John, how much does it cost you to fuel your gas car at home? I know what it costs me to charge up my EV at home, and if I take advantage of rates, it's ridiculously cheap. And since I charge almost exclusively at home, I do very well on that score.
Doesn't it all come down to how much long-distance travel you do, and how available is home charging?
There is a problem related to people who do not have dedicated parking spaces, or who live in apartments or condos where charging is not yet available. I acknowledge those problems. And for these people, then EV or even a plug in hybrid is probably a non-starter. But there are also lots of people who do have access to home charging and for them the equation is very different.
We plan on doing some long-distance car travel, and when we do we will have to charge on the road. But before I go I will research rates and terms. The fact that nationally some states charge for the energy and some charge for the time just adds a ton of confusion to the situation. And the relative lack of high speed chargers is very problematic. But if you look back to the early days of gasoline vehicles, you will find similar situations where sometimes drivers had to go to the local blacksmith to get a can of gasoline.
PS: My great-grandmother had an EV. She liked it. It was in the early 1900s and she charged at home.