[brian]

I just wish that they would make the prices more reasonable because right now it costs 300% more to use a ChargePoint station than to use the most expensive gas in town. The only way I'd ever use one of those public charging stations is if I owned an all-EV car (like the Tesla) and was desperately low on juice, but for cars with range extenders it makes no sense to use them unless they reduce the price to compete with a gallon of gas.

-Brian

 

[brian]

Here in Austin I think they're all $2 or $3 (I forget) per hour. I've never seen a free one except for chargers at car dealerships.

Assuming $2 and that it takes, say, 5 hours to do a full charge, then that's $10 to go ~42 miles. Or, that's like paying $5-6/gallon if you were driving it in Range Extender mode. If gas gets to $5.50 then it just might be worth using Chargepoint.

-Brian

 

[brian]

The other annoying thing is that they have a 1 hour minimum, so even at places like Whole Foods which have charging stations you're not going to be shopping for a whole hour there. You might be there 30 minutes, but you'll pay $2 for the hour. Lame.

I did a search earlier, and the only free Chargepoint station anywhere near Austin was up in Cedar Park at a Kohls store.

-Brian