Another oddity about electricity prices is demand charges. These are fees that EV charging station owners pay, based on their peak usage, in 15-minute to hourly increments, during a billing period. These demand charges facilitate utilities cope with the various costs of building and maintaining the electricity grid. But they are frustrating for EV charging because some chargers are used very infrequently—but when they are, they draw a lot of electricity in a tiny period of time. This leads to demand charges.
Demand charges can run into “hundreds of thousands per year for a specific location,” according to Rachel Moses, director of sales, marketing and business development for Electrify America.
Meanwhile, some utilities charge “peak” prices—more money when lots of other people are using electricity. That means charging stations typically cost more to provide electricity between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m., when everyone gets home, turns on their TVs, air conditioners, or heaters, and maybe even plugs in their cars. It all adds up to somewhat unpredictable charging prices.
Electrify America says its pricing is “station-specific,” meaning it will charge customers more to charge at stations that are more high-priced for it to operate. But other EV charging companies take a broader approach, averaging the costs of operating their entire network to set prices across a wider area.
In addition, companies can charge fees animated EV charging prices, which means they can change. Fortunately, this strategy has its limits. Funding rules for the country’s public charging infrastructure mean that any chargers built with public funds cannot change their prices while you’re in the middle of charging your car, even if the price the company pays for electricity changes.
All of this means it’s tough to predict how much you’ll pay to top up at a public rapid charger these days. No wonder drivers are frustrated.
Now a gas station?
But should drivers might be frustrated? Not knowing exactly how much you’ll pay to charge your car at a public rapid charger can be irritating. But it’s also not a complete reflection of most people’s experiences with electric vehicles.
The real advantage of owning an electric vehicle is that while you’ll only find gas at a gas station, cars can be charged in a variety of places. At home, at the grocery store, at work: Those places may not have rapid chargers, but many have outlets and slower “Level 2” chargers where drivers can top off their batteries a bit.
Headlines — and some drivers — are really getting hung up on public charging stations. But about 90 percent of today’s electric vehicle drivers have garages, driveways or other places where they can charge their cars overnight. One day, that won’t be the case, and public chargers will have to fill the gap for people who live in apartments or park on the street.
But for now: Maybe don’t worry about it too much. public chargers, which currently largely fill the gap when electric vehicle drivers go on long car journeys.
“We have this gas station model in our heads,” says Kellen Schefter, senior director of electric transportation at the Edison Electric Institute, an association representing investor-owned U.S. utilities. “If our goal is to simply replicate the gas station model for electric vehicles, we’ve lost one of the real benefits of electric vehicles.”