AAA: EVgo waives the monthly membership fees

Chevy Bolt EV Forum

Help Support Chevy Bolt EV Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

SparkE

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 11, 2016
Messages
1,198
Location
SF Bay Area
EVgo "free" subscription :

(I would have SWORN that I posted this, but a quick search didn't find it).

Apparently EVgo will give you the lower rate without a monthly subscription if you are a AAA member (at least in CA).

https://discounts.calstate.aaa.com/offer/evgo-348013?source=&cmp=EMC_MSP_MKT_MONTHC_eUpdate_1019&devicecd=PC&ajs_uid=7a92dc0f568c7c996bc65d8782eb32ba&zip=95661
 
CO AAA member here, the link appears to have worked. The EVGo site informs me the discount has been added to my account!
 
SparkE, thank you very much for this lead. Hey, $8x12 months almost covers the cost of the AAA membership! I wonder if we still get the first few kWh covered by the plan each month for up to the $8 for 'free'?

I just signed up and clicked that I already have an existing account and went through the signup process, but now in looking at my account on the EVgo website I see that I have two contracts/plans listed: the previous one and the new one, both active. Haven't called EVgo to clarify this - has anyone?

On the new plan they reference AAA and they're showing an end date of 1/7/20 (one month after I signed up) and on the old plan they're showing an end date of 12/21/19 (the usual monthly renewal day) and I intend to wait until after that date to see what happens rather than pestering EVgo.
 
Update

So, I signed up and in reviewing my account online at EVgo I saw that I had two contracts for my account: my previous one ($7.99/mo) and my new one shown as AAA and free. It showed my previous contract expiring on December 21. My normal monthly credit card debit for $7.99 was processed on December 14th. I called EVgo and said that was the last payment I would make as the AAA contract kicks in and supersedes the previous one.

BTW, in most months I come close to using up that $7.99 in DCFC kWh, so it has been roughly a financial wash for me. Have yet to find an EVgo station that hasn't worked, but, sadly, more and more stations are Bolt'd or Leaf'd or i3'd or, more recently i-Pace'd or E-Tron'd, the worst culprits being those who park there and are not even plugged in! The good news is that ICE'ing is fairly rare nowadays.
 
SparkE said:
EVgo "free" subscription :

(I would have SWORN that I posted this, but a quick search didn't find it).

Apparently EVgo will give you the lower rate without a monthly subscription if you are a AAA member (at least in CA).

https://discounts.calstate.aaa.com/offer/evgo-348013?source=&cmp=EMC_MSP_MKT_MONTHC_eUpdate_1019&devicecd=PC&ajs_uid=7a92dc0f568c7c996bc65d8782eb32ba&zip=95661
GREAT tip!

Keep up the good work!
 
UPDATE

The normal EVgo membership is $7.99/month and a roughly 10% reduction in charging cost relative to non-members, and 1/2-hour of 'free' charging.

What AAA membership gives you is waiving the $7.99 monthly fee, having the 10% reduction in charging cost, but NO 1/2-hour of 'free' charging.

Even though I signed up for AAA in early December, I just got billed $7.99 again so I called up EVgo and, after looking into it, they acknowledged that my previous $7.99/mo contract should have been closed out, so they're doing that and crediting my account.

If any of you have made the switch, you might want to check to make sure your previous contract is closed.

As a side note, I think EVgo's DCFC rate structure of charging by the minute sucks for vehicles with low DCFC rates and it's horrendous if someone is trying to simply fill up for a long trip out into the boondocks.
 
JoeS said:
As a side note, I think EVgo's DCFC rate structure of charging by the minute sucks for vehicles with low DCFC rates and it's horrendous if someone is trying to simply fill up for a long trip out into the boondocks.
It is what it is, and if there is no alternative available, then it is merely one cost element of a potentially long trip.

In Los Angeles, I seek out the EVgo’s for reliability and ease of use.

Driving Uber, about 6 days per month I will be led out to the hinterlands (e.g. Orange County) and I will top -off for 30 minutes, which usually gives me 70 more miles.

The 30 minute duration also seems to cut off right at about the point it is shuttling down from 44KWh to 23KWh.
 
BoltEV said:
JoeS said:
As a side note, I think EVgo's DCFC rate structure of charging by the minute sucks for vehicles with low DCFC rates and it's horrendous if someone is trying to simply fill up for a long trip out into the boondocks.
It is what it is, and if there is no alternative available, then it is merely one cost element of a potentially long trip.

I have to agree with BoltEV on this. If you need it, you need it, and thank god it's there.

A related issue : *your* choice of which charging network does sort of depend on what is convenient for *you*. By that, I mean what are the options available to you. If you don't have any ChargePoint or Electrify America units (or whatever network) close to you, then you don't have a choice.

- The cost for ChargePoint units is set by the owner (which is rarely ChargePoint, except for a dozen or two dozen DCFC sites recently installed along highway corridors). ChargePoint units often charge by the kWh, not by time (although there has been a tendency for ChargePoint's more recent DCFC unit installs to now charge for both).

- The cost for charging at EA sites can be cheaper, but they also charge by the minute. If you use EA's DCFCs at least twice a month, it is most likely less expensive to become a 'paid' EA subscription member ($4/month, but price in Calif drop down to about $0.18/min from $0.25/min, and you no longer pay connection fee of $1 per hookup). EA units also have LOTS of reported problems : either bad credit card (CC) readers, or not being able to start a charge without calling EA to reboot the unit(s), or even not at all even after that. Which means EA units are (at this time, and only IMO) a bad choice for when you have to get a charge without being able to make it to any other site - i.e., a "if I can't charge, I am stuck here" situation.) A "prevent anxiety" quick stop at some other DCFC simply to make sure you can get to (at least) two other DCFCs if the EA units don't work is a good idea at this point in time. And again, if EA units aren't convenient to you, it doesn't much matter.

Frankly, as it stands today, I think that a "free" EVgo subscription (via AAA) is a no-brainer, as you get the lower price without a cost. (The non-free one basically gives you the cost of the monthly sub in "free" charging). Also, the ChargePoint card is free, so have one of those (there are a few free ChargePoint units out in the wild, just not many). And then have an EA subscription. That way you have the choice. Again, if you are going to use DCFC at least twice a month, and it is convenient for you, an EA subscription is probably the cheapest solution as the $4 subscription fee not only charges at a lower price but also eliminates the $1 connection fee (3 charges a month would be, duh, $3 in connection fees). And again, if EA units aren't convenient to you, it doesn't much matter. ;)

................... free subscrip ............. pay sub ..

EA: ............. $0.25/min ..... ...... $0.18/min ...

EVgo (SF) ...... $0.30/min .... .... $0.26/min ...

EVgo (LA) ...... $0.27/min .... .... $0.23/min ...


EVgo units are often 100A (really 38 kW) units, occasionally 125A units (48 kW), and only rarely full 55 kW to a Bolt - so you are getting lower kWh per minute and thus the kWh price is higher than it would seem. You need to actually look at the label on the DCFC unit to tell the difference between the 100A and 125A units, as EVgo calls both "50 kW".

Electrify America units are almost always at least 300A (over 100 kW) units and those will always charge a Bolt at its fastest possible charge rate (there are some lower 50 kW sites) .

GET THE SMARTPHONE APP for all of the networks you *might* use (especially before a trip) as they are generally available for free, and an expensive charge is better than being stuck dead in the water, or forced to charge at 6 kW for 5 hours.
 
“Thank you for enrolling in the AAA NorCal plan. It has been added to your EVgo account and is ready to use.”

Strangely, they required my VIN and I am in SoCal.

Thanks again for the tip!
 
Back
Top