EVgo, the U.S. largest public fast charging network for electric vehicles, has announced new pricing plans, a new loyalty program called EVgo Rewards, and statewide kilowatt-hour (kWh) and time-of-use (TOU) pricing pilots in California. The company is also rolling out location-based pricing for customers in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Next month, the updated Member plans and the new EVgo Plus subscription will take effect nationwide, and EVgo’s fast chargers in California will switch from per-minute rates to kWh pricing with three time-of-use windows: early-bird (12am-8am), on-peak (4pm-9pm), and off-peak (8am-4pm and 9pm-12am).
The new EVgo Plus subscription plan unlocks deeper discounted rates and other benefits for heavy users. EVgo will be expanding the EVgo Rewards program nationwide and enrolling all active customers into the loyalty program. Drivers can earn 5 points for every dollar spent on charging sessions with EVgo, with additional opportunities to earn points towards free charging sessions. Through these new innovative benefits, the more drivers charge with EVgo, the more they can save.
EVgo’s expansion of customer pricing options to suit different driving patterns is taking place as the company also accelerates growth in station deployment, expands into new geographies, maintains a 98% network uptime and a 24/7 customer service call center. By charging by the kWh with TOU and location-based pricing, drivers will pay for the energy they use at a rate that reflects the costs related to that location, local utility rates, EVgo network congestion, and time of day.
EVgo has designed a pricing structure that provides flexibility and customer choice. The California TOU program is the first statewide time-of-use pricing pilot in the industry and data from this initial California rollout will help inform how EVgo implements innovative pricing in other markets in the future.
EVgo’s transition to TOU rates reflects the role of EV charging in power grid load management and the importance of the EV charging industry working in concert with utilities to support the growth of clean sources of electricity. EVgo’s location-based pricing pilot will explore additional options for aligning pricing with other station attributes, including environmental and social justice considerations (based on California’s CalEnviroScreen), traffic congestion, and other market dynamics. Prices for each station will be visible in all relevant locations, including the EVgo App and on PlugShare and customers can find more details on EVgo’s new pricing page.
“As we rapidly expand our charging network, EVgo continues to invent and innovate,” said Cathy Zoi, EVgo’s CEO. “With EVgo rolling out new super high power fast chargers in anticipation of the improved battery capacities of new EV models, shifting to kWh and time of use rates will better reflect the value delivered by fast charging while also benefitting the grid and our ongoing environmental justice efforts. I’m also extremely excited about EVgo Rewards, another software innovation to deliver free charging and other goodies to loyal EV drivers and enhance the driver experience for our more than 275,000 EVgo customer accounts.”
EVgo now has more than 800 public fast charging locations across the U.S. ranging from 50 kW through 350 kW and more than 2,000 new chargers in Active Engineering & Construction Pipeline stages.
