Electrify America announced that there will be a price increase for its electricity rates at its station in March, affecting all customers and Pass+ subscribers. Customers started receiving emails from the company that contains price increase details.
An Electric Vehicle charging station in Monterey Park, California on May 18, 2021. - President Joe Biden's administration continues the push for alternative forms of transportation and energy and on a visit today to the Ford Motor plant in Dearborn, Michigan, Biden made the case for his $174 billion electric-vehicle proposal, urging automakers not to build zero-emission vehicles abroad for US consumers and touting electric vehicles as the future of the auto industry. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
(Photo : FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images) An Electric Vehicle charging station in Monterey Park, California on May 18, 2021.
Increasing Electricity Rates
If you're buying an electric vehicle because of the increasing gas prices, you might have to rethink again because Electrify America will increase its electricity rates at its fast charging stations this coming March 6th. Ars Technica reported that US customers will be charged a standard rate of $0.48 per kilowatt hour (increasing by 11.6%), with a previous rate of $0.43 per kWh.
Corporate Communications Manager, Tara Geiger, stated that despite maintaining its consistent and uniform pricing since September 2020, the rising operation and energy costs made them adjust its pricing. "Our focus remains on meeting the needs of electric vehicle drivers of today and tomorrow by investing in our network expansion and enhancement to customer experience," she added.
Aside from the customers, subscription members of the Pass+ level will also be affected by this matter, as they will receive a 16% increase from $0.31 to $0.36 per kWh. But Geiger explained that subscribers can still benefit from savings of about 25% on charging.
Massachusetts and Texas will increase their per-minute charging rates, as companies are not allowed to bill customers by the hour. Because of this, users will be paying $0.19 per minute with peak charging speeds of 90kW, originally from $0.16.
Electrify America's Expansion Plans
Based on a report from The Verge, Electrify America operates one of the largest DC fast charger networks in the country, with 800+ charging stations that contain 3,500 individual EV chargers. In 2023, the network works for an expansion in the United States and Canada as they aim to grow 10,000 chargers across the 1,800 stations.
Through this expansion, Electrify America will now include 1,000 EA fast charges that will implement across 200 TravelCenters locations in the United States. To reduce its reliance on the grid, new Mega-Watt-backed storage stations will also be added to charge EVs.
A Volkswagen ID.3 electric car charges outside the "Gläserne Manufaktur" ("Glass Manufactory") production facility on June 08, 2021 in Dresden, Germany. The Dresden plant is currently churning out 35 ID.3 cars per day. The ID.3 and ID.4 cars are also produced at VW's Zwickau plat located in the same region. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images
This was launched after conducting some electric car driver surveys. According to their research, Engadget reported that EV owners were having a hard time identifying the charging speeds of their EVs. EA will keep the CHAdeMO for low-level chargers.
Electrify America Senior Director Rober Barrosa stated, "We want to help make the transition to EV charging easier by translating kilowatt ratings into simple names like Hyper-Fast and Ultra-Fast with corresponding colors to help them make a selection at the charger."
