NRG evGo: Bowie, MD

Looks like a lot of the construction is finished for the Bowie, MD NRG evGo



Reference link that brought this to my attention:

Lanny said:

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This article says there's an eVgo station being installed at Bowie Town Center.

Charge 'Er Up: Bowie Electric Car Owners Get New Station - Business - Bowie, MD Patch

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Larry Chanin said:

Do you find the fees reasonable?

Larry

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For me no. Given that the range of the Model S is so large and the super charger roll out has been so aggressive, there are very few areas I travel to that would make me want to sign up to their rates. Seems like it could be a good deal for a car like a Nissan Leaf since it would enable better travel to areas around the DMV. I see that they are making a decent effort to listen to feedback and have added an a-la-carte option. I'd still prefer an ability to swipe my card without have to get yet another EV network card.

Larry Chanin said:

I have family that lives a few miles away and we were contemplating taking an East Coast trip up to Maryland. I see that you charged for free at SemaConnect. Aren't their three free chargers just a few miles away?

I get the impression that eVgo is not likely to ever be commercially viable with their current pricing structure and the competing free chargers.

Larry

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Yeah there are a few free SemaConnect stations up the road as well as an EV friendly Nissan Dealership. The biggest advantage evGo has is they offer L3 charging. There aren't many level 3 charging stations in the area. The Nissan Leaf be awesome for this. They've spaced their stations at good distances so that the round trip travel distance of the Leaf expands across a much larger chunk of the DC area than without it.

A visiting Model S can just go to a local Tesla store or contact local owners for a faster free charge.

772 said:

But this is CHAdeMO, isn't it?

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It's both CHAdeMO and J1772. The odd thing on their website is that they don't state a-la-carte pricing for L3 charging.

TexasEV said:

It looks to me like the first prices they quote are for the level 3 charging, and the level 2 prices are in parentheses:

• Option 2: No monthly fee; $4.95 per session, plus 20 cents per minute ($1.50 plug-hour for Level 2)
• Option 3: Call-in credit card, $9.95 per session ($2.50 for Level 2)

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Ah I get it now. What you're saying is consistent with their main website (Maryland Plan - NRG eVgo) then. At first when I read the bowie patch article I was thinking the per minute charge was compounded on top of the L2 per hour charge since it wasn't clear to me. Examples are always a good idea. They should add a cost calculator like the Tesla site.

For an hour of L3 charging with a evGo Flex plan, it would cost ($4.95 + 0.20*60 = $16.95).
For an hour of L3 charging by dialing in your credit card (no evGo plan at all), it would cost ($9.95 + ? 0.20*60 = ??). No mention of this on the main evGo site and it's incomplete on the Bowie Patch site.

I can deal with that pricing if I'm in a bind and had a ChadeMo adapter, otherwise I'd just take my car to a nearby store, get a free L2 charge, and do some shopping/eating.
I refuse to give my credit card number over the phone so that would be a different problem.

I saw a couple of guys out at the stations performing some tests. Hopefully this means the station will be up an running soon. I'll keep you guys posted.

The meter is installed and the chargers were powered on when I stopped by last night. It doesn't looked like any one charged there yet. I'm most likely getting a Leaf as a backup car early April so I'll sign up for their network in a few weeks.