Electrify America has announced today it is increasing prices at its electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across the US. The price increases will take effect next month and come at a time when the charging provider is suffering from major reliability issues across its network.
In an email sent to customers this morning, a copy of which was shared with Drive Tesla, Electrify America says they have tried to keep their prices low but are being forced to issue increases due to “rising operational costs and energy costs.” The new prices will be implemented across the US at both stations that bill per minute and per kWh, with all stations having the same uniform pricing.
Electrify America Pass+ membership will remain at $4 per month, but starting on March 6 the new prices will be as much as 30% more for per-minute billing, while per-kWh has increased slightly less:
- Pass
- per-kWh –Â $0.43 to $0.48
- per-minute – $0.16 to $0.19 (up to 90kW), $0.32 to $0.37 (up to 350kW)
- Pass+
- per-kWh – $0.31 to $0.36
- per-minute – $0.12 to $0.15 (up to 90kW), $0.24 to $0.29 (up to 350kW)
While the new prices are still fairly reasonable, Electrify America customers might be a little annoyed at having to pay more when the network is suffering from severe reliability issues. A scan of social media shows frequent complaints from EV owners who comes across stations that are out of order and not working. The problem is so bad that Electrify America has even been removing charging stations that are only a few weeks old.
The issues even extend to when the station seems to be working. There have been several reports over the last few months from owners that their EVs have been “fried” while plugged in at an Electrify America station. The most recent incident happened last week when a Rivian R1T owner heard a loud bang about 1 minute after plugging in, after which the nearby power unit caught fire, leaving the R1T undriveable.
Electrify America’s sister company, Electrify Canada, has not announced any price increases north of the border.
