Blue Dot app claims 20% discount on Supercharging

[eevee-fan]

'SpC' is less sucky

Tesla drivers will all call it SuC what the NACS to CCS adapters come on the market and all of Las Vegas EVs start using those cheap SuCs. Unfortunately, EVgo pulled out of the market so there is only 1 DCFC in Las Vegas. And EA is hit or miss... As they say in the Army, embrace the SuC.

 

[eevee-fan]

I have to take a closer look at SuC along the way. Just noticed that a local SuC with very favorable rates! Not worth messing with apps or adapters to get 30c/kWh or 25c/kWh. Just use my Bluedot debit VISA and get 20% rebate on the price below. Midnight rate of 10c (so 8c for us) is actually cheaper than charging at home!

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Update: Yeah, gonna drop out from the Boost Program. It's just not worth it. I had thought if it was worth using the CCS-Tesla adapter to get 30c, then 25c is even better. But at the rates I am seeing, it's only worth using the adapter and the app if I get in a bind, which should be rare to never.

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BTW, would be great if we can set the Nav to a "$$$ eco mode" so it sends us to charge at the SuC with best rate at our ETA.

Just checked my electric rates. Looks like after adding in the extra fees to the published rate, it costs 16.7c on flat rate and 11.2c on TOU EV rate to charge at home. This compares to paying net of 8c midnight to 4am / 13.6c 4am to noon supercharging at Tesla with my Bluedot debit card.

https://www.nvenergy.com/publish/content/dam/nvenergy/bill_inserts/2023/10_oct/np_res_rate_5_31.pdf

 

[chucktaylur]

Does anyone know if there's a hard credit pull when applying for this card?

 

[eevee-fan]

Does anyone know if there's a hard credit pull when applying for this card?

I don't think so, you are creating a checking account and getting a VISA Debit Card with Bluedot through Piermont Bank..

 

[israndy]

Had some false charges on BlueDot that were not easy to clear. I assumed I just told them but it’s a bunch of hoops. Not happy. Still don’t have my money back

 

[eevee-fan]

Anyone find any DCFC that will charge a Model 3 LFP higher than 55 kW? I get 43 kW with EVgo 50/150/350 kW stalls and 55 kW with CP 62kW stalls. Bluedot pricing beats Tesla SuC pricing at certain places but I am unable to find any stalls that will charge higher than 55 kW with the CCS adapter.

 

[israndy]

Yes, that's how fast the one's no one is using are, thus they ended up in the Blue Dot discount bin

Charging in the low range will see a rise as the battery voltage rises so around 75% you should see the highest number, but it won't be the rated rate of 50 or 62kW

 

[thedanl]

I’ve been able to charge at around 130 kW with the CCS adapter from a Bluedot initiated session in Alamosa, CO, but I have a MY LR AWD. I had a 2019 M3 LR RWD and charged at the same station at 130 kW initiated by Bluedot as well. Not the same as the LFP but there are certainly good Bluedot chargers to be had out there.

 

[eevee-fan]

Yes, that's how fast the one's no one is using are, thus they ended up in the Blue Dot discount bin

Charging in the low range will see a rise as the battery voltage rises so around 75% you should see the highest number, but it won't be the rated rate of 50 or 62kW

That is why I was surprised the EVgo 150 and 350 has the same charge sped as the 50.

 

[eevee-fan]

That is why I was surprised the EVgo 150 and 350 has the same charge sped as the 50.

I think I got the answer. The details popup shows those stations at 43 kW pricing. So the stalls are limited to 43 kW regardless of the DCFC capability. So I guess the solution is to avoid EVgo stations and use the Chargepoint stations.

 

[cwerdna]

I recently signed up because I was possibly going to embark on a road trip (now probably not happening). There's a long running thread at Log in (you'll need to have an account there to see it).

If you do sign up, you may receive a gift of $10 off your first charge but in the notice, it said I only had 72 hours to use it. I wish I knew about that earlier so I would've delayed signing up until I was at lower SoC. I "had" to use my up to $10 off first charge earlier tonight but took off once charging became too slow (and was down to ~10 kW since I was nearing 90% on my Niro EV), so I used almost $9 worth (they have the flat rate 30 cents per kWh for DC charging).

For me, it seems only EVgo and ChargePoint units are listed so keep in mind the max DC FC rates on their units. To get the 30 cents per kWh, you MUST start sessions from the Bluedot app.

Also, when I signed up, it was saying 52 cents per kWh (!) on every station I checked. I went to bed and the problem fixed itself.

I will say, the app/service is rather complex and has a lot of nuances.

It also wouldn't let me charge until I had at least $15 in my Bluedot account, so I did the instant transfer from a debit card for the minimum of $20. Dec 28th is free charging day and supposedly you need to make at least one purchase before the free day (in that month).

 

[israndy]

Yeah, it's a funky system, but it did allow me to get cash back from Supercharging that I was able to put BACK onto the card to pay for future Supercharging. It also gave me a lotta benefit from tracking my location originally, although now it gives almost nothing and even has a daily limit so I didn't get anything after the first day on a cross country trip recently.

I believe I mentioned before that they don't handle scams against you very well, they send you to Visa, but Visa sends you back to them, though I finally got a bit of my money back in my account, sadly I can't figure out how to cash it out, I can only pay for future Supercharging with it.

 

[eevee-fan]

Yeah, it's a funky system, but it did allow me to get cash back from Supercharging that I was able to put BACK onto the card to pay for future Supercharging. It also gave me a lotta benefit from tracking my location originally, although now it gives almost nothing and even has a daily limit so I didn't get anything after the first day on a cross country trip recently.

I believe I mentioned before that they don't handle scams against you very well, they send you to Visa, but Visa sends you back to them, though I finally got a bit of my money back in my account, sadly I can't figure out how to cash it out, I can only pay for future Supercharging with it.

There's a Send Money button on the Card screen. That doesn't work? Either way, I am using the card a lot (grocery, insurance, etc), so I am adding money to the card few times a month.

 

[cwerdna]

I also took advantage of the free charging day on the 28th with an overnight trip to Sacramento. We'll see if I get the $ credited back. I did pay for $20 of auto insurance a few days before the 28th, so I hope that counts as a "purchase".

I was looking at Pacific Gouge & Extort rates for something else and noticed that E-TOU-C (which I'm on, https://www.pge.com/tariffs/assets/pdf/tariffbook/ELEC_SCHEDS_E-TOU-C.pdf) rates range from about 38.2 cents per kWh to 61.8 cents per kWh. Since charging an EV at home (I don't) would push me beyond baseline, marginal cost of charging an EV at home would at best, 48.7 cents per kWh.

EV2-A (https://www.pge.com/tariffs/assets/pdf/tariffbook/ELEC_SCHEDS_EV2 (Sch).pdf) is the plan for Pacific Gouge & Extort customers w/o a separate meter for their EVSE. Cheapest rate is 34.46 cents per kWh. So, for PG&E customers w/o solar but who can DC FC on EVgo or ChargePoint, Bluedot's 30 cents per kWh can make sense for non-road trip charging...

 

[cwerdna]

I received $28.90 free charging credit on 1/3/24. It adds up to the costs I have in email and 2 other parts of their app. I'd DC FCed on CCS ChargePoint and EVgo stations.

Also, based on what ended up on my virtual card, I think it's right. Ended up using all of the $ on my virtual card to pay for part of my auto insurance, so it should count as a January "purchase".

From PG&E becomes California's most expensive power provider, it seems like we'll be seeing another PG&E bump in March 2024.