What gives with the price discrepancy at Superchargers in Ontario?

[TOFLYIN]

So coming back from the cottage down Hwy 400 and needed to stop at a supercharger in Barrie. I knew there was 2 locations and wanted to hit a particular one near a restaurant we wanted lunch at. Well the nav kept trying to send me to the other one even though it wasn't as close to our route. So I checked, and the one it was sending me to was $0.45 kWhr and the one I wanted to go to was $0.43. The one I wanted to go to had more chargers vacant as well. So I started looking around and see a range of $0.43 to $0.49 for superchargers along my normal routes. All were for 150Kw superchargers. It can't be local hydro rate differences as the 2 in Barrie on on the same system. So are some locations charging Telsa more for rent, or why the difference. Maybe no one else cares, but 15% difference is more than enough for some. Hell I know some ICE drivers that will travel 10 min out of there way for 2 cents per litre savings.

On a slightly different note. I think someone needs to start a movement to have the Ontario Gov't change the law on reselling of hydro. I understand the reason for the law, but maybe they should make EV chargers exempt. If they really want EV adoption, then level 2 chargers that charge $1.50 hr or more are really ripping of EVs with lower charge rates than Teslas. Most lower end EV's and plug in hybrids only charge at 3.3 kW/hr. At $1.50 per hour they are better off buying gas, and that kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it?

 

[Tony_YYZ]

The varying rates came when Tesla upped the SC rates last year. I am not sure as to what determines the price from one SC location to the next but I imagine it’s likely due to usage patterns for the locations?

Also, the ON gov does not care about moving EVs forwards so your efforts are more than likely going to fall on deaf ears. I agree that paying by the minute vs Kw is pretty crappy. It is especially crappy while using Urban Superchargers.

 

[MexiCanuck]

On a slightly different note. I think someone needs to start a movement to have the Ontario Gov't change the law on reselling of hydro. I understand the reason for the law, but maybe they should make EV chargers exempt. If they really want EV adoption, then level 2 chargers that charge $1.50 hr or more are really ripping of EVs with lower charge rates than Teslas. Most lower end EV's and plug in hybrids only charge at 3.3 kW/hr. At $1.50 per hour they are better off buying gas, and that kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it?

The current Ontario government wanting to take significant action to combat climate change?



Ditto for like-minded provincial governments.

 

[bwalter]

Business hydro rates are not flat rates, they are greatly affected by peak demand over a rolling 1 hour period for the month. That means if supercharger site 1 hit 100% usage for an hour at some point in the current month, and supercharger site 2 is currently at it's monthly peak with only 50% usage, it's better to send you to site 1 than increase the peak at site 2.

I have no idea if Tesla tries to optimize their costs (i.e. avoid increasing peaks of sites) by routing cars though, but it does explain why site 1 may have a higher charge (as electricity is more expensive there due to the higher peak).

Would be interesting to compare the number of stalls too. Assuming same charge rates, a site with more stalls would be more expensive to run, if at any point all the stalls were in use.

 

[sheamurai]

The site on Bayfield has more stalls than the site at the south end on Bayview, and it sounds like the OP was saying he wanted to go to the Bayfield location (more stalls) but it routed him to the south end (fewer stalls).

I think it was just the routing software - it's supposed to take you the fastest/shortest route, and (from the 400) the south end chargers are closer and faster to get to than the ones on Bayfield. If you want to change the routing, all you have to do is click on the lightning bolt on the map to bring up the chargers, and tap the one you want to go to. I honestly don't think the computer is routing you based on cost.

I was in Barrie last week, and I was surprised that the Bayfield site had way more unoccupied stalls than the Bayview Dr. location. I thought "downtown" would be more popular. Mind you, when I was done and checked occupancy again, the south end location showed as freed up so who knows...

 

[BEPA400]

Most lower end EV's and plug in hybrids only charge at 3.3 kW/hr. At $1.50 per hour they are better off buying gas, and that kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it?

Most?? Um, absolutely BS.

SOME lower end evs built in 2010-2014 might only have 3kw, and SOME PHEV have 3kw. Since 2016 I’ve encountered only one leaf at a charger with the smaller charger.

Sure as hell not most!! Not in BC anyways.

Yes some have 3kw chargers. Those that do, probably don’t want to spend $1.50 an hour charging.. they’ll manage some other way, don’t worry!

 

[TOFLYIN]

Most?? Um, absolutely BS.

While I appreciate your opinion, the experts would disagree with you. Please review the following chart:

https://www.clippercreek.com/wp-con...-vs-Level-2_Chart_-20180502_Final_Low-Res.pdf

I am sure you will note that more than 80% of currently available plug-in hybrids have an acceptance rate of 3.6 kW or less.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

Most pay per charge machines, FLO, ChargePoints, GE, pricing is the suck.

At 1.50 / hr, it's the same cost of gasoline with added charge time. The government/regulators are not encouraging EV adaptation with that kind of pricing policy.

 

[ZooSean]

Most pay per charge machines, FLO, ChargePoints, GE, pricing is the suck.

At 1.50 / hr, it's the same cost of gasoline with added charge time. The government/regulators are not encouraging EV adaptation with that kind of pricing policy.

MyEvRoute stations in Ontario were sponsored by previous liberal government. It is kind of bad they didn’t regulate the price for charging.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

MyEvRoute stations in Ontario were sponsored by previous liberal government. It is kind of bad they didn’t regulate the price for charging.

I'm surprised that commercial property owners (Shopping malls) are not being proactive to install large scale L2s and a few L3's to attract customers to their properties. Incentivizing people to visit and stay for a few hours would give them the excuse to raise rents.

 

[Struja]

I'm surprised that commercial property owners (Shopping malls) are not being proactive to install large scale L2s and a few L3's to attract customers to their properties. Incentivizing people to visit and stay for a few hours would give them the excuse to raise rents.

Ditto. The building where my office is, is owned by Manulife. They are DESPERATE to get a LEED certification in this building (so much so that we now have a roof top beehive). Having said that, I've suggested to them (numerous times) that they install EV chargers (to no avail), so there doesn't seem to be too much of an appetite for it.