I Just Paid $54 To Drive An Electric Car 195 Miles And This Is A Big Problem
I didn’t save any money, but least I helped save the planet.
Charging an electric car away from home can be a costly endeavor, and I just got a big reminder of that fact.
During a recent test of the 2024 Acura ZDX Type S — which is excellent to drive and now one of my favorite EVs — I found myself having to stop to charge the battery during a long round trip from New York City to southern New Jersey.
Despite being the most densely populated state, large swaths of New Jersey remain fast charging deserts unless you drive a Tesla Supercharger-compatible vehicle. The number of stations available is dismal, even along the main corridors of the NJ Turnpike and NJ Parkway.
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I was heading back to New York City at night when the car told me I had no chance of making it home without topping up. The Google navigation system was helpful in finding places to charge, with the least inconvenient being a 10 minute detour off of my route.
It was an EVgo/GM Energy location in the middle of a sketchy parking lot that was under the watchful eye of one of those portable police cameras. There was a 350 kW station that was full and two 100 kW stations that were open when I arrived, so I got stuck with the slow ones. The other charger soon filled up and it wasn’t long before a waiting line formed. And they definitely had to wait.
The ZDX can charge at up to 190 kW, but this station was giving me 73 kW during my 62-minute session to charge from around 10% to 80% for 74.7 kWh of juice. That is good for approximately 195 miles of driving at the 2.6 miles per kW average the car was delivering.
The price? $54.15. Shocking, to say the least. That includes $47.79 at 64 cents per kWh for the electricity plus a $3.37 in taxes and a $2.99 session fee.
I’d never run into such a high rate before and rates are high in the area. I paid 56 cents per kWh a few days later at an Electrify America station that totaled $48.60 for 81 kWh. Better, but still bad.
Putting these numbers into perspective, the gas station down the block from the EVgo was selling regular for $2.98 per gallon at the time I wrote this. A Honda CR-V Hybrid that’s rated at 40 mpg could fill up there and cover that 195 miles for $15. Heck, a 720 hp Ford F-150 Raptor R that gets 12 mph could do it for $48.75.
It’s not news that charging at home is a lot more affordable than using a fast charger, but even that costs an average of 19.32 cents per kWh in NJ, which would be $14.10 for 73 kWh. Prices for gas and electricity vary across every state, of course.
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The charging networks offer discount memberships that can reduce their rates for a monthly fee, but that ties you to a particular brand, which isn’t always an option on a road trip. Signing up for several could end up being a waste of money like all of those other subscriptions you forgot about.
Public charging system prices aren’t likely to drop anytime soon, especially with more and more 350 kW stations being built, and this will remain a huge barrier to entry for anyone who lives in an apartment or can’t put a charger in at home.
An increasingly good rule of thumb for price conscious drivers is: if you can’t afford to buy a house, or have cheap or free charging at work, think twice before you buy an electric car.
(The Gas Station is where American Cars And Racing Executive Editor Gary Gastelu vents his opinions. Feel free to let us know if you think they stink.)
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