Is Electrify America Pass Plus Worth The Cost?

If you're a Tesla owner, chances are you do the bulk of your road trip charges at a Tesla Supercharger.  

But let's say you're heading out on a US-based EV road trip in your non-Tesla.  Chances are, Electrify America (EA) stations are one of the charging options along your way.  If your car doesn't have a free charging option like many new Volkswagen ID4 vehicles or others, you'll likely need to pay for those charging sessions.  

EA Pass versus Pass +

EA has several payment options:

1. No membership: Pay as you go with a credit or debit card
2. Pass membership: Fund your account with a credit card, and use your app to pay - no monthly fee
3. Pass+ membership: Fund your account with a credit card, and use your app to pay - $7 per month

Which Is Best For Your Use Case?

EA's only guidance for Pass+ is to recommend it if "I fast charge regularly" and mentions the $7.00 per month fee.  

So what does that buy you?  Basically the monthly fee buys down the 25% off the per kilowatt-hour (kWh) energy rate or, where applicable, the equivalent per minute charging rate.  

Let's Do The Payback Math

Currently the difference between the no-membership/Pass rate versus Pass+ rate in areas where EA can charge by the kilowatt-hour (kWh) is:

• $0.48/kWh - No membership/Pass
• $0.36/kWh - Pass+

Note: This is the rate in Michigan currently.  Check the EA web site for cost to charge in your area.

With a difference of $0.12/kWh, we can calculate the break-even point by dividing the month fee by the savings ($0.48 - $0.36 = $0.12/kWh):

$7.00 per month / $0.12/kWh = 58.33 kWh break-even point

Conclusion:  If you charge more than 58.33 kWh per month, it's worth the $7.00 per month fee.

If you charge a 64 kWh EV like a Chevy Bolt EV from 20-80%, that's about 38 kWh.  So with two charges like that, you'll be well over the 58 kWh break-even point and you're saving money.  

Let's check it:

Pass:     58.33 kWh x $0.48/kWH = $28.00

Pass+:   58.33 kWh x $0.36/kWh = $21.00 + $7.00 monthly fee = $28.00 total

After 58.33 kWh, you are saving $0.12 per kWh.

How Can You See Your Savings?

Once you are enrolled, each charge summary should show you the savings.  In the example on the right, you'll see I saved $4.45 by being a Pass+ member that month.  The app will also track your monthly savings in an effort to encourage you to stay with Pass+.  

You Can Change Enrollment on a Monthly Basis

Let's say you only travel extensively during the holidays or during summer vacation but after that you don't want to be stuck paying the recurring monthly fee.  The Pass+ membership can be turned on an off as needed.  Pass+ is valid for one month from the time you subscribe, but you can immediately unsubscribe so that it won't automatically renew.  Note that you cannot get a refund for the current Pass+ enrollment.  

The plan will change one month after you made the plan change request.  If you changed from Pass+ back to Pass, you'll get the full benefit for one month.  That is, your change will not "throw you out" of the plan until one month has passed.  

To change your plan, simply go into the EA app, select "Plans" to see what plan you are on, and drill down to see what the other plan options are.  Just change your plan as needed.  

Other Charging Networks

Note that some charging networks like EVGo may have similar plans or even multiple tiers.  To calculate your savings, just divide the monthly fee by the per kilowatt-hour price (like shown above) to calculate the number of kilowatt-hours you need to charge to break even.  

I hope you found this helpful.  Please subscribe to the blog to get notified of future blog posts.

Safe travels!