- EVgo rolls out reservation option for charging spots in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Sacramento, Redmond and Santa Barbara.
- Reserving a spot costs $3.00, and it can either be immediate or up to two weeks in advance.
- EVgo cites demand from customers, pointing to popularity of this type of convenience, but program is limited to 17 stations for now.
As EV adoption rates rise, one issue owners are running into is arriving at public charging station and seeing all the spots taken by other EVs. This is happening in areas where EVs are common, such as the Bay Area, as well as places where charging stations just happen to be rare but where EVs see a lot of interstate travel. This would be among the sparse cross-country routes where there is one charging station just off the interstate, and it happens to be the only one for many miles.
What's the solution to waiting for a half hour while another EV gets its juice?
EVgo, one of the leading station networks in the U.S., is rolling out a reservation option for station spots on a trial basis. The company is expanding the option to a number of cities after a smaller pilot launch earlier in 2021, and is now offering this option at a number of in-demand stations San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Sacramento, Redmond and Santa Barbara -- all the places one would imagine would have plenty of competition for EV charging spots.
EVgo users in these areas can book a spot via a smartphone app at 17 current locations, and can schedule a time at an available charger, either right away or as far as two weeks in advance. Drivers can also cancel a reservation within the first 5 minutes for free if the reservation is immediate, or 24 hours prior to a reservation at a future date. Also, other drivers can view whether station spots are reserved via their own app.
The roll-out of EVgo Reservations was prompted by demand from users, it turns out, one that could be a preview of a not-so-distant future when reserving a spot prior to arriving at a station becomes commonplace.
"Innovation at EVgo starts with listening to EV drivers to understand and address their evolving needs," said Cathy Zoi, CEO of EVgo. "We heard directly from a number of our customers that they’d value the ability to reserve fast chargers ahead of time so they can know it will be available for them during their weekly grocery shop or during the kids’ baseball practice. EVgo knows that making charging convenient for all EV drivers is how we’ll accelerate the move to an all-electric future."
Of course, this feature isn't free—it costs $3.00 to make a reservation—and the number of chargers where it's available for now is pretty limited. In addition, just one charger at each station can be reserved.
But it does appear to be a feature that could catch on in the future, whether one is traveling and needs to stay on schedule, or simply needs to reserve a spot at a particular station because charging options at home are limited. This goes for residents of buildings where chargers are scarce or non-existent, or those rare EV owners who only have curbside parking or just a Level 1 outlet at home. And as EV ownership rises, reserving a spot could be quite a common practice as charging infrastructure struggles to keep up.
"EVgo's site host partners also benefit from the EVgo Reservations program, as approximately 80% of EVgo customers report they like to shop or run other errands while charging," the company says. "Being able to lock in the exact time to charge makes it even easier and more convenient for customers to align those plans."
It remains to be seen whether this program will expand nationwide to EVgo's entire network, and whether this could be the start of a trend for other station operators. Last month Audi published a concept for a new type of luxury station that can also be reserved, featuring a lounge area with food. The automaker plans to build a first working station of this type later this year ahead of a possible rollout.
Would you pay $3 to reserve a charging spot at least once a week? Let us know in the comments below.
Jay Ramey grew up around very strange European cars, and instead of seeking out something reliable and comfortable for his own personal use he has been drawn to the more adventurous side of the dependability spectrum. Despite being followed around by French cars for the past decade, he has somehow been able to avoid Citroën ownership, judging them too commonplace, and is currently looking at cars from the former Czechoslovakia. Jay has been with Autoweek since 2013.
