MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A Clinton Township man was charged more than $400 for a single electric vehicle charging session at a Macomb Township Hyundai dealership — after finding the charger listed as publicly available on the EVgo app.
Watch Evan Sery's video report:
Stanley Kpenkann said he was driving home in a rental Chevy Bolt on a late August night after dropping a friend off at the airport when his battery ran low.
"I'm down to the last 20 minutes on my battery," Kpenkann said.
He opened the EVgo app to find the nearest charging station, which directed him to a Hyundai dealership on Hall Road in Macomb Township. The 44-minute session cost him $418.
"I was flabbergasted; never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be saddled with a bill of 418 dollars for a charging session," Kpenkaan said.
When Kpenkaan initially saw the charge, he assumed it was an error.
"This is probably just a billing glitch," Kpenkaan said.
But EVgo confirmed the charge was valid. The dealership's charging machine displays the pricing on its screen: $5 per kilowatt-hour and $5 per minute. Kpenkaan said he never saw those prices before starting the session.
"You don't go into a gas station where the average price of gas is 4 dollars, expecting they're gonna charge you 25 dollars per gallon," Kpenkaan said.
The dealership told me Kpenkaan had used a charger reserved for its own customers and vehicles. General managers at the dealership said the prices are set high to deter outside use.
Adrianne Merritt, a Clinton Township resident I spoke with at a Utica EV charging station — where she was paying 50 cents per kilowatt-hour with no per-minute charge — said the situation struck her as unreasonable.
"To me that's a little bit crazy, especially at a dealership where they're selling EV vehicles," Merritt said. "I would be livid for that amount; I'd contact the machine or dealership to see why or get some money back."
When I reached out to EVgo, a spokesperson said the company has a roaming agreement with ChargePoint, whose name appears on the chargers.
"Roaming is enabled at the Hyundai dealership in Macomb, and drivers can charge at that site through their EVgo account; however, all pricing is set by the dealership as the station owner," the spokesperson said.
Kpenkaan said the arrangement made no sense to him.
"It makes no sense for you to have it on the app, but say we don't want anyone to use it because of private use, then make it private, don't make it public," Kpenkaan said.
After back-and-forth with EVgo, the company processed what it called a goodwill refund of $405. EVgo said the remaining $13.27 reflects what the charging session would have cost under Kpenkaan's subscription plan.
Kpenkaan said he is grateful he came forward and urged other EV drivers to check prices before plugging in.
"It shouldn't take the intervention of a TV station for me to be refunded; it just seems to me like they were planning on getting away with it the whole time," Kpenkaan said.
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