Is It Expensive to Charge an Electric Car at Costco?
Thinking about making the switch to an EV? Some factors of electric vehicle ownership seem complicated, such as finding public charging stations. If you want to know if it is expensive to charge an electric car at Costco, the PlugShare map is an excellent place to start. If the Costco Wholesale location offers charging, find out the price before even leaving the house.
Is it expensive to charge an electric car at Costco?
Using the PlugShare map feature, you can get a lot of information about public charging stations. For instance, you can select your local Costco Wholesale warehouse store and find out the charging costs. At the 2640 Lomita Boulevard store in Torrance, California, drivers have to pay a $0.30 fee per charge, and the charger requires a $10 deposit. Costco says you do not need a card or membership to charge here. Another location charges $0.21/kWh, but most prices stay in this range.
A $20 temporary hold is usually placed on the credit card for non-members, but this is refunded after the transaction is completed. The charger costs $0.15 per kWh, which is pretty standard. At this station, drivers will find six J-1772 chargers. Most drivers will spend around $10, which means isn’t expensive to charge an electric car at Costco.
Charging an electric car at Costco isn’t expensive, but many stores don’t have chargers
Not all Costco Wholesale locations have electric vehicle chargers. In fact, many of the stores do not. Looking on PlugShare, a few have solar-powered chargers that work on and off. Some chargers only require $1 per hour for payment; some stores have no charging at all.
Costco used to have many electric car chargers but removed some due to lack of use. These days, most of the chargers are located near California stores. Since these chargers are usually meant for a quick pit stop during errands, drivers aren’t paying much for 30 minutes of charging. If Costco is charging a $20 temporary hold, there’s a good chance most charging sessions won’t go over that amount.
On locations with public chargers in place, the chargers appear to be the SemaConnect brand, which Blink owns. Drivers do not need a membership to charge with SemaConnect chargers.
Where can you charge an electric vehicle for free?
PlugShare and EVPassport apps are some of the best resources for finding free electric vehicle charging. These apps can tell you where a charger station is located and what kind of charger it is. It might also alert you when a location is offering free EV charging. Using the PlugShare free EV station map shows hundreds of free chargers in North America.
Visitor Centers near the highway, energy-focused businesses, colleges, museums, casinos, and parking garages appear on the map. An excellent place to find free chargers is also through a highly populated shopping plaza or a hotel. Some Whole Foods stores offer free charging; some have phased it out. Hotels will likely have free EV chargers for patrons, but that will vary from location to location.
While the cost to charge an electric car at Costco isn’t a lot, make sure your local store has chargers available before relying on it. There might be a better-equipped charger nearby since Costco stores are usually in big plazas for added convenience.
