A woman in Waterford Township, MI is facing possible EV discrimination, as management at her condominium is allegedly gouging the price of the electricity used to charge her Chevrolet Volt.
As WXYZ in Detroit reports, Natalie Forte owns a condominium in Waterford, where for the past five months, she would charge her Volt in a separate garage unit. The electricity bills are kept separate for the condo units, but the bill for the garages is split and shared with her neighbors, under fees paid monthly to the Home Owners Association.
When the HOA saw an increase in this shared electricity bill, they went after Forte. She agreed to cover the added electricity used by her Volt, and sent a check to the HOA for the amount – a figure that she quoted at $50.
But the Home Owner’s Association didn’t cash it. Instead, they demanded a $200 check, and when she didn’t pay, they cut power to her garage. Forte calls it a price gouge; according to her, $50 should have been enough to cover the increase in consumption caused by her Chevrolet Volt.
What WXYZ couldn’t provide is whether or not $50 would have been sufficient to offset the cost of charging Forte’s Volt. According to NPR, the average cost of electricity in the US is 12 cents per kilowatt-hour. Website MyChevroletVolt.com claims that 13.5 kilowatt-hours are required to totally recharge the battery from depleted (on a 110V outlet).
Assuming that Forte ran her Chevrolet Volt to depletion every day for five months and then recharged it, the total cost of the electricity would likely be more in the range of $240, though that’s a very rough figure. Now, she does argue that other residents have refrigerators and similar appliances running in their own garage units, but even an old, inefficient unit would likely run up a tab more in the neighborhood of $70 over the same 5 month period.
We’re still far from having all the facts, but as of right now, we simply don’t know if Forte’s story can be believed.
Comments
Ugh. Let’s focus on GM news, not crazy people doing crazy stuff. I know, more writers, same amount of stories… but this is not news.
There have been 1,500 stories of HOA’s doing things like this to EV’s already. Enough. We get it. It’s not news. HOA’s and HOA owners/tenants do crazy stuff every hour of every day of the year.
Turn to your bylaws, enter into binding arbitration (typically what they call for), and mediate a resolution. Running to the press (and worse, GM Authority metablogging/regurgitating it), is old hat on this subject.
Hate to say it, but $40/month sounds more like it, than $10/month.
This is going to be one stumbling block for all plug in models no matter what make.
Unless you have your own place to plug in and you own electricity you will be a the mercy of who ever provides the electric.
Who is to say the chargers at the mall are not 50 Cents higher than what you pay at home. Sure some places my provide them for no extra charge etc. when there are few cars like they do today but add more cars to the mix and that will all change. There is a place here to make money just as any gas station.
Also add in that electric rates will only rise with the increases in EPA rulings killing cheap coal.
This is why Musk promotes he charging stations. One it gave infrastructure needed because his cars are limited in range without them But second it will be a second form of income.
Imagine If GM had built gas stations back in 1920 and sold gasoline as a way to provide more places to fill up but still held on to them as more potential income.
While Musk may promote himself for saving the world with the electric car he is not planning to donate all the money to Charity as he is in this for profit. Others will see a opening once there are enough cars to do the same and charging stations with higher rates than what you pay at home will pop up everywhere.