One Detroit-area Hyundai dealer wants $400 to charge your car — SkimNews
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- Stanley Kpenkann was charged $418 for a roughly 40-minute EV charging session at Elder Hyundai's Macomb Township store, after finding the charger listed as publicly available on the EVgo app but not learning the cost until after he unplugged.
- Elder Hyundai charges $5 per kWh plus $5 per minute for EV charging, a pricing structure the article calls "eye-gouging" — and Kpenkann said EVgo confirmed it was not an error.
- A Union, NJ Hyundai dealer charged $15 per kWh to top off a customer's IONIQ 5 in June 2026, prompting Steve Birkett of Plug & Play EV to publicly call out the dealer and broader dealership charging practices on LinkedIn.
- A Reddit user received a $671.60 bill at an MES-branded charging station in Sycamore, IL after the operator failed to update pricing in the app; when challenged, the company "doubled down" and sent its own power bill to justify the charge.
- EV charge point operators in many states are not required to post legible per-kWh pricing at the station the way gas stations are, leaving first-time EV drivers vulnerable to hidden fees and post-session sticker shock.
- The author proposes four rules for publicly funded chargers: unfettered public access for 16 hours daily, illuminated transparent pricing signs, capped energy markups with audits, and an aggressive clawback mechanism for incentive dollars.
Why it matters: Dealerships operating "public" EV chargers with no price disclosure requirements are converting state and federal incentive programs into profit centers, charging up to $15/kWh — many multiples above typical home rates — and potentially souring first-time EV buyers on electric driving before they ever own one.
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