Ordering a Rivian? Use code JOSE1715716 to earn 500 points on your purchase.
$3/kWh to Charge at Universal Epic Universe Theme Park?
It’s not often that two of my worlds, electric vehicles and theme parks, collide, but here in Orlando, they just did in a big way. Universal recently opened its brand-new Epic Universe park, and with it came a shiny new parking lot outfitted with something that caught my eye: 40 Level 2 EV chargers, all tucked under sleek solar panel canopies. It’s a dream setup on paper, solar-powered EV charging while you explore a theme park? Count me in.
Naturally, I had to check it out. These chargers are powered by NovaCharge and accessed via the ChargeUp app (which, to be honest, is one of the worst app experiences I’ve ever had with EV charging). But what truly floored me was the price. I opened the app and there it was: $3.00 per kilowatt-hour.
Nope, that’s not a typo. Three dollars. Per kWh. For Level 2 charging. I checked every one of the 40 chargers in the app same pricing across the board. Thinking it had to be a mistake, I reached out to both NovaCharge and Universal Orlando. They confirmed it was correct.
To put that in perspective: if you’ve got a Rivian Max Pack with a 140 kWh battery, a full charge at that rate would cost $420. Of course, nobody’s going to sit at a Level 2 charger long enough to fill up that much, but the pricing is still outrageous. Especially when you consider that most Level 2 chargers run anywhere from free to a buck an hour, tops. These chargers max out at 7.6 kW and use standard J1772 plugs, not exactly premium hardware.
The good news? After what I can only imagine was a flood of angry EV drivers raising eyebrows and red flags, Universal reached out this morning to say they’ve adjusted the pricing. It’s now technically free to charge at $0.00/kWh but there’s a $0.50 transaction fee plus 5% of the session cost. So that $420 theoretical charge? Well now that its $0.00/kWh your charge would only be $0.50 for the whole day!
Still, this whole thing raises a bigger question: How many people unknowingly paid that $3.00/kWh rate before the change? And how do charging networks justify rates like that, especially in places designed for all-day parking?
If this isn’t the most expensive Level 2 charging setup in the U.S., I’d love to hear about the one that is. And if you’re planning to visit Epic Universe in your EV make sure you update that ChargeUp app and double-check the fees before you plug in.
This has to be an error. At best someone might use it just to have enough juice to get to a reasonably priced charger outside the park.
Which part is an error?
If anyone pays that, they deserve to be kicked in the nuts. I don’t care if you have Elon money, cannot pay that rate out of principle alone.
and you already have to pay for parking if you are not a passholder!
With the amount you pay for parking, lvl2 charging should be included in the cost.
I’m relatively certain they intended to charge $3/hr instead of $3/kWh. Sounds more in line with Level 2 charging pricing at other places.
That would make much more sense. Someone over there is not so good at math. I’ll help them out here. If the goal is $3/hour, then they should be charging $0.39/kwh ($3/7.6kwh=$0.39/kwh). You’re welcome.
Completely unexpected this to be the site.
Thank goodness they updated it, kudos to you and everyone else who brought it up. When I went they were still building them, thank goodness I wasn’t depending on that charge.
Probably someone didn’t realize $3/kWh isn’t the same as $3/hr right you want a kilowatts in an HOUR so sure /kWh is the same as /hr.
Bet they mad some mad cash before people that are used to just plugin and charge started to see $200-400 parking tabs. Insanity. Maybe AI decided the price?