This is likely a dumb question but when you hook up to one of those public outlets, how do you pay.
Through an app, through a credit/debit card, or you have an account with the provider that identifies your car when it connects. And some public charge points are ‘free’ - so you pay for it when you patronize the business offering it in increased costs.
I think you swipe your credit card or use SamsungPay or ApplePay.
Our local school district (K-8) installed solar panels over all of the parking lots and put a lot of charging stations under the panels. I think employees could park there and get FREE recharges when they first opened up!
One company I worked for had EV chargers in the parking lot, but employees could only use it for one hour. There were many times I’d be in a meeting and somebody would say “Excuse me, I have to go move my car.” Even the CFO would do that! I think they were charged back via the payroll system.
How do you pay?
For reference the battery has a 64 kilowatt capacity and I get 4.5 miles per kilowatt on average. You can never run out or you will need a tow truck. The last 1 or 2 kilowatts are unusable for all practical purposes.
Some outlets are free. I know at least 3 different places I can go right now to get cree electricity. They are 3.25 to 6.5 kilowatts per hour. 6.5 if nobody is using the second cord on some of them.
The ones that cost you use a credit card or a phone app. I have 4 different apps to charge with. Cost per kilowatt ranges from 17 cents to 40 cents. I usually pay 23 cents per kilowatt at the fast charger which is up to 45 kilowatts per hour.
Honestly I have to say I look for places that I can drive to just to be driving my electric car somewhere. I have driven from central CA to Washington State twice and south to Bishop CA over the Sierras. I would love to go to the coast or Vegas.