The owner of Redline Dodge Chrysler in Swan River doesn't understand why a Dauphin man is mad after he charged his electric vehicle (EV) in Swan River.
Earlier this year, John from Dauphin was in Swan River for a medical appointment and decided to charge his EV at the dealership, owned by Greg Ashauer. The cost to charge is $5.99 per minute, and John charged his vehicle for one hour and 53 minutes.
The final bill was $681.36. Two weeks after leaving Swan River, John called the dealership looking for some of the funds back.
"Whether he's upset or not, I really couldn't care less at this point. He phoned twice, 10 days before he came and asked multiple times what the price per minute was, and we made it extremely clear," said Ashauer. "The price is clearly marked on the charger in a big, bright blue digital display. Plus, the only way to charge is to stay connected to the app, which shows the price."
CKDM News caught up with John K on Monday morning.
"My jaw hit the ground, I was shocked," said Kolishyk. "I thought there was a mistake, maybe they put the decimal in the wrong place. I thought it would be $68.10."
Greg was forced to purchase the charger, installed last July, for $86,000. From January 1 to March 31 of this year, Greg reported a net profit of $3.68 for the first quarter. He concedes he'll never recoup the $86,000 he initially invested. He also has to pay additional fees every time someone uses the charger.
"Every Chrysler dealer had to buy at least one; some had to buy six or eight, depending on the size of the store," ended Ashauer. "At this point, it's just brain damage to me. I'm just going to shut it off. I would have never purchased this, there are a million other things that I could have spent that money on."
The province is planning to regulate EV charging costs. There are about 10,000 electric vehicles in Manitoba, and the normal fee for a full charge at a commercial charging station is about $20 per hour.
"I talked to three people in the shop and not one of them mentioned that the price per minute was extremely high," ended John K. "I would have never used it if I knew the price."
