Charging prices and idle fees

How pricing works

Charging rates are set by the owner of the site, not by Hypercharge. Every location sets its own price, so the rate at one building may be different from the rate at another. Some sites charge nothing at all.

Rates are charged in one of these ways, depending on the site:

• Per kilowatt-hour (kWh) — you pay for the energy you actually receive
• Per hour — you pay for the time you’re connected, regardless of energy delivered
• Flat fee — a single price for the whole session, regardless of time or energy. Used at only a small number of sites.

Per-kWh and per-hour pricing are by far the most common.

Check the price before you plug in

Find the station in the app and tap it. The station’s detail view shows the charging rate and any idle fee that applies.

Tip

Check the rate before you start, especially at a station you haven’t used before. Rates vary widely between sites, and are subject to change at any time at the site owner’s discretion.

If a station is still Under construction, it won’t show a price yet — it isn’t available for use. See What station statuses mean.

Idle fees

An idle fee is a charge that applies when your vehicle stays connected after it has finished charging. Its purpose is to free up the station for the next driver.

Idle fees are also set per site. Some stations have none at all. Most stations with idle fees offer a grace period of 15–30 minutes before the fee starts, so you aren’t penalised for not returning to your vehicle the instant it finishes — but not every station has one.

To see whether a station has an idle fee — and what the grace period and rate are — tap the station in the app and read the fee breakdown.

Note

Idle fees can be significant, and they’re the most common reason drivers are surprised by a charge. If you’re planning on leaving your vehicle plugged in after it is finished charging — such as overnight — check the idle fee first.

How much balance do I need?

You need more than $1 in your account for a session to start at all. How much you need to finish a session is a different question, and depends on several things:

• The rate at that station, and whether it’s charged per kWh, per hour, or as a flat fee
• How much charge your vehicle needs
• How long you intend to stay plugged in
• How fast the session will actually run. Station power varies widely both within and between Level 2 and DC fast, and your vehicle sets its own limit too — some plug-in hybrids draw as little as 16A. On a time-based rate, a slower session costs more for the same energy.

As a rule of thumb, these amounts cover the vast majority of sessions on the Hypercharge network:

Charger type	Balance that covers most sessions
Level 2 (slower, most common)	$20
DC fast	$25

Treat those as a guide rather than a guarantee. A long overnight session, a large battery, or an above-average rate can all push a session past them.

Tip

Rather than guessing, turn on automatic balance reloads. Your balance tops up automatically whenever it falls below $10, so a session won’t be cut short because you ran out. A reload amount of $25 or more covers the vast majority of sessions on either charger type.

If you’d rather top up manually, check the station’s rate in the app and think about how much charge you actually need before you decide what to load.

Note

It’s best to add more balance than you expect to need — running out mid-session ends the charge, while unused balance is never lost. You can refund your remaining balance to your original payment method at any time from the Account page in the app. See Refund your Hypercharge account balance.

Parking fees are separate

Parking charges are set and collected by whoever operates the parking facility. They are not part of your Hypercharge charging cost, and Hypercharge has no control over them. If you’re being asked to pay for parking as well as charging, those are two separate transactions.

RFID cards

Ordering a Hypercharge RFID card through the app carries a one-time fee. The current price is shown in the app at the time you order. See Ordering a Hypercharge RFID card.

If a charge looks wrong

First, check the station’s rate and idle fee in the app — most unexpected amounts turn out to be an idle fee that applied after charging finished, or a per-hour rate rather than a per-kWh one. Be aware that time-based fees typically do not end until you have disconnected from the charging station, especially at public charging locations.

If the amount still doesn’t look right, contact support@hypercharge.com with the station ID and the approximate date and time of the session.

Note

If you no longer need the funds in your account, you can request a refund of your remaining balance. See Refund your Hypercharge account balance.