If you pay to park in a municipal garage and get free charging, is it a good deal?

In downtown Englewood, a municipal parking garage offers five free PSE&G charging stations. Today, a Tesla Model S 90D, two Smart EVs, and a Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid hooked up to four of them.

The Volt driver thought nothing of running the charge cable across the hood of the new car and possibly scratching it.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I've owned a Tesla Model S since April 2015, and have never had to pay to charge the car on trips away from northern New Jersey.

I either charge the car at my home, where solar panels generate the electricity I use, or take advantage of Tesla's extensive network of free Superchargers or destination chargers at hotels and resorts.

So, what do you do when you have a non-Tesla EV or a plug-in hybrid without free charging?

Today, I saw the owners of four cars using free charging stations at the municipal garage in Englewood, where the first two hours of parking cost $1.50.

It's likely that no matter what the rate of charge, owners of EVs and plug-in hybrids are getting a break on the cost of electricity, even after the parking fee is figured in.  

The garage uses pay stations that accept paper currency, coins and credit cards.

But the machine won't make change of, say, a $5 bill, as one woman I encountered today found out too late.

Charging your car is free, but not parking in the garage. The rates are 50 cents for the first half hour and $1 for each hour after that. I don't know how fast these chargers are.

My last electric bill said 1 kWh hour of electricity cost a total of 17 cents to 18 cents, including delivery to my home. You can travel on electricity more cheaply than on gasoline.