PG&E EV2-A Rate Plan: The Complete Bay Area EV Owners Guide 2026

What is EV2-A? (60-second summary)

EV2-A — formally called Schedule EV2-A: Residential Time-of-Use Service for Plug-In Electric Vehicle Customers — is PG&E's opt-in time-of-use (TOU) electric rate plan designed specifically for households with at least one battery-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle. It is a whole-house rate: every kilowatt-hour your home uses is billed under EV2-A, not just the EV charging.

The plan splits the day into three time periods. Off-peak is the long, cheap window from midnight to 3pm. Partial-peak is the shoulder period (3–4pm and 9pm–midnight). Peak is 4–9pm — the most expensive hours of the day. The price difference between off-peak and peak is large, and the trick to saving money on EV2-A is simple: charge overnight and shift big appliances out of the 4–9pm window.

EV2-A is also the rate plan PG&E nudges new EV buyers toward by default. If you bought a Tesla, Rivian, Ford Lightning, Bolt, or any other EV in the Bay Area in the last few years, your dealer or PG&E's EV onboarding probably already pointed you here.

EV2-A vs E-TOU-C vs E-ELEC: which one fits your home?

PG&E offers three other rate plans that EV households commonly evaluate:

The most common comparison is EV2-A vs E-TOU-C. EV2-A's off-peak window is longer (12am–3pm vs midnight–3pm equivalents on E-TOU-C, depending on season), and its off-peak per-kWh price is lower. EV2-A's peak price is, however, higher than E-TOU-C's. So:

• If you charge ≥150 kWh/month overnight on the EV → EV2-A almost always wins.
• If you have a heat pump + EV + electric oven → E-ELEC may edge ahead, especially with rooftop solar.
• If you don't actually charge much (a PHEV that mostly burns gas) → E-TOU-C may be safer.

PG&E's own EV Savings Calculator compares your actual hourly usage against all three rates — we recommend running it before you switch.

Who qualifies for EV2-A?

Three requirements, all simple:

1. You take residential electric service from PG&E.
2. You have at least one BEV or PHEV registered to the service address (or you plan to). PG&E may ask for the VIN or DMV registration during enrollment.
3. You agree to a whole-house TOU rate — meaning every kWh, including the dryer, fridge, and TV, is billed under EV2-A's time-of-use schedule.

You do not need a separate meter or sub-meter for the EV. EV2-A is a whole-home rate, which is exactly why it's so important to think about everything in your house and when it runs — not just the car.

EV2-A 2026 rates by time of day

The EV2-A schedule splits weekdays and weekends slightly differently. Here's the structure:

Per-kWh prices change a few times a year as PG&E's tariff is updated, and on March 1, 2026 PG&E implemented a residential bill redesign that introduced a new fixed Base Services Charge while reducing per-kWh rates by an estimated $0.05–$0.07 on average. Always pull current rates directly from your PG&E account or the published EV2-A tariff sheet before modeling your bill — the most accurate, up-to-the-moment numbers always live there.

The structural truth that doesn't change: off-peak is dramatically cheaper than peak, and the spread is meaningfully wider than on E-TOU-C. That spread is what makes EV2-A worth switching to.

Summer vs winter pricing

EV2-A has a seasonal split:

• Summer: June 1 – September 30. Peak rates run a few cents/kWh higher.
• Winter: October 1 – May 31. Peak and off-peak rates are slightly lower.

The time-of-day boundaries (4–9pm peak, 12am–3pm off-peak) stay the same year-round. The seasonal price difference is small, but it does mean a Tesla Model Y owner driving the same miles will pay a few dollars more per month in summer than winter.

Real cost calculations: Model Y, F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T

The exact dollar number depends on PG&E's current per-kWh rate at your address (which varies a couple of cents between climate zones), but the structure of the savings is the same for every EV. The variable that matters most is kWh consumed per month, not the make of the car.

Below we use representative usage assumptions from each manufacturer's EPA-rated efficiency to estimate monthly kWh, then show the relative savings of EV2-A's off-peak vs E-TOU-C's peak. We don't quote a specific dollar figure — please run your address through PG&E's calculator for that — but the relative ordering is robust.

The takeaway: heavier, less-efficient vehicles (Lightning, Rivian, Cybertruck, EQS) save more on EV2-A in absolute dollars, because every saved cent per kWh is multiplied by ~600 kWh/month instead of ~300. If you drive a truck, EV2-A is essentially a no-brainer — assuming you can shift household loads off peak.

For a precise estimate based on your address and your specific vehicle, run PG&E's EV Savings Calculator. Or try our internal cost calculator for the install side of the math.

Stacking CARE and FERA discounts on top of EV2-A

CARE (California Alternate Rates for Energy) and FERA (Family Electric Rate Assistance) are income-based residential discounts. They apply on top of any rate plan, including EV2-A:

• CARE: 20% bill discount for households earning up to 200% of federal poverty.
• FERA: ~18% off above baseline for households of 3+ earning between 200%–250% of federal poverty.
• Either program also waives the residential Base Services Charge introduced in March 2026 for qualifying low-income customers.

If you qualify, CARE or FERA + EV2-A is the cheapest legal way for a Bay Area household to charge an EV at home. Apply directly through your PG&E account — CARE/FERA approval is independent of your rate selection, and you can be on EV2-A while your CARE application is pending.

The state also offers the LIHEAP federal energy assistance program and the Arrearage Management Plan (AMP) for past-due balances — both stack with EV2-A.

How to switch to EV2-A — step-by-step

1. Sign in at pge.com. Use the account that owns your residential service.
2. Go to Account → Rate Plan. You'll see your current rate (often E-TOU-C or legacy E-1).
3. Select Compare Rate Plans. PG&E will model your last 12 months of usage against each available rate. EV2-A will appear in the list once you've confirmed you have an EV.
4. Confirm EV ownership. PG&E will ask for the VIN or DMV registration of your BEV/PHEV. If you're a brand-new owner, you can self-attest and PG&E will follow up.
5. Enroll. Confirm the change. The new rate begins on the next meter read date — typically between 1 and 30 days from enrollment.
6. Set your charging schedule. Open the Tesla, Ford Pass, Rivian, or charger app, and tell the car or Wall Connector to start charging at midnight. (For Tesla: Charging → Schedule → Set time 12:00am.)

You can switch back to your previous rate anytime, but PG&E generally limits rate changes to one per 12-month period. Make the EV2-A switch the same week you take delivery of the EV and you'll have a clean year of data to evaluate.

Will EV2-A raise my non-EV bill?

It can. EV2-A's peak rate is meaningfully higher than E-TOU-C's peak, so households that draw a lot of power between 4pm and 9pm — central A/C in summer, an electric oven for dinner, electric resistance heat in winter — may see their non-EV usage cost more under EV2-A.

Three quick checks before you switch:

• Pull a Green Button download from your PG&E account (12 months of hourly usage).
• If >25% of your annual kWh lands inside the 4–9pm window and you can't shift it, EV2-A might break even or cost slightly more.
• Run PG&E's rate comparison tool — it does the math for you in 30 seconds.

For most Bay Area households charging at least one EV, the EV-side savings outweigh the non-EV-side cost increase. But it's worth checking — especially if you have an older, inefficient A/C or electric heat.

Equipment that maximizes EV2-A savings

EV2-A only saves money if your charging actually happens off-peak. The hardware that makes that automatic:

For two-EV households, see our guide on how to charge two EVs at home — Group Power Management is what lets both cars finish before 3pm without overloading the panel.

Pairing EV2-A with rooftop solar (NEM 2.0 vs NEM 3.0)

California changed the solar export rules in 2023 from NEM 2.0 (full retail credit for exports) to NEM 3.0 (much lower export credits, called the Net Billing Tariff). The two interact with EV2-A very differently:

• NEM 2.0 (legacy): exporting at noon credits you at the retail off-peak rate. EV2-A still works well, but the win is mostly from the EV side.
• NEM 3.0 (current): exports earn a small fraction of retail. The math now favors self-consumption — running pool pumps, EV charging, dishwashers during solar production instead of exporting. EV2-A's noon-3pm off-peak window aligns nicely with solar peak production, which can make daytime EV charging financially competitive on weekends.

For solar+EV households on NEM 3.0, the right play is usually: EV2-A + smart Wall Connector + storage battery (sized to your evening peak). We model these scenarios with homeowners during the quote — solar changes the rate-plan math significantly.

Common EV2-A mistakes (and how to avoid them)

1. Switching without checking your peak-period usage. If >25% of your kWh lands in 4–9pm and can't move, EV2-A may not save money. Check first.
2. Charging immediately after plug-in. Cars often default to charging the moment the plug is inserted. Always set a midnight start time on the car or Wall Connector.
3. Cooking dinner on the electric oven during peak. A 30-minute oven preheat at 6pm can erase a week of EV-side savings. Either preheat at 3:30pm or use the gas range.
4. Ignoring the partial-peak shoulder (3–4pm and 9pm–12am). It's cheaper than peak but more expensive than off-peak — try to push charging through to the post-midnight off-peak.
5. Forgetting to confirm EV registration with PG&E. Without verified EV ownership, PG&E may downgrade you off EV2-A and reapply the previous rate retroactively.
6. Using a slow Level 1 outlet. Level 1 (12A on a 120V outlet) only delivers ~3 mi/hour. If you commute >30 miles a day, Level 1 can't finish charging within the 12am–3pm window — meaning some kWh leaks into peak. A proper Level 2 install at 32–48A solves it.

How ChargeWizards installs and configures for EV2-A

Every ChargeWizards Wall Connector install includes the rate-plan setup as part of the work. Here's what that looks like:

1. Free in-person panel assessment — we tell you whether you need a panel upgrade or whether Dynamic Power Management can avoid it.
2. Permit pulled with your city — we handle Burlingame, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Atherton, San Francisco, etc.
3. Install of the Wall Connector at the right amperage for your panel and EV2-A schedule.
4. On-site EV2-A walkthrough — we sit down with you at your PG&E account, run the comparison tool, and switch the rate together if it's a clear win.
5. Charger schedule configured to start at 12:00am every night.
6. One-page handout summarizing your new rate, your charge schedule, and the Bay Area rebates you can stack on top.

We don't treat EV2-A as a separate service — it's part of doing the install correctly. If you already have a charger and just want help with the rate switch, call (650) 542-8877 and we'll walk you through it on the phone for free.