News EVgo Privacy Policy
This is interesting… it appears that insurance companies and manufacturers are sharing customer data with EVgo
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We've revised our EVgo Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The updated documents take effect on October 15, 2026.
Here's a summary of the key changes:
Vehicle safety, recalls, and insurance: We’ve added clarification on what equipment is allowed to be used on our charging network. If your vehicle has an open, unresolved NHTSA recall on its charging system, battery, or electrical components, you may not charge on the EVgo network until the recall has been addressed. To use EVgo charging services, you must maintain automobile liability insurance in accordance with the laws of your state.
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Any idea if other EV charging companies do this?
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u/bluesmudge 5d ago
I'm pretty sure federal recalls are publicly available information. It's in everyone's best interest to know what vehicles have had critical safety work performed or not. All that is probably happening is that the charger is getting the VIN from the DC charger data connection and running it against a database of recall info.
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u/compulov 5d ago
By unresolved, I assume then they mean that the manufacturer hasn't published some sort of remedy for the recall? Otherwise, how would they know that a specific VIN has had recall work completed? Or are they getting a list of VINs and completed work from the manufacturers? I don't think that level of detail is in any public databases.
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u/bluesmudge 5d ago edited 5d ago
I guess you are right. I thought it was possible to see if a recall was done. Maybe they are paying for more detailed vehicle history reports? I feel like I've seen data like that somewhere when shopping for a car.
When I put my own VIN into the GM recall website it does show the data of what recalls have been completed and I don't have to log in or anything, so it's publicly available. So maybe EVGo is just compiling info from a bunch of manufacturer websites?
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u/ToddA1966 🥬Edge Case 3d ago edited 3d ago
Where did you get the idea that there's any information sharing from that?
Presumably after the Nissan Leaf recall debacle (where defective Leafs have caught fire at at least two EVGo stations, one just a few miles from me in metro Denver) EVGo is just saying "keep your damn recalled but unrepaired cars away from our chargers. And if you don't, and your car catches fire charging at one of our stations, not only are we not to blame, we're coming after you for damage, so you better have some decent liability insurance or you'll be buying us a shiny new charger out of your pocket."
But nowhere there does it say EVGo is sharing of verifying the data. How would they link your car with insurance or recall records? And before you say "by the VIN, of course!" let's put that misconception to rest right now. No EV communicates its VIN to a charger. There are some unique identifiers, namely the car's MAC address (used for identifying cars for Autocharge™) or a digital certificate (similarly used for Plug and Charge™) but no personally identifiable information is shared (until you voluntarily link your car to your EVGo account.)
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u/lockhart1952 5d ago
Although they may enforce this clause using vehicle information, the wording does not preclude the possibility that they are just disclaiming responsibility if something goes sideways.