I was recently a guest on episode 127 of the Elektroautomobil podcast. The topic: price chaos at the charger. Why do public-charging prices swing so much – and why is it so hard for drivers to keep track? I summarised the key points from my conversation with Marcus Zacher here.
The current “normal”
Public charging without a dedicated subscription is currently settling at around 50 to 60 ct/kWh. At a typical fast charger that means roughly €30–36 for a 10→80 % charge of a 60 kWh battery. Not cheap, but okay – as long as you actually pay that price.
The problem: many drivers don’t pay that price. They pay significantly more. Or significantly less. Without knowing in advance.
Where prices explode
We regularly hear from our community about bills at 85 ct/kWh, 95 ct/kWh or even over a euro per kilowatt-hour. That can double the cost of a charge. Three main causes:
- Ad-hoc without the right card: Anyone who spontaneously pulls up at a random charger without a contract or suitable card usually pays the premium tariff. That’s not an accident – it’s the default when there’s no relationship with the operator.
- Roaming via the “wrong” card: The European charging network runs on roaming. A CPO (Charge Point Operator) runs the station; an eMSP (e-Mobility Service Provider) sells the card or app. Each party takes a margin, and they add up. At the same charger, card A can be 59 ct and card B 95 ct. Same power, same station, almost double the price.
- Premium locations: Motorway service areas, city-centre hubs or airports often have higher prices. The reasons are usually structural: lease costs, revenue share with the site owner, expensive micro-location. That isn’t automatically gouging – but drivers should know about it.
What about the fair prices?
They exist too – more than many people realise:
- Aral pulse regularly shows tariffs around 51–61 ct/kWh, depending on power.
- EnBW mobility+ offers contract customers tariffs below 60 ct – with a subscription even 39 ct/kWh at its own fast chargers.
- Ionity Passport Power sits at 39 ct/kWh at its own sites if you drive long distance regularly.
- Local utilities in some regions offer 29–39 ct/kWh – mostly at slower AC chargers, but sometimes DC too.
So the problem isn’t that there are no fair prices. The problem is that they are nowhere fully side by side – for the specific charger, before the session.
Why is all this so opaque?
Three structural reasons:
- CPO ≠ eMSP: The terminal displays an ad-hoc price set by the operator. What gets billed is what your provider negotiated with the operator. That can be different. Rarely the same.
- AFIR in the works: The EU’s AFIR (Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation) mandates price transparency at fast chargers. That is getting better – more terminals show clear pricing. But it isn’t rolled out everywhere yet.
- No mandatory sharing with apps: To this day there is no legal obligation for CPOs to share their tariffs with third-party apps. Price transparency in our tool is a mix of cooperation, API integrations and hard work.
How can drivers bring order to the chaos?
From our experience, three levers avoid most nasty surprises:
- See all tariffs side by side. Ad-hoc price, your own charging cards and – if you use it – ChargingTimePay in one view. Only those who can compare can decide well. That’s the core of our price comparison.
- Filter before the trip – not at the charger. Save your charging cards in ChargingTime and select your providers in the operator filter. You’ll then only see stations along your route where you charge at fair prices.
- Use the radius mode for spontaneous stops. When you want to charge at the destination, the radius price comparison shows you which station nearby is the cheapest. Often 30 cents per kWh separate the most expensive and the cheapest station in the same neighbourhood.
“Price transparency isn’t a marketing line for us – it’s an operating principle. If another card at a station is cheaper than ours, we show that. That’s the only way transparency actually means something.”
Jonas Sulzer, Co-Founder of On Your Route GmbH
What is changing on the regulatory side
AFIR is a good first step. Make prices visible at the charger, use clear units (€/kWh rather than €/minute where possible), mandate card payment above a certain power – all the right levers. What’s still missing: a mandatory opening of price data so that apps and fleet tools can compare across the board. Without that, price transparency remains piecemeal because each app has to negotiate with each operator individually.
Takeaway from the podcast
Price chaos at the charger has structural causes – it won’t resolve overnight. AFIR helps on the regulatory side, better data infrastructure helps technically, more competition between providers helps economically. Until all of that comes together, an app with honest price overview is what separates “I guess I’ll pay” from “I’ll save that”.
The full episode 127 of the Elektroautomobil podcast – including every detail that didn’t fit here – is available directly on elektroautomobil.com. Thanks to Marcus Zacher for the conversation.
