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Tip: charging station for e-cars: costs, tariffs and more!

Reading time 6 Min.

Recently updated on May 9, 2022 at 01:17 p.m

Tip: charging station for e-cars: costs, tariffs and more!

If you own an electric car, you can charge it in different ways. Be it at work, in your own home or at public charging stations - the possibilities are diverse. The aim of the following article is to talk about what you should know about charging your car and the costs involved. More and more people in Germany are buying electric cars or are at least thinking about them seriously. This is certainly also due to the increased purchase premium due to Corona - if you buy an electric car, you can save up to 45 percent thanks to the generously financed package from GroKo. The disadvantage here, however, is that the delivery times, mainly those of the cheap models, of e-cars have in some cases significantly increased. The ever-growing selection of inexpensive electric cars does not make the decision any easier for consumers.

E cars: what to consider?

Tip: charging station for e-cars: costs, tariffs and more!

Regardless of whether you want to buy a fully electric vehicle or just a plug-in hybrid vehicle, there are a few things you should think about before you buy: Is there a charging station nearby? Can a wallbox be organized for at home? Also with regard to the upcoming costs, the billing (flat rate, depending on the service life, kWh-based) you should inform yourself sufficiently in advance.

How do I charge e-cars at a charging station?

Tip: charging station for e-cars: costs, tariffs and more!

In principle, charging an electric car is very similar to refueling a normal vehicle. The difference, however, is that the process with an electric vehicle usually takes longer than with a conventional car. If you want to charge an electric car, you park it next to the charging station and usually connect it with a cable. The necessary utensils for this usually have to be brought with you, but they are also provided at some public columns. It is charged either via alternating current via a type 2 plug or via a Schuko plug on a normal household socket. The alternative is direct current. The vehicle is charged here via a CCS plug. An alternative coming from Japan is the CHAdeMO connector, which is mainly used in Asia and the USA, but also partly here in Germany.

Normally, the charging point supplies alternating current from 3,7 to 22 kW. This alternating current is then converted to direct current by the on-board charger to charge the battery. The charging process itself is simple: you get the charger, plug it into your vehicle’s charging socket (this is usually in the front or in the place where you would normally find the fuel cap), activate the charging station and connect the plug to the charging station. When you are done, remove the cable from the charging station in the same way. How much time the charging process takes depends on the one hand on the charging station and on the other hand on the charging capacity of your vehicle and the cable used. Sometimes there are also fast charging stations, so-called superchargers, which enable your vehicle to be charged much faster. A well-known manufacturer of these fast charging stations is Tesla Motors, which also develops the popular electric vehicles. Furthermore, there are also ultra chargers that charge even faster, but are also significantly more expensive.

Payment at a charging station

Tip: charging station for e-cars: costs, tariffs and more!

There are various options for paying at a charging station. For example, there would be the classic direct debit procedure, payment via a so-called charge card, with which the amount is usually billed at the end of the month, or via a smartphone app, which is billed directly. In rare cases it is also possible to pay with a credit card, whereby you have to register in advance, or via SMS. In some cases, you can even have the amount deducted from your electricity bill. Several electricity providers offer e-roaming, which is also paid for using a charging card.

Unfortunately, the tariffs offered by the electricity providers in Germany are quite confusing, so that the Federal Cartel Office has even intervened in the meantime. Since April 1, 2019, there has been a general rule that providers at public charging stations must enable billing based on kilowatt hours. However, there are too few approvals from the calibration offices in Germany. However, billing based on kilowatt hours is still tolerated because large companies such as Telekom or EnBW have submitted plans to convert the columns to conform with calibration law.

What does it cost to charge at a charging station?

Tip: charging station for e-cars: costs, tariffs and more!

No general information can be given here - the costs vary greatly from tariff to tariff. In some cases, electricity is even more expensive than petrol. Platforms like Mobilityhouse help you find a suitable contract, and you can also save money the next time you fill up on electricity via sites like clever-tanken.de.

Which companies offer charging power?

Tip: charging station for e-cars: costs, tariffs and more!

Mainly regional and national power companies offer charging current. Some automobile manufacturers, such as BMW and VW, or the ADAC also offer tariffs for charging current. There are also companies like PlugSurfing or NewMotion that offer you charging almost across Europe. In addition, the entire billing is taken care of for you against payment of a fee - at the tariff of the operator of the charging station. Shell offers another option with its so-called Recharge tariff.

Charge your electric car for free

Tip: charging station for e-cars: costs, tariffs and more!

If you would like to charge your electric car for free, you will sometimes find free charging stations in the parking lots of supermarkets, furniture stores or hardware stores. This is mainly used for customer acquisition and image cultivation.

Buy a wallbox for your own house

Tip: charging station for e-cars: costs, tariffs and more!

Since the introduction of a new law in 2020, you as a tenant have a general right to a wallbox in your home. Such a wallbox can be purchased from car dealers, for example, but also from electrical stores, from electricity providers or online. Such boxes are often subsidized by the state. However, you should always leave the assembly to a specialist.

Overview of all charging stations in Germany / how do I find the next station?

In order to always find the nearest charging stations, the Federal Network Agency offers a map that shows the charging stations of all providers who have completed the relevant procedure with the Federal Network Agency. There are also apps that display electric filling stations or the Goingelectric directory. You can find the corresponding apps in the app stores. Sometimes a function that shows the next available charging station in your area is also built into the multimedia system of modern electric cars as standard. Finding a charging station should therefore normally be relatively easy and not pose any problems.

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About Thomas Wachsmuth

Thomas Wachsmuth - He has been an integral part of tuningblog.eu since 2013. His passion for cars is so intense that he invests every available penny in them. While he dreams of a BMW E31 850CSI and a Hennessey 6x6 Ford F-150, he currently drives a rather inconspicuous BMW 540i (G31/LCI). His collection of books, magazines and brochures on the subject of car tuning has now reached such proportions that he himself has become a walking reference work for the tuning scene.  More about Thomas

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