What if charging an electric car was even cheaper than we imagine? Free charges still exist at the start of 2023, but they are increasingly exceptional. Let’s take stock together of these rare pearls that allow you to ride without paying.
Electric cars are significantly cheaper on a daily basis than their thermal counterparts. Indeed, with a cost per kilowatt hour at home around 0.174 euros, 100 kilometers of electric car often cost less than three euros. For a petrol vehicle to be able to compete, it must consume less than two liters per 100 kilometerswhich is a waste of time.
On long journeys, as we regularly highlight, the bill can severely increase due to fast charging prices which are much higher, up to four times more expensive than at home. What if we told you that there are ways to drive electric for even less, or even for free? Let’s see together what it is.
Fast charging is very expensive
Crossing France in an electric car is not very cheap today. Indeed, considering an average consumption on the highway at 20 kWh per 100 kilometres, the price per 100 kilometers varies between 12 and 15 euros depending on the charging networks used. We also have a file that summarizes the main networks and their specificities.
One of the leaders in the sector, Ionity, for example, now offers charging at 0.69 euros per kilowatt hour. To fill a classic electric vehicle (Tesla Model Y Propulsion, Kia EV6 58 kWh or Renault Mégane e-tech) with 10 to 80%, it costs the customer almost 30 euros. The same operation at home would only cost 7 euros, less than a quarter of the price.
This huge price difference depending on where you charge is very specific to electric mobility, and is not found in comparable proportions in a thermal vehicle. Of course, some petrol stations are more expensive than others, but in no case will there be petrol three to four times more expensive in certain places.
Fortunately, this high-cost fast charge is not inevitable, and above all, it remains very rare. The overwhelming majority of electric car users do have an average cost per 100 kilometers of less than three euros, thanks to many charges at home, at work or in other potentially less expensive places.
Charging for free, an advantage that tends to disappear
Are there only shops, car parks or other places that offer liters of gasoline to vehicles that park there? Yet this is the reality of electric mobility still in 2022, since many brands use free charging stations to encourage customers to come to them.
Of course, this is not systematic, but as an electric car owner, you have to admit that it is always interesting to be able to fill the battery for free. Some shopping centers offer a few free charging stations, and although they are not fast, their appeal is very real.
Most of these are alternating current charging stations, with a power of 7, 11 or 22 kW. Concretely, this means thatin one hour of charging, you recover enough to travel between 50 and 150 kilometers. For shopping centers where you can easily spend several hours, fully filling your battery is very likely.
An electromobilist who travels 1,000 kilometers per month, and who charges even twice a month at a free charging station, would reduce his cost per 100 kilometers by half! Indeed, with a consumption of 20 kWh per 100 kilometres, it takes 200 kWh to travel 1,000 kilometres. Two free 50 kWh recharges (i.e. 100 kWh) do indeed represent a saving of 50%, reducing the cost from 3.4 euros to 1.7 euros for 100 kilometers.
The main problem is therefore the following: how to identify and use these free charging stations intelligently, and where to find them?
Exceptions that continue to exist
Spread the word : don’t imagine traveling on the highway and reaching a terminal that charges you for free. This case is practically non-existent, although in rare exceptions, it happens that an Ionity terminal of a station is punctually free. When this is the case, it is only because the latter is defective and charges slowly. It is also reported as such on the Ionity application.
What is much more common are the free charging stations in shopping center car parks. The rules are not always the same, but it is not uncommon to be able to plug in “by eye” for several hours. Among the terminals that allow it, we find chargers for Tesla, which are located right next to certain Superchargers, as is the case near Troyes, Tours, or in Sallanches.
In addition to Tesla’s multiple fast chargers are up to three slow charging stations (the famous Tesla Wall Connector) with cable attached, so you don’t need your cable to enjoy it. They are compatible with all electric vehicles with a Type 2 socket, and are currently not chargeable. This is what the Dacia Spring does, for example, in the photo of one of the articles.
Other terminal operators use a different strategy, as is the case for Driveco, which sometimes leaves the first 30 minutes free in certain places. After this grace period, the people in charge start paying, but there is a trick some people use to avoid having to pay. It is possible to disconnect after 29 minutes of charging, and to restart a charge in stridebut that means returning to your vehicle frequently, which is both restrictive and contrary to the spirit of these free charges.
One of the most effective ways to find free charging locations is to use the excellent Chargemap app, where you can filter which stations are free. You will thus find supermarkets, shopping centers, city car parks or even hotels that allow you to spend time charging without spending a single penny. Do not hesitate to check around your usual parking places if terminals are available free of charge, because It probably won’t last forever…
The future of charging will be more expensive overall
No one can miss the energy crisis currently affecting Europe, where electricity prices are at record highs. Although a tariff shield aimed at protecting individuals is in place in France, it is necessary to imagine the future of electric mobility as paying, with a few very rare exceptions.
Apart from the purely financial aspect linked to the current increase in energy prices, free charges increase the risk of multiplication of “opportunistic” charges, penalizing those who really need to charge. In effect, who would refuse to be offered a few tens of kilometers of additional autonomy, even without it being necessary? If it suffices to park in a place where a free terminal is available, many will benefit from this.
And this is a behavior that we notice on a daily basis: when the terminals are paying, there is very little abuse, whereas when the terminals are free, some do not hesitate to stay connected to them more than reason. Terminal operators have this in mind, and know that those most in need of charging will be willing to pay. But for now, the few places that continue to offer free charging are a rare find for EV drivers.
According to a report by France Strategy, an electric car is much less expensive than a thermal vehicle. And this even if its purchase price is higher and the electricity has increased in the last…
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