Charge your e-car for free – there are free charging stations here!

The current rise in electricity prices is also noticeable when charging an electric car. It is all the better if you know where to find free charging stations for your e-car. We'll tell you if and where you can save money when refuelling.

Charging e-cars at Aldi no longer for free

Until recently, the discounter Aldi was also one of the companies that provided their customers with free charging stations. At Aldi Süd, around 1,000 charging points were available for free charging while shopping in one of the stores until June 1, 2022.

Unfortunately, some electric car owners did not adhere to this rule, and became so-called charging scroungers. This means that the sought-after parking spaces were permanently occupied with free charging stations, by vehicles whose owners did not shop at the discounter. That's why charging an e-car has now cost a fee at Aldi Süd since June 2022. For this purpose, the charging station can also be used outside opening hours, more precisely daily (including Sundays and public holidays) from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Nevertheless, the discounter is a bit accommodating: The charging tariff is very cheap - for some perhaps even cheaper than charging the e-car at home at the wallbox. It may be possible to save additional costs with a fuel card. Here are the costs (as of October 2024):

• 22 kW charging stations at Aldi: 29 cents per kWh
• CCS fast charger (max. 150 kW): 39 cents per kWh

 

Lidl and Kaufland – no more free charging

Lidl has a problem with loading scroungers, and they have tried to get it under control. Unfortunately, none of this helped, which is why charging at all 1,300 charging stations in front of Lidl and Kaufland stores has now been subject to a fee since September 12, 2022.

The costs had become too high, 15 to 20 charging processes would be carried out at a charging station every day, which would no longer be sustainable. Lidl currently charges the following costs for a charging process:

• AC charging point: 29 cents per kWh
• DC charging point: 48 cents per kWh

Kaufland is lowering fast-charging prices with immediate effect

The retailer wants more people to use its charging station network, after all, the company has currently installed more than 500 fast-charging points. In order to make charging at Kaufland stores more attractive, the prices for fast-charging stations have now been lowered. Currently, you pay the following prices:

• AC charging point: 29 cents per kWh (no price change)
• DC charging point: 44 cents per kWh (previously 48 cents)
• HPC charging point: 47 cents per kWh (previously 65 cents)
  (150 kW charging power)

To have a comparison: If you want to charge super-fast at Ionity charging stations from 150 kW, you pay 79 cents per kWh - so you save a lot of money when charging at the HPC charging points at Kaufland.

By the way, AC and DC charging stations have different purposes.

Free charging at Ikea - not since January 2025

Bei Ikea kamen Kund:innen mit Elektroauto die letzten Jahre noch voll auf ihre Kosten – indem sie eben keine Kosten hatten. Ikea hat bis vor Kurzem bei jedem deutschen Einrichtungshaus kostenloses Laden angeboten, doch das ist nun auch vorbei.

Ikea hatte bereits angekündigt, dass mehr Geld in den Ausbau von Ladestationen an Ikea-Standorten investiert werden soll. Doch das hat nun zur Folge, dass Laden nicht mehr kostenlos ist. Die aktuellen Ladepreise bei Ikea sind folgende (Stand: Januar 2025):

• AC-Ladestation: 49 Cent pro kWh
• DC-Ladestation (bis 75 kW): 57 Cent pro kWh
• Schnellladestation: 69 Cent pro kWh

Wenn du eine Ikea Family Card hast oder ein Teil des Ikea Business Network bist, bekommst du einen Rabatt von 20 Prozent. Du musst dich dafür in der Mer Connect ME App registrieren und dich anschließend als Ikea Family oder Business Mitglied identifizieren. Rabatt erhältst du aber nur auf die ersten geladenen 1.000 kWh pro Jahr, der Beginn ist jeweils der 1. Januar.

Geladen werden kann an den Ikea-Ladestationen nun auch außerhalb der Öffnungszeiten. Das Unternehmen gibt an, dass der eingespeiste Ökostrom zu 100 Prozent aus Wasserkraft gewonnen wurde.

 

Wer nicht einkauft, darf (eigentlich) nicht laden

Die meisten Geschäfte und Baumärkte binden das kostenlose Laden an einen Einkauf im Ladengeschäft. Also nur, wer auch einkauft, darf die kostenlose Ladesäule nutzen. Ikea ist da eine Ausnahme, denn dort darf man auch unabhängig von einem Einkauf in der Filiale die Ladestation kostenlos nutzen. Dafür stehen die Ladesäulen auch nur während der Öffnungszeiten zur Verfügung.

Kostenlos laden beim Vertragshändler

Was man mittlerweile häufig sieht: kostenlose Ladestationen bei Autohäusern. Hier können Kundinnen und Kunden mit ihrem Fahrzeug kostenlos Strom tanken. Solche Angebote gibt es aktuell beispielsweise bei:

• Renault
• BMW
• Nissan
• VW
• Audi
• Porsche
• Skoda
• Kia
• Mercedes

Wenn du also beispielsweise einen elektrischen BMW besitzt und an einem BMW-Autohaus vorbeikommst, welches kostenlose Ladestationen anbietet, kannst du dein Fahrzeug dort laden.

Wie lange darf ich eine Ladesäule nutzen?

Meistens ist die Nutzung auf eine Stunde beschränkt, manchmal sind auch 90 Minuten erlaubt. Außerdem begrenzen die meisten Läden die Nutzung, indem die Ladestationen nur während der Öffnungszeiten verfügbar sind.

Doch diese Angaben sind schwer in die Praxis zu überführen, was Ladeschnorrern das Leben einfach macht. Ehrliche Kund:innen haben da das Nachsehen und in Zukunft könnte es deshalb sogar sein, dass kostenlose Ladesäulen völlig verschwinden.

If charging an e-car is still fundamentally new to you, we have tips for you on what you should consider when charging e-cars.

Free e-car charging in multi-storey car parks, shopping centres and the like

In addition to grocery stores and hardware stores, parking garages, museums, shopping centers and even authorities now also offer free charging stations for their customers. However, this varies from place to place, so check with relevant locations in your area to see if free charging stations are offered.

What is also becoming more and more common is that employers provide their employees with the opportunity to charge e-cars free of charge. If you're looking for a charging station – whether it's free or for a fee – then it's best to use our charging card. This will help you find the right charging station near you. In addition, with an e-car license plate you get free electricity at some charging stations.

However, after the new charging station ordinance has been postponed, you still have to fight with different providers of charging cards and cannot yet pay with an EC card.

Can you still charge a Tesla for free?

The conditions for free charging at Tesla Supercharger stations have changed several times in recent years. Currently, it is no longer generally possible to charge there free of charge. The following conditions currently apply to free charging:

• Model S and Model X ordered by January 15, 2017 can also benefit from free lifetime electricity as used cars. This bonus can also be transferred to the new ownerin the event of a private sale. However, the vehicle must never have been owned by Tesla in between, because then the lifetime charging bonus would no longer apply.
• For Model S and Model X models ordered after January 15, 2017, the lifetime free charging option only applies as long as the vehicle is with the first owner. This only applied to vehicles ordered by September 17, 2018. After that, the action was further restricted.