Are Tesla charging stations free?
Here’s Why Free Electric Car Charging Should be Banned
Nearly every non-Tesla electric vehicle sold in the US today comes with some variation of a free charging offer than can be redeemed on a specific public EV charging network. The offers range from three years of free unlimited charging all the way down to two complimentary free charging sessions.
These free charging plans, especially the ones that offer unlimited free charging, are beginning to strain the already inadequate and often unreliable DC fast charging networks across the United States.
An assortment of EVs with free charging plans charging at an Electrify America station in New Jersey
A recent study by S&P Global Mobility indicated that public charging stations need to quadruple by 2025 to accommodate the expected increase in electric vehicles on the road by then. However, even that won’t be enough if automakers continue to offer unlimited free charging plans as an incentive to buy or lease the company’s electric offerings.
The big problem with these unlimited free charging programs is they incentivize people that can charge at home to not do so, but to use public infrastructure instead. Additionally, because these owners are using the DC fast chargers for all of their regular charging needs, they are much more likely to charge to 100% so they don’t have to come back to the station too soon.
EV owners using public chargers on long drives typically won’t often charge past 80%, because the charging rate slows down drastically once the vehicle exceeds 80% state of charge. They know it’s more efficient to unplug and continue the journey, rather than to stay and charge slowly.
However, those charging up for their weekly driving needs are much more likely to stay until the vehicle is 100% charged, like filling up a gas tank until the pump shuts off. That ties up the chargers for longer periods of time. Some EVs actually take longer to charge from 80% to 100% than they do from 20% to 80%. Therefore, the car is often plugged into the charger for more than double the time that it would be if it was unplugged at 80%.
Porsche Taycan at Electrify America charging station
Many of the people occupying the DC fast charge plugs for long periods live within a few miles of the station and have the ability to charge their EVs at home, but they don’t because they were offered free, unlimited charging when they purchased or leased the EV.
Now that EVs are growing in popularity, the DC fast charging stations are getting overwhelmed by the number of people redeeming the free charging perks. Lines are forming, stations are full and people that actually need to charge to continue driving on a road trip are having to wait before they can even plug in.
Plus, people that don’t have access to home charging are finding the difficulties of getting an available, working fast charger so cumbersome that it’s ruining their electric vehicle experience.
Electric vehicle infrastructure already has enough challenges without free unlimited charging programs straining the networks further. There simply aren’t nearly enough charging station sites and those in service don’t have enough individual stations and quite often have broken chargers.
Manufacturers need to pivot away from offering unlimited free charging, and they need to do so quickly. Tesla used to offer unlimited free Supercharging but ended that practice in 2018 after asking customers not to abuse the perk and only use Superchargers on road trips. The company occasionally brings back a short-term limited free charging offer to incentive sales, but the unlimited free charging perk that used to come standard was eliminated.
A Tesla Supercharger station
But Tesla is in a totally different position than all of the other companies because it owns and operates its proprietary network of high-speed DC fast chargers. Tesla can add new sites based entirely on where its sales dictate the need, and it also installs more chargers per location than any other network, which in itself, increases accessibility. If the company would have continued its free unlimited Supercharging offer, it too would be experiencing severe overcrowding issues across the network.
Tesla has stated for a while that it will open up its network to EVs from other manufacturers, and when that happens it will likely help relieve the overcrowding stress we’re beginning to see, but that hasn’t happened yet.
Currently, there are free charging programs offered by various EV manufacturers on the Electrify America and EVgo networks. We’d like to see manufacturers pivot from these free charging programs and offer customers different incentives.
General Motors has a better strategy in our opinion: They offer a choice. They do offer Bolt EV and Bolt EUV owners a $500 charging credit on the EVgo network, but customers don’t have to accept that. Instead, they can opt to have GM pick up the installation costs for a standard installation (up to $1,250) of home charging equipment, performed by installation partner, Qmerit.
That’s a much better approach. Incentivise home charging for those that can install a charger at home, but for those that can’t, offer them a limited amount of free public charging. Offering a set number of kWh or dollar amount is a much better solution if a manufacturer wants to offer free charging. As long as there is a finite amount to the free charging, the customer will use the credit when they need it, and won’t abuse the perk.
Other possible incentives could be to offer a reduced price for public charging over a set period, or how about just «cash on the hood» and give the customer money off the cost of the vehicle at the point of sale.
EVs are in demand and most people have to wait months after ordering one to take delivery. Free unlimited charging as a sales incentive is unnecessary and going to negatively impact future sales when current EV owners have poor public charging experiences.
Free, unlimited charging programs suck and are hurting the industry. Hopefully, the OEMs offering them will wake up and realize they aren’t needed and are contributing to creating a poor customer ownership experience. It’s time to end the practice now.
Agree? Disagree? We’d like to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.
Here is a list of Electrify America’s DC fast-charging agreements with manufacturers that InsideEVs has previously reported on:
- Audi:
Audi e-tron /Audi e-tron Sportback; Q4 e-tron/Q4 e-tron sportback 250 kWh of free charging
Audi e-tron GT — 3 years of free charging - BMW:
BMW i4 and BMW iX — 2 years of free 30-minute complimentary charging sessions - Ford:
Ford F-150 Lightning — 250 kWh of free charging
Ford Mustang Mach-E — 250 kWh of free charging - Genesis:
Genesis GV60 — 2 years of unlimited 30-minute charging sessions free of cost - Harley-Davidson:
Harley-Davidson LiveWire — 500 kWh of free charging - Hyundai:
Hyundai Ioniq 5 — 2 years of unlimited 30-minute charging sessions free of cost
Hyundai Kona Electric and Hyundai IONIQ Electric — 250 kWh of free charging - Kia:
Kia EV6 — 1,000 kWh of complimentary EV charging;Kia Niro 500 kWH of free charging - Lucid Motors:
Lucid Air — 3 years of free charging - Mercedes-Benz:
Mercedes-Benz EQS — 2 years of free charging - Polestar
Polestar 2 — 2 years of free charging - Porsche:
Porsche Taycan — 3 years of free charging - Volkswagen:
Volkswagen ID.4 — 3 years of unlimited charging plan - Volvo:
Volvo XC40 Recharge/C40 Recharge — 250 kWh of free charging
Save (Even More) Money: How to Find Free Electric Car Charging Stations
Electric vehicle charging is not free, but some stations and programs let you top up at no cost. Here’s how to save some cash when powering up your EV.
June 27, 2022
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https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/save-money-find-free-electric-car-charging-stations
2021 Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition (Photo: Ford)
With US gas prices topping $5 per gallon, the option to charge up for free is a satisfying perk of owning an electric vehicle. And drivers are taking note; electric vehicle sales in the US rose 60% in 2022 (Opens in a new window) , in part due to an exciting range of new models.
EV charging is not free; topping up at home means increased electricity costs, and many charging stations impose a fee for juicing up on the go. But there are a number of free charging programs if you know where to look.
Filter for Free Stations on PlugShare
Across the country, private companies (Opens in a new window) , nonprofit programs (Opens in a new window) , and local governments (Opens in a new window) are offering free EV charging options. The easiest way to find them is on the PlugShare (Opens in a new window) app, which includes a filter for free chargers. Much of the app’s content is crowdsourced by real drivers, who “check in” at each station and upload the latest information about it, including if it’s still free, how many minutes of charging you get, and at what level/speed.
Under Map Filters, toggle off Show Locations That Require Payment. Then, when you click on a station on the map, you’ll see something like “no fee” written in the description. Note: The Electrify America app, another popular option, doesn’t have a filter for free stations.
Charge at Your Workplace
EV charger at Meta’s headquarters in Menlo Park (Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)
Workplace charging is an appealing way for EV owners to maintain a full charge without making a separate trip to power up. It’s like someone taking your car to the gas station as you work.
Some companies have started offering free charging as an affordable perk; during testing for our Best Mobile Networks 2022 story, we charged at a gratis ChargePoint location at Meta’s headquarters in Menlo Park. For deep-pocketed firms, the cost is minimal. «Offering workplace charging to employees can be as little as $1.50 per day with Level 2 charging and as little as $0.60 a day with Level 1 charging—which is less than a cup of coffee,» Plug In America (Opens in a new window) explains.
Check the options in your employer’s parking lot, but don’t assume you can use another company’s chargers as they may require validation. If your workplace does not have free chargers, make the case to add them. The Department of Energy has a guide (Opens in a new window) for implementing workplace charging, and some states (Opens in a new window) offer reimbursement for installing level 2 chargers.
Take Advantage of Free Charging Promotions
Electrify America’s vision of the future of EV charging stations (Photo: Electrify America)
Many new EVs come with some amount of free charging, often at stations in the Electrify America network (Opens in a new window) . They are essentially charging credits that you can cash in. If you haven’t yet, check out your car’s free charging options and start charging before the offer expires. Edmunds has a full list (Opens in a new window) of all EV models that come with free charging. A few examples:
- Volkswagen ID.4 (Opens in a new window) : Comes with 30 minutes of free level 3/DC fast charging, and 60 minutes of level 2 charging at Electrify America stations.
- Ford F150 Lightning (Opens in a new window) : Comes with 250kWh of power at level 3/DC fast charging at Electrify America stations.
- Chevy Bolt (Opens in a new window) : Free home installation of a level 2 charger with your purchase of a 2022 model. While this isn’t «free» charging, it’ll save you as much as $1,000, as well as time waiting on a level 1, snail’s pace charge. Time is money!
For Teslas, early adopters snagged free Supercharging for life, which means speedy level 3 charging at the company’s network of Supercharger stations. That offer ended in 2017 for new Tesla buyers, though the company says (Opens in a new window) its fees are four times less than buying gas. It also runs promotions, such as free Supercharging around the holidays.
