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

SLAVEPROUDNESS RECORDS

Januari 28, 2025

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.

If you're interested in buying a new electric car, here are our top offers for you:

Top e-car offers
Model	Offers from
Dacia Spring	€15,689	Compare offers
Renault Twingo Electric	€18,659	Compare offers
Fiat 500 Electric	€21,903	Compare offers
Jeep Avenger	€24,885	Compare offers
Cupra Born	€27,949	Compare offers

Ioniq 5

Free charging stations: Here you can recharge your batteries for free

The possibility of refuelling with electricity for e-cars free of charge is mainly offered by retailers. In the past, there were a few more stores that offered free charging, including Aldi, Lidl and Kaufland. Unfortunately, these discounters have now introduced payment systems. In some cases, blocking fees are even charged. Also pay attention to whether you are only allowed to use the supermarket parking lot with the parking disc laid out or also with your electronic parking disc.

Here is a list of shops that currently offer free charging stations, depending on the region:

Bauhaus
Globe
Hornbach
Hagebau

Sometimes it can happen that public charging stations have problems with charging. In most cases, these can be easily remedied. You should also make sure that you have the right charging cable with the right plug type. If you are on holiday with an e-car in Italy, you should inquire in advance, there are also some free charging stations there.

This can influence whether you buy a combustion engine or an electric car.

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-Ladestationen bei Aldi: 29 Cent pro kWh
CCS-Schnellader (max. 150 kW): 39 Cent pro kWh

Lidl und Kaufland – kein kostenloses Laden mehr

Lidl hat ein Problem mit Ladeschnorrern, und man hat versucht, es in den Griff zu bekommen. Leider half das alles nichts, weshalb nun das Laden an allen 1.300 Ladesäulen vor Lidl- und Kauflandfilialen seit 12. September 2022 kostenpflichtig ist.

Die Kosten seien zu hoch geworden, täglich würden 15 bis 20 Ladevorgänge an einer Ladestation vorgenommen werden, was nicht mehr tragbar wäre. Folgende Kosten verlangen Lidl und Kaufland aktuell für einen Ladevorgang:

AC-Ladepunkt: 0,29 Cent pro kWh
DC-Ladepunkt: 0,48 Cent pro kWh

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 still save money when charging at Lidl and Kaufland. By the way, AC and DC charging stations have different purposes.

Free charging at Ikea - not since January 2025

At Ikea, customers with electric cars have been getting their money's worth in recent years - by having no costs. Until recently, Ikea offered free charging at every German furniture store, but that is now over.

Ikea had already announced that more money would be invested in the expansion of charging stations at Ikea locations. But as a result, charging is no longer free. The current charging prices at Ikea are as follows (as of January 2025):

AC charging station: 49 cents per kWh
DC charging station (up to 75 kW): 57 cents per kWh
Fast charging station: 69 cents per kWh

If you have an Ikea Family Card or are part of the Ikea Business Network, you get a 20 percent discount. You have to register in the Mer Connect ME app and then identify yourself as an Ikea Family or Business member. However, you will only receive a discount on the first 1,000 kWh charged per year, starting on 1 January.

Charging at the Ikea charging stations can now also be done outside opening hours. The company states that 100 percent of the green electricity fed into the grid was generated from hydropower.

E-car charging

If you don't shop, you are (actually) not allowed to charge

Most shops and DIY stores tie free charging to a purchase in the store. So only those who also shop are allowed to use the free charging station. Ikea is an exception, because there you can use the charging station free of charge regardless of shopping in the store. For this purpose, the charging stations are only available during opening hours.

E-car charging

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.

Wenn das Laden eines E-Autos grundsätzlich noch neu ist für dich, haben wir Tipps für dich, was du beim Laden von E-Autos beachten solltest.

Kostenlos E-Auto Laden in Parkhäusern, Shopping-Centern & Co.

Neben Lebensmittelläden und Baumärkten bieten mittlerweile auch Parkhäuser, Museen, Shopping-Center oder auch Behörden kostenlose Ladestationen für ihre Kundschaft an. Das variiert allerdings von Ort zu Ort, erkundige dich deshalb bei relevanten Örtlichkeiten in deiner Nähe, ob kostenlose Ladesäulen angeboten werden.

Was ebenfalls immer häufiger wird ist, dass der Arbeitgeber seinen Mitarbeitenden die Möglichkeit zum kostenlosen Laden von E-Autos zur Verfügung stellt. Wenn du eine Ladestation suchst – egal ob kostenlos oder gegen Gebühr – dann nutzt du am besten unsere Ladekarte. Damit findest du die passende Ladestation in deiner Nähe. Darüber hinaus erhältst du mit einem E-Auto-Kennzeichen an einigen Ladestationen kostenlosen Strom.

Nachdem die neue Ladesäulenverordnung verschoben wurde, musst du allerdings weiterhin mit verschiedenen Anbietern von Ladekarten kämpfen und können noch nicht mit EC-Karte zahlen.

Kann man einen Tesla noch kostenlos laden?

Die Bedingungen für kostenfreies Laden an den Tesla Supercharger Stationen haben sich in den letzten Jahren mehrmals geändert. Aktuell ist es nicht mehr generell möglich, kostenlos dort zu laden. Folgende Bedingungen gibt es aktuell für kostenloses Laden:

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.