Too many electricity freaks: Free e-charging stations at Lidl, Ikea & Co. soon to be history?

Go shopping and in the meantime charge the electric car for free in the customer parking lot - great thing.

However, as more and more electric car drivers are using the retailers' private charging stations without the intention of buying, this service will soon be over.

Munich - Lidl and Kaufland have them, Ikea has them too, and Aldi has had them for a long time: charging stations where customers can charge their electric cars free of charge while shopping.

An incentive to attract new customers in particular: drivers of e-cars who have not yet made purchases from said companies.

But also a service for existing customers who have switched from gasoline to electric vehicles.

While the electric vehicle can be charged with energy in the customer parking lot, its owners generate a lot of sales in the store, according to the calculation of the retail companies.

A win-win situation for dealers and buyers - one might think.

E-car drivers at free charging stations in supermarkets, but with no intention of buying

E-cars are trendy.

But with the increasing number of approvals, the need for charging current also increases - and this costs.

At public charging stations - the so-called charging stations - an average of between 5 and 10 euros is charged for a full charge.

After about 250 kilometers, the battery needs to be replenished.

That sucks.

Reason enough for some Stromer drivers to head for the private customer parking lots from Lidl & Co., but with no intention of buying.

A bad habit that has increased so much, which is why, according to a report by t3n.de, the free shop service in its current form could soon no longer be available.

The technology portal reports on a case from Ludwigsburg in which a Tesla driver and the owner of a Renault “Zoe” are said to have connected their vehicle to the charging stations in the Ikea parking lot an hour before the store opened - but without even putting a foot in it To put furniture store.

While the Tesla driver remained seated in the car and is said to have watched a film on Netflix *, the Renault driver passed the charging time with a walk.

A short time later, the driver of a BMWi3 is said to have been waiting for a charging station to become free.

One of many other e-car owners who come to Ikea during the day without any interest in “Pax” or “Billy”.

Free charging stations because of electricity scorers for dealers business damaging

In the end, the bill for this audacity is paid by the furniture store or the discounter.

Sometimes even twice, if e-car drivers with the intention of buying leave spontaneously in view of occupied charging stations and thus generate no sales for the company.

Parallel to the increasing number of "charging current scroungers", the call from politics and the zeitgeist for even more charging stations * is getting louder and louder to make electromobility attractive for more people.

Lidl started to limit the amount of electricity sold months ago.

A Lidl E-Charge app is currently being worked on, which will only allow registered customers to start the charging process.

The introduction of a billing model, for example through the settlement of bonus points, is also under discussion.

It is only a matter of time before Aldi and Ikea follow suit.

*

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