Charging an electric car: Lidl now also takes money – the price is fair

Created: 09/10/2022 05:02

By: Simon Mones

After Aldi Süd, Lidl and Kaufland are also putting an end to free electricity: this is how much customers will have to pay in the future if they charge their electric car in the parking lot.

Update from September 6, 2022, 2:00 p.m.:

The trend towards dismantling free charging stations continues.

After Aldi Süd, the Schwarz Group, which includes the Lidl discounter and the Kaufland supermarkets, is now also asking motorists who fill up with electricity to pay – or rather: to the contact surface for credit or debit cards, or those of charging subscription providers.

From September 12, the total of 1,300 charging points will be converted accordingly, so there may still be a few days of green electricity free of charge at some locations.

But then Lidl and Kaufland charge 29 cents per kilowatt hour for alternating current: An electric car that consumes 20 kWh/100 km can be charged for 5.80 euros for 100 kilometers.

No longer free: charging station at Lidl.

(Iconic image) © Michael Bihlmayer/Imago

Electric cars: Lidl is now also taking money – the price is fair

This is a rather low tariff, which corresponds exactly to that of competitor Aldi.

Similar to the own brands of butter and milk, a kind of unit price could also be formed for electricity, which no discounter will undercut or exceed for the time being - until the next price round, which everyone will then take part in at the same time.

However, the maximum charging power of 43 kilowatts offered by alternating current is rather modest, especially since most electric cars can only charge with 11 kW (electricity for 100 kilometers takes almost two hours).

It's much faster with direct current, which Lidl and Kaufland also offer in some cases: 149 kW then costs 48 cents, super-fast 350 kW (which, however, no electric car has been able to fully exploit so far) 65 cents.

Charge subscription owners may pay different prices.

First report from May 18, 2022, 3:59 p.m.:

Mülheim an der Ruhr – The high fuel prices in Germany are causing many drivers to switch to an electric car.

Thanks to the environmental bonus, some of these are even cheaper to buy.

And the loading costs less and is even free of charge in some shops.

But more and more of the free charging stations are disappearing or cost money.

This is also the case with Aldi Süd.

In 2015, the discounter was one of the first shops to offer its customers the opportunity to charge their electric car while they went shopping – free of charge, of course.

More and more competitors followed suit.

For example, Rewe recently announced a cooperation with Shell.

But from the summer, free electricity will end, and then Aldi Süd will also ask its customers to pay at the charging stations.

This was confirmed by an Aldi spokesman when asked by "t-online".

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Aldi will charge for its charging stations from June.

(Iconic image) © Aldi Süd

Electric cars: Aldi charges for charging

The discounter is currently showing a corresponding note on the displays of its charging stations, as several photos on social media show.

From June, a kilowatt hour will cost 39 cents.

This makes Aldi significantly cheaper than the competition, where a kilowatt hour costs between 45 and 79 cents, according to the "inside-digital.de" portal.

It remains to be seen how long Aldi can maintain this price, many suppliers had recently raised their prices, including Tesla.

A charging card is not required at the Aldi charging stations, as "t-online.de" reports.

It is enough to connect the car with a cable.

You can then conveniently pay by debit card, credit card, Google Pay or Apple Pay.

However, if you want to use your charging card, you pay the price of the provider instead of the cheap Aldi-Süd tariff.

Electric cars: Aldi is extending the opening hours of the charging stations

But the end of the free shop is not the only change that the discounter is implementing.

In the future, customers should also be able to use the charging stations outside the opening hours of the Aldi branches.

If possible, these are then available to electric car drivers between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

You can find even more exciting car topics in the free newsletter from 24auto.de, which you can subscribe to right here.

Some sites are even said to provide electricity 24 hours a day.

According to "e-fahrer.com", Aldi Süd is also removing the one-hour charging time limit.

The discounter also wants to expand its range further.